Tim Thomas- What a long strange trip it's been- The Complete Story of Tim Thomas and how he reached the pinnacle of his career

There have been some amazing goalies in the NHL who have dominated their position for years in the league. Ken Dryden, Gerry Cheevers. Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur just to name a few. However, no goaltender in the history of the NHL has taken a tougher, and longer load than Tim Thomas to finally have his name etched on the Cup. By doing so, he has instantly become a Boston Sports legend! The records he set this season both in the regular season and in the playoffs, were something out of a movie or a dream. In order to get a true understanding of how much Thomas and us as the fans must and need to appreciate his and the Bruins accomplishments, we must discuss the road that got him here.

Timothy James Thomas, Jr. (born April 15, 1974), nicknamed "The Tank", is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Raised in Davison, MI, Thomas played college hockey for the University of Vermont for four years, from 1993–1997, during which he was drafted 217th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. He played for several years in the minor leagues and Europe, before making it to the NHL at age 28, with the Boston Bruins. He finally emerged as the Bruins' starting goaltender at age 31. Thomas was the winner of the 2009 Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender and played as a backup for Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy for Most Valuable Player in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. Winning it, along with the Stanley Cup, at age 37, he became the oldest player and second American-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in NHL history, after Brian Leetch.

College hockey

Thomas played four seasons (1993–97) of college hockey for the University of Vermont, posting an 81–43–15 record to go with a 2.70 GAA and .924 save percentage. He ranks third in the NCAA Division I record book in career saves (3,950). He led the nation in save percentage in 1996 (.924) and helped UVM's Catamounts to NCAA tournament appearances in his final two seasons, including a berth in the 1996 NCAA Frozen Four (a program first). He was a two-time All-ECAC Conference selection and a two-time NCAA East All-American. He ranks first all-time amongst Vermont goalies in games played (140), wins (81) and saves (3,950). At Vermont, Thomas played on the same team as Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Martin St. Louis.

Early pro years

Completing his four-year tenure at Vermont, Thomas played briefly for the Birmingham Bulls of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) and Houston Aeros of the International Hockey League (IHL) in 1997–98, before transferring overseas mid-season to HIFK of the Finnish SM-Liiga. Thomas played 18 games with a save percentage of .947 as the team advanced through the playoffs to defeat Ilves in the finals and win the Finnish championship. After signing with the Edmonton Oilers on June 4, 1998, Thomas initially moved to the AHL the following season with the Hamilton Bulldogs, where he played 15 games, before again transferring to HIFK. Thomas recorded a .917 save percentage in 14 games as HIFK made it to the league finals once more but finished as runners-up to TPS.

In 1999–2000, Thomas returned once again to North America to play for the Detroit Vipers of the IHL, then spent the next season with AIK of Sweden's Elitserien. In 2001, #30 Thomas joined theBoston Bruins organization, but chose to continue playing in Europe, spending his first full SM-liiga season in 2001–02 with Kärpät of Oulu. Although the team didn't get far in the playoffs, Thomas played a successful season of 32 games with a .925 save percentage.

AHL seasons, NHL debut

Beginning in 2002–03, Thomas played his initial two seasons with Boston's AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. He made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut with the Bruins during the 2002–03 season, appearing in four games total, with a .907 save percentage and a 3–1 record. Thomas recorded his first NHL win in his league debut with the Bruins on October 19, 2002, in a 31-save, 4–3 win against the Edmonton Oilers.

Return to Finland

In 2004–05, Thomas joined Jokerit of the SM-Liiga, his fourth stint in Finland. He played in all games of the season except one, 54 games in total, and racked up a league-high .946 save percentage. He also surpassed the previous record of 13 shutouts in the league by achieving 15 shutouts during the regular season. Thomas continued to perform in the playoffs, where he played 12 games with a .938 save percentage. The team was unable to defeat Kärpät in the finals, however, and Thomas was awarded his second silver medal in the SM-liiga. He received the Lasse Oksanen trophy (as the league's best player) and the Kultainen kypärä award (as the league's best player award as voted by the players), becoming the first Jokerit player to win the award since Teemu Selänne.

Boston Bruins

2005-2006

In August 2005, Thomas signed to play with Jokerit for the 2005–06 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.

When he returned to North America, he was assigned to Providence of the AHL out of training camp. However, as Boston suffered injuries to their two goalies Andrew Raycroft and Hannu Toivonen, Thomas earned his first call-up to the NHL in three years and took over as the Bruins starting goalie, completing the 2005–06 season with a 12–13–7 record, 2.77 goals against average (GAA), .917 save percentage and his first NHL shutout. As a result, Thomas was awarded the Boston Bruins 7th Player Award, voted by the fans as having gone beyond expectations. In the off-season, Thomas was re-signed by the Bruins to a three-year deal.

2006-2008

Although Boston's previous starter, Andrew Raycroft, was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the off-season, Thomas began the 2006–07 season as the Bruins' backup, behind Hannu Toivoneninstead. However, as Toivonen struggled, Thomas was again promoted as the Bruins' starting goaltender, eventually posting a 30–29–4 record with a .904 save percentage. He won the 7th Player Award for the second consecutive season and became the first goalie in team history to win the award twice.

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 and onwards.

