White is in

Tim Thomas in his new white pads. (Fluto Shinzawa/Globe Photo)

WILMINGTON -- What's that saying about not wearing white after Labor Day?

Tim Thomas hasn't heard about it.

Thomas, following the trend started by Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, has ditched his yellow pads and gone to white.

"Decided to give it a try," said Thomas.

Last season, upon the suggestion of optometrist Janet Leduc, Fleury changed to white pads from yellow. The theory, according to Leduc, is that yellow -- think of school buses -- catches the eye more than any other color, making Fleury and his pads stand out to shooters, especially framed against the white end boards. If Fleury wore white pads, he'd blend into the boards and perhaps appear bigger to shooters. Fleury made the switch, and we all know how far he helped carry the Penguins.

Thomas, Manny Fernandez, and Tuukka Rask are now all wearing white pads. Kevin Regan is still using his blue University of New Hampshire pads.

Tim Thomas in his old pads last season. (AP Photo)

This summer, Thomas participated in a goalie group (Alex Auld was also there) in Toronto that discussed various issues. Later in the summer, Buffalo's Ryan Miller, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, and the Islanders' Rick DiPietro were the representatives in the NHLPA's goalie working group that collaborated with the NHL.

The issue of white pads was discussed, and according to Thomas, the notion was floated to ban them altogether if they provide netminders an advantage.

"That didn't go over too well," Thomas said.

Another idea discussed was to change the color of the netting from white to yellow to help shooters spot the net.

"If you do that," Thomas recalled saying, "I'm going to keep my pads gold so they can blend in."