Joe Thornton: "It's not worth the pain... it's just not worth the ordeal."

Following in the tradition of Brett Hull and Mario Lemieux, another NHL star ripped NHL officiating today. Joe Thornton says he might retire after the current season rather than continue to accept the abuse he takes every night.

Recalling a game in Pittsburgh last week, Thornton tells the Canadian sports network TSN, "I look back on it with thoughts that this might be my last year. It's not worth the pain. My back is killing me and things like that - it's just not worth the ordeal."

Boston's biggest star since Ray Bourque says it's open season on big forwards these days, with defensemen and checkers free to hook, hold and chop without fear of a penalty call. He complains to referees, but says the response is usually along the lines of, "You're big and strong, stay on your feet, keep your legs moving and fight through it.”

“You don't want to be a whiner, you just want to the game to be called how it is in the rulebook,” he adds.

Thornton made the comments during an interview on the TSN program "That's Hockey."

The Bruins' captain finished third in NHL scoring last season with 101 points in 77 games. This season he has two goals and 12 assists in 14 games.

Thornton, who is 24 years old and in his seventh NHL season, is not the first NHL player to threaten early retirement because of lax refereeing standards. Mario Lemieux's first retirement in 1997 was partly attributed to his frustration with the same problems Thornton complains about today.