Boston Bruins' goaltender Tim Thomas going strong
It’s been a long and arduous journey for Tim Thomas before he could finally bask in NHL glory. He was drafted over a decade ago but spent his time wandering from league to league, looking for a break into the NHL. That break didn’t come until Boston took
him under its wing in 2002. Since then, things have only been looking up. His goals-against average has been dropping and save percentage rising as he now stands at an unbelievable level.
Tim Thomas has started 6 games for the Bruins this season and they have won all 6 of those games. He was a big part of that effort, as big as anyone else. The Bruins defensemen let 185 shots slip past them in the 6 games so far that they played with Thomas
as goaltender. Thomas stopped 182 of them. That comes out to be a save percentage of 98.4. Granted that it is just the start of the season but the numbers put Thomas on top of the goalie tables.
“He’s in the zone right now,” said Boston’s general manager Peter Chiarelli adding that he displayed similar form during practice. Thomas had been struggling last year with hip problems. He didn’t even realize that there was a problem until much later. Thomas
said that he didn’t understand what was happening to him. “I questioned whether I had just gotten old in one year because I sure didn't feel old the year before.” He added that before the pain in his hip became obvious, it had taken away all of Thomas’ mobility.
“It was affecting everything I did,” said Thomas.
Since then, he has had surgery to repair the hip and his performance has visibly improved. Thomas himself stated that he could feel an immediate improvement in mobility. His goals-against average improved from 2.56 last year to 0.5 this year. In the last
two games, he protected the net for Boston, Thomas did not allow a single goal. He stopped 49 shots on goal in those two games. He is the first Boston goaltender since hall of famer Cecil Thompson to start his season 6-0-0. On Wednesday, Thomas would be gunning
for his third consecutive shutout when the Bruins go to Buffalo to face the Sabres.
NHL has recognized his achievements and named him the second star of the month for October. Forward with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Steven Stamkos was named the first and Colorado Avalanches' Chris Stewart was named the third star for October.
At one point, Bruins were seriously considering trading away Thomas. The goaltender costs the cap strapped Boston $5 million. Compared to Tuuka Rask’s almost insignificant cap hit that is a large sum of money. The year hasn’t been good for goaltenders. When
Chicago Blackhawks won Stanley Cup with a rookie goaltender whose statistics through the season were nothing to brag about, the message was clear. It read that a team does not need an expensive and veteran goalie to make the playoffs or more.
Perhaps, with this in mind, general manager Peter Chiarelli admitted that the Bruins had briefly explored their trade options. Considering how Thomas has been playing and his unmistakable contribution to the Bruins, Chiarelli must be relieved that the trade
didn’t go through. He said that when he saw Thomas in the training camp, he knew that the goalie would improve from last year but he could have never imagined that Thomas would be so close to a 1.0 save percentage.
Working in tandem with the goalie, the Boston defence has proved to be highly effective and the pressure is off the offense. A breakthrough or two is all they need and in the 6 games that Thomas has started, the Bruins were able to get the goals they needed.
When asked how he was dealing with being in the spotlight, he said that it was the price of doing well. “Realistically, you do have to make sure you keep your head on straight,” said Thomas. Realistically, if Thomas keeps playing like he is playing, he could
s***w his head on backwards, and it still wouldn’t matter.
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