Tim Thomas Question

[gchristen]

So, has Thomas retired? Has he burned all the bridges everywhere? I hear he's bad for chemistry in the locker room.

I'm wondering what are the chances he comes back and signs as a UFA with someone else and puts up good numbers next year.

[mister_mcgoo]

Originally Posted by gchristen

So, has Thomas retired? Has he burned all the bridges everywhere? I hear he's bad for chemistry in the locker room.

I'm wondering what are the chances he comes back and signs as a UFA with someone else and puts up good numbers next year.

bad chemistry in the locker room? I've never heard anything like that about him, by all accounts he's a great teammate and a hilarious guy to play with. A bit of a political nutjob IMO but not a poisonous personality or anything.

He's definitely retired though and I think the chances of him coming back to play this year are somewhere between slim and none. Next year? Who knows, but I think he's done

[Chico Resch]

He's said - as I remember he's take a 1 year sabbatical.

I think he'll be back next year.

[Mr. Guru]

He's stated many times he's returning next year. And on top of that, he wants to have a say in team USA's Olympic run. The later might be a bit of a stretch, but he is returning.

Whether someone picks him up or not is another thing, but I would bet money that he signs himself in a position where he gets to play himself into the starting goalie.

[kluzo]

Does he not have 1 year left on his contract? If so I do believe he would have to be with Boston next season for his last year to honor the contract.

I believe it was Yashin try that years ago to hold out the last year of his contract only for the NHL to say he needs to fulfill out his full contract. Then traded to NYI...... something like that.....

[4T2]

Originally Posted by mister_mcgoo

bad chemistry in the locker room? I've never heard anything like that about him, by all accounts he's a great teammate and a hilarious guy to play with. A bit of a political nutjob IMO but not a poisonous personality or anything.

He's definitely retired though and I think the chances of him coming back to play this year are somewhere between slim and none. Next year? Who knows, but I think he's done

Stories came out after he refused to go to the white house that he was becoming a bit of a distraction in the locker room. But for the most part, other than that brief period, I have never heard anything but good things about him from his teammates.

He says he still wants to play next year and I could see a team taking a flyer on him. He could end up somewhere that has a young #1 goaltender who needs a quality back-up to push him.

Originally Posted by kluzo

Does he not have 1 year left on his contract? If so I do believe he would have to be with Boston next season for his last year to honor the contract.

I believe it was Yashin try that years ago to hold out the last year of his contract only for the NHL to say he needs to fulfill out his full contract. Then traded to NYI...... something like that.....

It's a different situation although I'm not clear on all the details. I do believe that if the Bruins wanted to force him to honor that year, they would probably have a leg to stand on. But I don't think you will see Boston do that. They have a lot of respect for Thomas as he is the main reason they won the Cup, but they do not want to bring him back to the team after all the hoopla over the last year

[Pengwin7]

I think Thomas will play next year. I think there will be a bit of a rotation of goalies.
PHX, MIN, DET, TOR all have goalies with expiring contracts and may be looking for a change. I could see Thomas in either MIN or DET for a year.

I personally, think DET might sign-up Thomas (a Michigan guy) for one-year and then hope they can sign Ryan Miller in summer of 2014 when Miller's contract expires. GMs think about these kind of things.


As for Thomas, I don't think he's as big a distraction as people think.
Hockey players are more... uh... republican than most people might think.
I've played with a lot of different hockey players in my life - on several different men's league's teams.
(Not trying to make this political, but hockey players are typically much more conservative, as a percentage, than are hockey fans [us]. So it's not like this "distraction" thing is an issue to him being able to find a team willing to sign him - and THAT is why I'm mentioning it. That is all.).

[ericdaoust]

It was a bizarre situation last year but I don't think he's a bad teammate. I just hope things are ok with him personally.

[blayze]

I love Tim Thomas... he's one of my favourite interviews. He seems to get along with everyone and he always offers up his time for interviews, fans, etc (everyone except the President). Other than the political shenanigans I've never heard a single negative thing about him as a person. I can't imagine he'd be a bad locker room personality.

[mister_mcgoo]

Originally Posted by 4T2

Stories came out after he refused to go to the white house that he was becoming a bit of a distraction in the locker room. But for the most part, other than that brief period, I have never heard anything but good things about him from his teammates.

I'm willing to bet those stories were a complete fabrication of the media trying to make a story out of nothing. Show me a player, ANY player who has played with Thomas saying something like that and I'll believe it, but otherwise I'm not buying it