Cage Fight Pick 'Em: Thornton vs PJ

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Awesome. Two top notch hockey scrappers. Bruins legends in the department of dropping the gloves. Shawn Thornton and P.J. Stock. I'm so excited to analyze this fight and I wish I could somehow actually watch it.

Thornton: Shawn's got an advantage is size on Stock. He's bigger. More solid. And he gets a lot more ice time than Stock used to in his glory days. Thornton's a fighter that has a lot of other skills with him. You'll see an occasional dangle or snipe. He has a blast of a slapshot. In this sense, he's more into the game. More mentally prepared for all situatons. And he's had a lot more playoff experience than P.J. got to experience with the B's. Shawn's the old reliable veteran who will give you what you ask for.

P.J.: P.J. Stock - Ass Kicker. Those T-Shirts were the best back in seventh grade for me. Loved them. And I loved P.J. He was such an animal with the gloves dropped. Relentless striking. Punch after punch. Whether they landed or not, it didn't matter. He'd just punch as hard and as fast as he could until the ref broke up the fight. And he never got tired from it. Never slowed his strikes. He was a little guy, under six feet. But he could scrap with the best of them. I miss seeing "Stock" on the back of the Bruins #42 jersey. Very volatile fighter.

X-Factor: Since this cage fight is between two hockey fighters, you can bet your ass this one is a stand-up fight. And if it goes to the ground, they will immediately return to their feet. Because hockey fighters go for the knockout. You don't see them grabbing a skate lace and trying to execute a rear-naked choke with the strings. They want punches to the face. The X-Factor in this one is who lands the punches to the face and who lands them more often. As great as Thornton is, P.J. fires those strikes way too fast.

The Decision: P.J. Stock takes a ton of hits to the face, but he doesn't care. Stock knocks out Thornton in the second round.

What do the fans think? Vote 1 for Thornton is a current Bruin and would toast the old-timer. Vote 5 for P.J. Stock will always be the biggest ass-kicker in the modern era of hockey.