A refreshing memoir of battles and self-belief from one of the NHL's most revered enforcersShawn Thornton was an unlikely NHL success, to say the least. The Oshawa, Ontario native was picked late in the OHL and later thought he was being pranked when the Toronto Maple Leafs called him to say he'd been selected in the seventh round of the 1997 NHL draft.After years spent working and maturing in the AHL, Thornton would go on to play 14 seasons with the Chicago ...

A refreshing memoir of battles and self-belief from one of the NHL's most revered enforcersShawn Thornton was an unlikely NHL success, to say the least. The Oshawa, Ontario, native was picked late in the OHL and later thought he was being pranked when the Toronto Maple Leafs called him to say he'd been selected in the seventh round of the 1997 NHL draft.After years spent working and maturing in the AHL, Thornton would go on to play fourteen seasons with the...

Poetry derived from love,loves lost, depression, and many memories of a growing man.

Growing up, Shawn Thornton’s life was anything but normal—but then, so was his mother.After waking from a coma following a car crash, Beverly Thornton’s once sweet and gentle disposition had been replaced by violent mood swings, profanity-laced tirades, and uncontrollable fits of rage. Inside the Thornton house, floors and countertops were piled high with dirty laundry and garbage because Bev was unable to move well enough to clean. Dinners were a Russian roulette of half-cooked me...

There is only one sport, outside of actual combat disciplines, where two participants can square off in old fashioned, bare-knuckle pugilism without facing swift ejection. Hockey has long held a place for two willing combatants, and it has been said that "no one goes for popcorn during a fight." Fans know what to expect on the ice from players with nicknames like Knuckles, The Grim Reaper, The Bruise Brothers, or The Hammer. Yet off the ice, the men who step into these brutish roles are of...