The Chilliwack Chiefs have hired alumni Erin Thornton as a regional scout.
Thornton played 78 regular season games for the Chiefs in the early 1990s, splitting time between the BCHL and the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds.
A tough customer, Thornton tallied six goals, 29 points and 234 penalty minutes.
After retiring as a player, Thornton went about building an impressive hockey resume.
He held the position of Associate Director, Programs with BC Hockey from 2001-2008, with responsibility for the Male High Performance Program, Coaching Program and several others.
Thornton was the assistant sport manager from 2008-2010 for the Men’s Ice Hockey competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
He’s been a WHL scout for many years and currently works for the Yale and Fraser Hockey Academies in Abbotsford, where he provides oversight to the middle school program (Fraser Middle) and acts as an on-ice instructor for both academies.
Thornton holds a BA degree in Sport and Recreation Management from the University of Victoria and lives in Abbotsford with his wife Jenny and kids Madelyn (12) and Ben (10).
“We are very pleased to add Erin to our scouting staff,” said Chiefs head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic. “Our goal as an organization is to attract the top BC players to our program. By adding Erin to our scouting staff we have taken a step in the right direction to achieve our goal.”
Get Chiefs info online at chilliwackchiefs.net