The Bruins were hard at work Saturday morning and deep into the afternoon on the first full day of training camp workouts. But they left some time for some more enjoyable activities in the evening.
Veteran Shawn Thornton was distributing tickets to Saturday night’s Red Sox game against Toronto to a number of his teammates in the locker room. Thornton, who hails from Oshawa, Ontario, grew up a Blue Jays fan, but insisted he has switched his allegiance since moving to Boston year-round after signing here in 2007.
Some of his fellow Ontario natives have remained loyal to the Jays, however, including camp invite Brian McGrattan.
“I’m a Blue Jays guy,” said McGrattan, who was born in Hamilton, Ontario. “It’s a tough division for them to win, but they’ve had some exciting players to watch this year like [Jose] Bautista, so at least they have one positive thing going for them.”
Though it’s unlikely that anyone at Fenway would have the guts to take exception to the 6-foot-4, 235-pound McGrattan’s rooting for Toronto, the veteran enforcer did seem to quickly realize he shouldn’t alienate the Boston fans on his first day in Black and Gold.
“I do like the Sox too though,” said McGrattan. “My grandfather, he’s passed on now, but he was a life-long Red Sox fan, so those are the two teams I cheer for. I can’t cheer for the Yankees. I’m a big baseball fan, so it’s always fun to watch.”
