On Stars winger Scott Thornton's left shoulder is a tattoo of the grim reaper and on the opposite shoulder is a dream catcher.
"It's like an Indian spirit," Thornton said of the dream catcher. "It's supposed to catch all your bad dreams."
For the first time in his 10-year NHL career, his dream catcher is working as Thornton has been able to prove he's more than a designated thug and now there's a Stanley Cup within reach as well.
The Stars acquired Thornton from Montreal for Juha Lind on Jan. 22. Thornton had spent the previous three-plus seasons with the Canadiens as a one-dimensional player.
"In Montreal, he wasn't used properly at all," Stars defenceman Dave Manson told the Dallas Star Telegram. "He was used as strictly a tough guy. They got him for one reason, and he wasn't really given a chance.
"He was the third overall pick, so obviously people in the hockey world saw a lot to draft him that high."
Before this year's playoffs, Thornton had played in 15 post-season games, scoring three points. In 10 playoff games with the Stars, he has two goals and four assists.
In the past season and a half, Thornton played 82 games and scored 16 points with Montreal. In 40 games with the Stars, he has 15 points.
"From Day 1 with Montreal, I was playing two or three minutes a game," said Thornton. "It was discouraging. I felt like I was ready to break out as a player. I had a lot of dreams squashed."
I miss him so much. Of all the things that sucked about this season, one of the suckiest is that he was injured for so much of it. *cries*
*sigh* At least I saw him get into one awesome fight. :) *giggles remembering blood splatter on ice* Hmm, maybe it's time for me to get some quality Quake 3 CTF time in ... I seem to be in a killing mood.