Thomas stretching prior to a game in November 2008

On July 1, 2007, the Bruins acquired goaltender Manny Fernandez from the Minnesota Wild and later traded Thomas' previous backup, Toivonen, to the St. Louis Blues. Many hockey analysts presumed that Thomas would support Fernandez as a backup goaltender once again for the 2007–08 season. However, as Fernandez went down to injury early in the season, Thomas seized the opportunity and once again emerged as the Bruins' starting goalie. He was selected for his first NHL All-Star Game on January 22, 2008 as a replacement for Martin Brodeur and played in the third period of the game, stopping 14 of 18 shots. Thomas was credited with the win, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 8–7.

Early in the 2008–09 season, Thomas became the first Bruins goalie to record back-to-back shutouts since Byron Dafoe in 1999, winning 1–0 games against the Edmonton Oilers on October 27, 2008 and the Vancouver Canucks on October 28. His overall shutout streak came to end the next game at 154:43 minutes against the Calgary Flames on October 30. In late November, Thomas missed a few games due to an illness. He was chosen to play in his second All-Star Game in 2009 and was once again the winning goaltender for the Eastern Conference, beating the Western Conference 12–11 in a shootout (the first time the All-Star Game required the tie-breaker since 2005). A month later, on February 26, 2009, Thomas recorded his 100th NHL win, in a 6–0 shutout against the Anaheim Ducks.

2008-2010

On April 2, 2009 Thomas agreed to a four-year extension with the Bruins, through the 2012–13 season. The contract will see him make $6 million the first two seasons, then $5 million and $3 million the final two seasons for an average annual salary of $5 million. Two days later, on April 4, he posted his career-high fifth shutout of the season in a 1–0 win against the New York Rangers, clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference, Boston's first title since 2001–02. His strong play allowed the Bruins to sweep the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the Bruins bowed out to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in Round 2.

On June 18, 2009, Thomas was awarded the Vezina Trophy at the NHL awards, beating out Minnesota Wild netminder Niklas Bäckström and the Blue Jackets' rookie goaltender Steve Mason. He led the NHL with his 2.10 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.

Thomas started for the Bruins in the 3rd NHL Winter Classic on January 1, 2010. The game, held at Fenway Park in Boston, resulted in a 2–1 overtime victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. But Thomas suffered a drop-off in form during the regular season, posting just a 17–18–8 record, albeit with a still-strong 2.56 GAA. He did not play at all in the playoffs, as Tuukka Rask played all the games for Boston. The Bruins won their Conference quarter-final series, and led the Philadelphia Flyers three games to none in the Conference semi-final. But Boston then lost the next four games to drop the series; the Flyers became just the third team in NHL history (after the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders) to win a series after losing the first three games.

Named to his third straight NHL All-Star Game in 2011 – the game was not played in 2010 due to the Winter Olympics – Thomas became the first goaltender in league history to earn the win in three consecutive All-Star Games.

2010-2011 and Stanley Cup Win

In the 2010–2011 season, following off-season hip surgery during the summer of 2010, Tim Thomas broke the NHL record for save percentage, beating Dominik Hasek's record of .937, with a .938 percentage. On Friday, April 22, 2011, Thomas was named a finalist for the 2010–2011 Vezina Trophy. On Friday, May 27, 2011, Thomas posted a shutout victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, sending the Boston Bruins to their first Stanley Cup appearance since 1990. In the Finals, Thomas again posted a shutout victory in Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks. He was selected as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, being only the second American-born NHL player to ever win the award, and the first in 17 years. During the Bruins' playoff run, he set the record for most saves in a single postseason with 798 and the most saves in a Stanley Cup series with 238, and broke Frank McCool's 66-year old record of fewest goals allowed in a 7-game Stanley Cup Finals, allowing only eight goals total. Because of his incredible performance in the postseason, many fans and analysts speculated that Thomas would win the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP even if he did not win the Cup. At 37 years, 62 days, Thomas did become the oldest Conn Smythe Trophy winner when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced it at the end of the Bruins' Game 7 win.

NHL Awards & highlights thus far:

• Played in the All-Star Game in 2008, 2009 and 2011
• 2009 William M. Jennings Trophy Winner along with teammate Manny Fernandez for fewest goals allowed by team goaltenders
• 2009 Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award Winner for best save percentage amongst NHL goaltenders (minimum 25 games started) – .933
• 2009 Vezina Trophy Winner of the NHL's top goaltender award
• Named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 2009.
• 2011 Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award Winner for best save percentage amongst NHL goaltenders (minimum 25 games started) – .938
• Holds the NHL record for save percentage in a season (.938%) 2010–2011 season.
• 2011 Conn Smythe Trophy winner
• 2011 Stanley Cup winner
• 2011 Vezina Trophy Winner??? It should be an absolute lock!

Thomas has showed the entire world what true determination and heart can achieve when you do all that is possible to achieve your dreams! Thomas has now become an instant legend, and this fan has enjoyed watching him play his entire career. However, this season was magical from the start when he started the season 10-0. The expectations in Boston for the 2011-2012 season are already growing as chants of " Repeat " " Repeat " were shouted on Boylston Street during the Championship parade today; which by the way was the largest Rolling Rally/ Parade in the history of Boston! More people attended than in 2004, when the Red Sox finally won the World series after 86 years! What will Thomas do for an encore? Well we only have to wait 99 days before the first pre-season game vs the Canadians on September 25th, 2011 to find out. However, to expect Thomas to have another season like he had in 2010-2011 is more than we can ask from him as fans.We need to sit back and appreciate this season for what it was, magical! He was the backbone of the team who brought Lord Stanley's Cup back to Boston. However, this team is built to be tough for years to come, and a repeat would be nice! 

CJD

President

Boston Bruins Nation

--Some information and stats obtained from Wikepedia