Tim Thomas (ice hockey)

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size=240px
team=Boston Bruins
former_teams =
league = NHL
position = Goaltender
catches = Left
height_ft = 5
height_in = 11
weight_lb = 201
nickname =
nationality = USA
birth_date = birth date and age|1974|4|15
birth_place = Flint, MI, U.S.
draft = 217th overall
draft_year = 1994
draft_team = Quebec Nordiques
career_start = 1997

Timothy Thomas, Jr. (born April 15, 1974, in Flint, Michigan) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. Thomas was raised in Davison, Michigan.

Playing career

North America

Thomas started his hockey career in the NCAA in 1993, playing for the University of Vermont team. While at Vermont, he was a three-time All-ECAC Conference selection and a two-time All-America selection. He ranks first all-time amongst Vermont goalies in games played (140), wins (81), and minutes played (3950). He was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1994 NHL entry draft as their #9 pick, #217 overall, but continued at Vermont until the 1997–98 season, when he played for the Birmingham Bulls in the ECHL as well as for the Houston Aeros in the IHL, and then transferred to HIFK in Finland. For the 1998–99 season, Thomas initially returned to North America, playing 15 games for the Hamilton Bulldogs, but he returned to HIFK for the rest of the season.

After 1999, Thomas played for the Detroit Vipers and AIK in Sweden. In 2001 Thomas joined the Boston Bruins organization, but as there was an abundance of goalies, he ended up playing in Finland. Thomas played two subsequent seasons with the Boston Bruins organization, mainly with the Providence Bruins but also including four games in the NHL. Thomas's four NHL games for the Bruins were played during the 2002–03 season, with a save percentage of 90.7% and a result of three wins and a loss.

The 2005–06 season proved to be an unlikely breakout year for Thomas in the NHL. After attending the Bruins training camp, the organization assigned him to the Providence Bruins in the AHL. Thomas was upset with this decision by the Bruins organization, and stated that if he wasn't called up to the NHL during the season that he would move to Finland and continue his career there. In early 2006 however, Boston's two main goalies, Andrew Raycroft and Hannu Toivonen, were sidelined with injuries. Thus, Thomas earned his first call-up to the NHL in 3 years. During this time, he has taken over as the Bruins starting goalie, with record of 12–13–7 with 2.77 goals against average, a 0.917 save percentage, and one shutout at the end of the 2005–06 season. Thomas also won the Boston Bruins 7th Player Award for the 2005–06. The 7th Player Award is given annually to the Boston Bruins player that the fans vote on as having gone above and beyond expectations for the season. Thomas signed a 3-year deal with the Bruins in March of the 2005–06 season.

The Bruins traded Andrew Raycroft to the Toronto Maple Leafs for prospect Tuukka Rask during the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Toivonen, who was designated as the starting goaltender at the beginning of the 2006–07 season, suffered in his appearances at the NHL level, where he finished the year 3–9–1 with a 4.23 GAA and .875 save percentage. Thomas was again promoted as the Bruins' starting goaltender, posting a 30–29–4 record with a 90.4% save percentage, having Toivonen, Brian Finley, Philippe Sauvé and Joey MacDonald alternating backup duties. He again won the 7th Player Award in 2006–07, the first goalie in team history to win it twice. On July 1, 2007, the Bruins acquired goaltender Manny Fernandez from the Minnesota Wild, while soon after trading Toivonen to the St. Louis Blues on July 23, 2007. Many hockey analysts presumed that Thomas would support Fernandez as a backup goaltender for the 2007–08, or at least enter a Number 1–1A goaltending system, with Fernandez being higher on the depth chart. Not uncommon to what Thomas saw the two seasons prior, Fernandez got off to a sluggish start, posting a 1–1 record with 5.01 GAA and a 79.6% save percentage in his first two appearances. Therefore, Thomas again was thrust into the starting role, as he posted a 3–1 record with a 1.26 GAA and a 96.2% save percentage in his first four appearances. He currently leads the NHL in save percentage with a 93.6% save percentage.

