The Harp Is Raising Money to Pay for Shawn Thornton’s Water Bottle Fine**
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A Boston bar located near TD Garden is doing their part to keep things positive as the Bruins head into Game 6 against the Montreal Canadiens, in hopes of advancing a little bit closer toward a spot in the Stanley Cup finals.
On Monday night, The Harp is hosting a fundraising event that will match a fine handed down to Bruins’ forward Shawn Thornton last weekend, after he squirted water into an opposing player’s face.
Money raised from the event, which will rally fans during a critical matchup with the team’s longtime rivals, is being advertised as “paying Thorty’s fine,” but the cash will really be donated to the Bruins player’s charitable group, The Shawn Thornton Foundation.
“We don’t necessarily think what he did was right, but we think the fine is a little ridiculous, especially because it’s sort of an arbitrary amount,” said Hannah Kempski, a spokesperson for The Harp. “I mean, I can’t speak for all of the Bruins fans, but I think it was kind of a silly thing, and he’s probably sorry he did it in hindsight. But it’s a competitive sport. We really want this, we want the Cup again.”
During the third period of Game 5 against the Canadiens, the rough and rugged Thornton allegedly gave his water bottle a light squirt, splashing P.K. Subban directly in the visor as he passed the Boston team’s box.
It was a tongue-in-cheek move that some called “amateurish” in terms of sportsmanship—Thornton initially got a good laugh out of the gag—and certainly turned up the heat on the grudge match between the two teams, who are both itching to get their gloved hands one-skate closer to the Stanley Cup.
While Thornton agreed to pay the more-than $2,800 fine, and addressed the matter during a practice the day after the incident, employees at The Harp decided they could turn the somewhat-controversial topic into a good deed, and cast light on the shady move that seems to be lingering over the team.
“We just felt, here’s this fine, and everyone was talking about it, so we said let’s take advantage of it. It got so much traction on Twitter already, so we just kind of pulled it together really quickly,” said Kempski. “I think people want to be down by the Garden—it’s just the proximity to it. People just want to be in that environment and feel the excitement. I think we will have a packed house tonight.”
Kempski hopes that the packed house will mean the donations will flood in faster than the water did on Subban’s face. Attendees can make donations as they watch Game 6, or they can go to The Harp’s EventBrite page and directly make a donation.
Bruins Ice Girls will also be at the free event Monday night to help bring some extra pep to the game that could propel the Bruins forward to the next series. “The Harp has been around for 20 years, and we always gets such a good Bruins fan base and crowds, so we thought it would be fun to rally around this cause,” said Kempski.
