"I guess I didn't realize it was my job to pump his tires," Tim Thomas, 2011.
The Canucks had won Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals 1-0, thanks in part to the Boston goalie Thomas going too far out of the crease on Max Lapierre’s rebound goal. Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo later criticized Thomas’ position on the play and also complained that Thomas had not done enough to compliment him, with the statement "I've been pumping his tires ever since the series started and I haven't heard one nice thing he had to say about me” he said.
Thomas said before Game 6 that he was unaware he was supposed to praise Luongo. He then went out and stopped 73 of Vancouver’s final 75 shots in the series as the Bruins won Game 6 in Boston 5-2 and Game 7 in Vancouver 4-0 for their first Stanley Cup in 39 years. Thomas was last spotted on Facebook.
Harry How
