[icehog3]

ESPN.com reference Hawks-Bruins incident.

Thornton was angry at someone on the Hawks bench during Tuesday's 3-0 win over Chicago after he was cut in the forehead by a skate. As he left the ice, bleeding, he heard some comments from the Hawks' bench which got him fired up. He made a move toward the bench but was restrained.

"Something was said," Thornton said after the game. "Obviously I can't swear when I talk to [the media]. There was some stuff said that I'm not happy about. I'm going to find out who it was and I will deal with it in my own way."

The Hawks weren't forthcoming Thursday with the exact comments that angered Thornton, but they brushed off his criticism.

"Someone said something to him," said Bryan Bickell, who works out with Thornton in the offseason. "Hopefully he's all right. I guess there were some words. I didn't hear it or who did it. It's all in good fun. There are times it gets heated, but I don't think our team is any different from any other team."

Hawks' enforcer John Scott called Thornton a stand-up guy until Scott was informed Thornton said "those guys on their team chirp a lot."

"He said that?" Scott exclaimed. "That's fine. He can say what he wants.

"He's going after some of our littlest guys on our team. He's trying to challenge [Fernando] Pisani to a fight. What's that say about him? Mr. Tough Guy, trying to challenge Pisani. If I'm in the lineup he's more than welcome to come and chirp me. I'll kick the [expletive] out of him."

I love hockey.