WILMINGTON - Tim Thomas skated over to coach Claude Julien in the middle of yesterday's Bruins practice at Ristuccia Arena, holding a small, round piece of white plastic in his hand.
"Coach, I need to take a break," said the veteran goalie. He held out his hand to show Julien the remains of the front cap of the cowling, the plastic guard that fits around his skate.
A wrist shot by Peter Schaefer had just splintered the protective shell on Thomas's eight-day-old skate.
"It just broke on Schaefer's shot," said Thomas. "The whole toe part broke off. It was just a wrist shot."
Thomas's sense of humor remained intact, however. "[Marc Savard] came skating up and said 'Was that my shot?' " Thomas said, and quickly added, "It was definitely not Savvy. Put that in a note."
Thomas has been kicking aside shots all his life - four years at the University of Vermont and 10 years as a professional, but a ruptured skate protector was a first for the 33-year-old Michigan native. The team trainers took the skate for repair and Thomas laced on a spare and resumed practice.
After missing six games with a groin pull, Thomas is ready to play. "He's a full go as of today," said Julien, though as usual he declined to name a starter for tonight's game against Ottawa.
While Thomas was nursing his injury, the Bruins acquired Alex Auld from Phoenix Dec. 6, and the 6-foot-5-inch goalie has filled the Boston net well, going 4-1-0 with a 1.40 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in five starts. Auld's excellence gave the Bruins the freedom to return developing goaltender Tuukka Rask to Providence, while securing a second top-line netminder, one who could challenge Thomas for time.
"Actually, it's a relief," said Thomas. "At this point in the year, you just need to get as many points as you can. To see the team do well while I was injured made it easier for me to concentrate on getting better."
Thomas had not, to his recollection, been sidelined by an injury since 2000, but he has a ton of experience working overtime to prove himself.
It took six years in the minor leagues and in Finland before Thomas got a chance to stick with the Bruins. In 2005-06, he played 38 games (2.77 GAA, .917 save percentage) for Boston, and last season, it was his exceptional play (66 games, 3.13, .905) that kept an up-and-down squad in the playoff race much of the season. This season, Thomas has played 20 games, earning a 10-7-2 record with a 2.14 GAA and a .936 save percentage, which leads the NHL.
He must tire of hearing about another young savior so often, but he doesn't let on.
"There's a guy who's earned his stripes," said former goalie and San Jose scout Cap Raeder. "Maybe they don't want to believe he's a [star] - after all he went through in the minors, he wasn't supposed to make it. But he's a guy who's learned his craft. He's the reason they're where they are. He's not only made it, he's an impact player."
Thomas said he has tried to use the unfamiliar injury time positively.
"We've been working on muscles and movement while I've been injured," he said. "To me, days off are not that big a deal. Maybe it's because of the [frequent] breaks they take in Finland, I'm kind of used to it. College, too. At Vermont, we played our last game Dec. 5 and then didn't play again until Dec. 29."
"Even the summer," Thomas said, and shrugged. "You just adjust to whatever's thrown at you."
He's ready to go.
Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com.
