If there'd been a Shawn Thornton on the Canucks, there might not be a Stanley Cup in Boston.
Not that Thornton was the main reason the Bruins beat Vancouver. But once the B's enforcer -- a healthy scratch in the first two games of the Finals, both of which Boston lost -- got into the action, the tone of the series changed.
By design.
"When I'm in there, the dynamic's a little different," Thornton said to Michael Felger on Mohegan Sun's Sports Tonight on Thursday. "The fourth line's completely different . . . We were able to create some energy and create forechecks and bang some bodies, and then the rest of the Bruins fell in behind that."
They also were able to create an intimidation factor . . . something the Canucks had no answer for.
"Nobody on that side stepped up," said Thornton. "I don't want to be the sore winner and start badmouthing people over there, but I know if people on the Canucks were acting the way I was, I probably would have come off the bench and had a word about it . . . "
Having a word about it was exactly what Thornton excelled at.
Boston Bruins
After Game 5, Roberto Luongo insinuated he was better than Tim Thomas and that he was surprised the Bruins' goaltender hadn't said anything positive about him. So before Game 6, Thornton shot a puck into the Canucks' end during warmups and skated a lap around Luongo, yelling something along the way.
"I can't repeat what I said," said Thornton. "I honestly can't. I would get suspended."