Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Shawn Thornton Excited To Be Playing For The Florida Panthers

07/31/2014 at 6:36pm EDT

from Alain Poupart at NHL.com,

Shawn Thornton first got to know Dale Tallon more than a decade ago. Now that the two have been reunited with the Florida Panthers, the veteran forward knows exactly what his new general manager expects from him.

"At this point, I know my role and the job fairly well," Thornton told South Florida media members Thursday. "Dale didn't need to stress it too much to me. We've known each other for a long time and I think he knows how self-aware I am, if I'm self-aware at all, and what he needs to tell me. So there wasn't too much being said, except that he was excited that I was excited to come there. I was very pleased that they were as interested."

Thornton, who turned 37 on July 23, joined the Panthers as an unrestricted free agent on July 1 after the Boston Bruins decided against bringing him back for an eighth season. He was a popular player in Boston, in part because of his outgoing personality and also because of his role as the Bruins' enforcer.

"It's no different than anything in life," Thornton said. "You spend seven and a half years somewhere, you're going to have a lot of ties, you're going to have a lot of memories. I was fortunate to be on a pretty good team the last five years that I was here, so it was a lot of fond memories. But I'm excited for the next chapter.

continued

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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