Thornton On Toucher & Rich: Horton Looks 'Better Than We Thought He Would'
BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Bruins got a surprise visit from injured forward Nathan Horton after their 4-0 Game 4 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
And to their suprise, Horton looked a lot better than anyone thought he would after suffering a severe concussion.
"He looks better than we thought he would," Bruins forward Shawn Thornton told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher and Rich Thursday morning on his weekly call into the show. "The kids pretty tough too. I don't know if he was just sucking it up or he actually feels that much better."
None of the Bruins knew Horton would be in the locker room, but he was on hand to present the "player of the game" jacket that has been passed around during the playoffs.
"We have that awful jacket that Andy (Ference) found online somewhere. Whoever is deemed deserving, you get to wear it," said Thornton. "Horty was the last one to have it so we didn't give it out after the game he got knocked out. We were just going to leave it in his stall; I don't think anyone even knew he was there."
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"Claude was talking (about how) we were going to give the jacket out. We were looking around, 'well who the hell is going to give it out', and Horty walked out by the training area," Thornton recalled. "The guys got a pretty good kick out of it."
Thornton, who did not play in the first two games of the series but was re-inserted into the lineup for Game 3, said the Bruins did talk about rallying around Horton after he was knocked out in the first period in Game 3.
"Horty is such an unbelievable guy," he said. "He's always happy, he's the most positive guy in the room I've every played with. He makes everyone around them feel better about themselves. He's always telling everyone around him how great they are. It doesn't matter who, if anyone gets hit like that you're going to rally around them, especially for someone that is that great of a guy."
Thornton made his presence felt immediately in Game 3, checking then-public enemy number-one Alex Burrows as soon as he got on the ice.
"He was on the ice and the puck was dumped in the corner. I was just changed and getting out. It worked out fine that shift, I guess," Thornton said of the hit.
Read: Stanley Cup Finals Schedule
Before the game, Thornton was unsure if he would be back in the lineup. He did not find out until around 7:30 that he would get the roster spot over rookie Tyler Seguin.
"Everyone stood up and started cheering, standing O, a couple of cartwheels," Thornton joked.
Thornton also talked about the play of his former linemate Brad Marchand, who has not only hurt the Cancucks with his scoring, but also gotten under their skin.
Read: Thomas Gives Burrows "A Love Tap"
"He's been playing with an edge," said Thornton. "He's an unbelievable hockey player, I had the pleasure to play with him the first 20 games, before we made him look so good they bumped him up."
"I love playing with him, I'm really glad he's on my team because I'd probably want to kill him if he was on the other side," Thornton joked.
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.
