Tim Thomas (Dan Nicholas, Wikimedia Commons)
If you are somebody that has Tim Thomas in a NHL keeper’s pool, I feel your pain.
Tim Thomas, one of the elite goaltenders in the National Hockey League, says he needs to take a year off from playing hockey with the Boston Bruins.
According to his facebook page of all things, Thomas wants to reconnect with three F’s– friends, family and faith. Ok, doesn’t he have time to do those things once he has officially retired or once his contract was over? He was in the final year of his contract where he is scheduled to make $3 million.
Thomas also has stated he wants to return to the 2013-14 season and play for Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Good luck, because if I was Team USA GM Brian Burke right now, I would give the first two goaltending spots to Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres.
But for some reason I am not totally surprised by Thomas’s decision and I don’t think the Bruins are either. First, Thomas seemed to ruffle some feathers by not joining the Boston Bruins at the White House after winning the 2011 Stanley Cup and being named the Conn Smythe winner in the process. His reason was for political beliefs.
Second, the Bruins could have traded Tuukka Rask on a few occasions, but decided not to. Many felt it was because Rask was younger and was considered the goaltender of the future. I felt there was something more than that.
Third, Thomas moved his family to Colorado in the middle of last season. Strange timing indeed, when one would think he would have had the offseason to focus on such a move.
At age 38, don’t expect Thomas to be at the top of his game two years from now. It’s also surprising because he worked so hard to get to the NHL (spent time in Finland, ECHL, AHL, IHL for five years) before finally getting his chance with Boston.
Tags: boston bruins, brian burke, jonathan quick, ryan miller, tim thomas, tuukka rask
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