Boston Sports Fan Blog

A four all-star, 2 Vezina trophy winner, Conn Symthe winner, Silver medalist and most importantly 2011 Stanley Cup Champion. Those are all the qualities any player in the NHL wants. Those are all of the qualities Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas has. After playing all four year at The University of Vermont Thomas came into the NHL in 2002 after a few years playing in the AHL and IHL. It wasn’t until 2005 that he cemented his stay in the big leagues and has never looked back…until he recently decided he was going to take an entire year off from playing the game he loves. News of him not returning shocked the hockey world, most importantly Bruins fans. After witnessing a winning season in 2011, they saw their beloved Bruins fall in game 7 to the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But Bruins fans never thought their starting goalie would leave.

Thomas is 38 years old. He has a wife and kids and claims to be taking time away from the game to be with the people he loves. With his family living in Colorado, after Thomas moved them mid-season, living in Boston would be difficult for him to see his family. But another thing Tim Thomas has is one year remaining on his four-year contract. This coming year while Thomas is enjoying his time away from the ice with him family, the Bruins will be eating $5 million that is left on Thomas’s contract, and that is with not knowing what the CBA will be in the coming months. Thomas has really put the Bruins in a bind. Tukka Rask would be a starter on any other team, and now he will get to prove himself in the 2012-2013 season. But knowing they will be out a significant amount of money, and now needing to find a decent backup goalie the Bruins management has their backs up against the wall. Thomas clearly is over playing in Boston after waiving his no trade clause in 2010 and with moving his family to Colorado he is sending a message loud and clearly to the entire league. He says he still wants to play because he has his sights on playing in the 2014 Winter Olympics but in reality, he will be 40 years old and haven taken an entire season away from the game where other US goalies like Jonathan Quick, Ryan Miller, Craig Anderson, among others will have had the time to improve. The 2012-2013 season will be one full of tests for the 2011 Stanley Cup Champs, tests no fans is ready to endure.