Forward Shawn Thornton won’t be back in Boston. Credit: Getty Images
Shawn Thornton, one of the more popular members of the Bruins over the past seven years, won’t be back in Boston.
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli announced on the team’s website Monday that the team would not re-sign the forward.
“Today I met with Shawn and we had a good meeting, and I informed him that we wouldn’t be re-signing him,” Chiarelli said in a video. “It was good in the sense that we talked about the time Shawn has spent here. He came here, we’re talking about seven years – so he was here from almost the beginning and I told him that he was one of the most significant acquisitions we made because he was one for the role that he played, two for the person that he is, and it was nice to rehash his time. It was sad to tell him that he wasn’t combing back, but I wished him well and Shawn was real up front about it.
“On ice first, the role that he played, I thought when he came here, I think his conditioning really went to the next level and he was able to form one-third of maybe the best fourth line in hockey for the longest time,” Chiarelli added.
The 36-year-old was the team’s unquestioned “tough guy,” helping the B’s win the 2011 Stanley Cup. He tallied 76 points in seven years with the Bruins.
