Scott counterpunches

Put John Scott down as someone who isn't afraid to send Boston Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton that Christmas card he's looking for.

Thornton just shouldn't expect it to include any yuletide spirit.

The 6-8, 258-pound Scott fired back at Thornton after practice Thursday for his assessment of the Blackhawks as a bunch of "chirpers."

Thornton also threatened to "deal with" the player who taunted him Tuesday as he skated to the locker room after suffering a gash above his right eye in a collision with Fernando Pisani that required 40 stitches.

"That's fine; he can say all he wants," Scott said when told of Thornton's characterization of the Hawks. "He was going after some of the littlest guys on our team and trying to fight them.

''He's trying to challenge Pisani to a fight. What does that say about him? He's Mr. Tough Guy trying to challenge Pisani?

"He's more than welcome to come and chirp at me. I'll kick the [expletive] out of him."

Thornton told reporters after Boston's 3-0 victory to "not be afraid to send him a Christmas card" if they ever found out the player in question.

"There was some stuff said that I'm not happy about," Thornton said. "I'm going to find out who it was, and I will deal with it in my own way."

The Hawks who were available to the media after practice didn't feel their team talks more trash than any other and tried to minimize the extent of what was said to Thornton.

"Everybody talks," Pisani said. "Everybody tries to get under each other's skin.

''It's that time of the year; emotions are high. Everybody knows what's at stake, and guys are just trying to bring an edge to their game. . . . But to say that we do it more than any other team, I think every team does it."

And Scott said that getting chirped at simply comes with the territory of being an enforcer.

"I take some abuse,'' Scott said. ''I give it out. It just goes with the business.

''I've been hearing it for years."

For the record, Scott also called Thornton a "stand-up guy" and said that he probably wouldn't trash-talk a player who had just suffered an injury like the one Thornton did when he was cut by Pisani's skate.

Still, Thornton received little sympathy from Scott.

"He was kind of being cheap that game, so whatever,'' Scott said. ''He gets what comes to him."

Hawks enforcer John Scott says Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton can say all he wants. Scott says getting chirped at comes with the territory when you're an enforcer. | tom cruze~sun-timesTom Cruze