During the summer of 2007 Thomas began a yoga-based physical conditioning program to increase his flexibility and strength, a concept that would greatly increase his abilities during the 2007-08 NHL season. [http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/11427-Double-OT-Tim-Thomas-Bostons-yoga-bear.html]

Thomas was selected to go to his first NHL All-Star Game on January 22, 2008 as a replacement for Martin Brodeur. He played in the third period of the game, stopping 14 of 18 shots. He was the winning goaltender, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 8 to 7 on a goal by Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins with 20.9 seconds left in regulation. Going into the All Star break Thomas was 16–11–3 with a 2.38 GAA and 1 shutout and was tied for the league lead with a .928 save percentage

Europe

Tim Thomas first played in Finland during the 1997–98 season, as the number one goaltender for HIFK's end season. Thomas played 18 games with a save percentage of 94.7%, and the team advanced through the playoffs and went on to defeat Ilves in the finals and win the Finnish championship. Thomas returned to HIFK in the next season, playing 14 games with a save percentage of 91.7% and scoring an assist. HIFK made it to the league finals but lost to TPS, ending up with the silver medals.

Tim Thomas played in Sweden during the season 2000-01 for the Stockholm team AIK in Elitserien. Thomas was very popular among the fans and was an important factor for bringing the team to the playoffs for the first time in four years. During regular season, Thomas played 43 games and was the best goalie in the league with a save percentage of 91.75%.

Thomas's first full SM-liiga season was 2001–02 in the Oulu Kärpät. Although the team didn't get far in the playoffs, Thomas played a successful season of 32 games with a save percentage of 92.5%.

After two seasons in the Boston Bruins, Thomas joined the Helsinki-based Jokerit team for the 2004–05 season, during the NHL lockout that season in North America. He played in all games of the season bar one, 54 games in total, and racked up the highest save percentage in the league that year, 94.59%. He also smashed the previous record of 13 shutouts in the league by achieving 15 shutouts during the regular season. His sterling performance made Thomas very popular with the fans, and he continued his streak into the playoffs, where he played 12 games with a respectable percentage of 93.84%. The team was unable to defeat Kärpät in the finals, however, and Thomas was awarded his second silver medal in SM-liiga. He received the Kultainen kypärä award (best player as voted by the players), becoming the first Jokerit player to win the award since Teemu Selänne, and the Lasse Oksanen trophy.

In August 2005, Thomas signed on to play with Jokerit for the 2005-2006 season, but his contract included an NHL option, and on September 14, one day before the regular season in the SM-liiga started, Thomas announced he had signed with the Boston Bruins, leaving Jokerit with rookie goaltender Joonas Hallikainen as their sole goaltender. Eventually Jokerit used three North American goaltenders (Karl Goehring, Steve Passmore and Tom Askey) that season but missed the playoffs.

International play

Played for the United States in:

*1995 World Championships
*1996 World Championships
*1998 World Championships
*2005 World Championships
*2008 World Championships

Awards and achievements

* Urpo Ylönen trophy for best goaltender - 1998
* Kultainen kypärä award for best player as voted by the players - 2005
* Lasse Oksanen trophy for best player of the regular season - 2005
* NHL All-Star in 2007–2008, played in the third period of the 2008 All-Star Game, and got credit for the win for the Eastern Conference.

Hockey camps

* Tim Thomas runs several ice hockey camps in the Northeast United States during the NHL off-season for both goaltenders and skaters. [ [http://www.timthomashockey.com Tim Thomas Hockey - Hockey Camps, Massachusetts Hockey Camp, Boston Bruins Ice Hockey Goalie, Vermont Summer Camp ] ]

Career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

*cite web|url=http://stats.swehockey.se/x/0001/elits/0001/pg000001.htm|title=Elitserien 2000/2001|publisher=Swedish Ice Hockey Association|accessdate=2008-04-09
*cite web|url=http://stats.swehockey.se/x/0001/SMElits/0001/pg000001.htm|title=SM Slutspel Elitserien 2000/2001|publisher=Swedish Ice Hockey Association|accessdate=2008-04-09
*cite web|url=http://www.aik.se/ishockey/aikindex.html?/ishockey/historik/elitserien/elitserien_matcher_2000_01.html|title=Matchfakta, Elitserien 2000/2001 sv icon|publisher=AIK Hockey|accessdate=2008-04-09

External links

*hockeydb|18081|Tim Thomas
*nhlprofile|8460703|Tim Thomas
*eurohockey|3965|Tim Thomas