04/04/2026
"Even when I was in juniors over 20 years ago, I used to drop the gloves quite a bit. And the thing about fights in junior hockey is that the crowds there are so much smaller, and some people get real quiet — so you can hear every “ohh” and “ahh” throughout the arena.
Or, if you had a grandmother like mine at your games, you’d hear this: “F****** kill him, Shawn! Get him!” That was Nanny. When I won the Cup in 2007 with Anaheim, Nanny was in the later stages of Parkinson’s disease and was living in an assisted-living home in Oshawa, Ontario, my family’s hometown.
On my day with the Cup I brought it to her home and, of course, the first thing she wanted to do was have a drink out of it. “Nanny … your medication. It’s probably not a good idea,” I said. “Oh c’mon,” she fired back, “Just real quick — nobody will see.” I didn’t budge. But I did help her raise the Cup over her head. It was one of the best days of my life."
– Shawn Thornton.
Source: Player's Tribune.