Chiarelli On Thornton: 'Injects Energy' Into Bruins
BOSTON (CBS) – Inserting Shawn Thornton into the lineup for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals worked for the Bruins, but the move was not made just for his physical presence and attitude.
"Certainly putting him in the lineup suggests that," Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher and Rich Wednesday morning, "but Thorny's strength, besides that physical aspect or that enforcer aspect to it, is he's strong, a good cycle guy, injects energy."
Yes, the Canucks looked a little too comfortable in the Games 1 and 2, but the Bruins did not simply insert Thornton because they wanted to get Vancouver out of that comfort zone.
"I know that was happening, and you try and counter that in certain ways," said Chiarelli. "But Shawn was the next guythat deserved to be in the lineup and that's why we put him in. We knew that stuff would come with it."
Listen: Chiarelli On T&R: Bruins Will "Soldier On" Without Horton
The Bruins sat rookie Tyler Seguin to make way for Thornton, with the 19-year-old going without a point in his last seven playoff games.
"We just felt that third line had stalled a little bit," said Chiarelli. "It's not an attack on Tyler, it's just sometimes lines go stale and sometimes they pick up later on. We felt it was a good time to move Shawn in and move (Rich) Peverley back to the third line where that had success before."
But now with Nathan Horton out for the rest of the Finals with a severe concussion, both Thornton and Seguin will be called upon to play bigger roles as the Bruins push for a Cup Championship.
Read:Michael Ryder Looking To Step Up In Horton's Absence
How much ice-time the rookie, and other players, get will depend on how they play and how the game is playing out.
"That's the key, it's how it's flowing, how the guy is playing," said Chiarelli. "I know this is a hot topic. This is a very important time of the year for the team and sometimes as a manager I'd like to have developmental ice all the time but sometimes you have to put that on the back burners."
"Long story short, it will be by flow of the game and how he is playing," he said of Seguin. "And that applies to a lot of guys."
98.5 The Sports Hub is the only local station to listen to every game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Coverage begins an hour before each game with the Bruins Pregame show hosted by Dave Goucher & Bob Beers.
