Shawn Thornton: Fighting Comes and Goes, Not Gone for Good

Thornton has long championed the cause of fighting in the sport, and argued Tuesday in the halls of TD Garden that fighters are not being driven out of the sport.

“I’m not the last guy,” Thornton said. “You guys just write about it more. LA won with Jordan Nolan and Kyle Clifford on their fourth line. Montreal still has Brandon Prust and Dale Weise. The Islanders still have [Matt] Carkner. There’s still guys out there, you guys just refuse to talk about them. You want to talk about the guys who don’t have jobs.

“It’s still a physical game, it’s still a part of the game. It’s not going anywhere. Yeah, some guys are out of work, but that happens every year.”

Thornton added, “There’s still lots of guys out there. I think it’s blown out of proportion, to be completely honest.”