TC with Tim Thomas

After being overshadowed by the other professional teams in Boston, the Bruins have been getting attentionwith their physical play and first-place start. Tim Thomas has become one of the NHL’s top goalies, following an All-Star season with the best goals-against average and save percentage in the league.

Thomas is an amazing story of perseverance. A ninth-round draft pick out of the University of Vermont, he began his pro career in the ECHL in 1997-98 and played in the AHL, IHL, Finland, and Sweden before ever getting a chance to start an NHL game.

TC: You had to go far and wide to get experience. Because of your journey and what you’ve had to do to establish yourself, do you think you appreciate where you are more than younger guys who jump right into the league?

Thomas: Yeah. When you’re young, at first you’re really appreciative, but I think in general if you get everything when you’re young I do think the danger is there to be satisfied and not to push for greater heights. I’m not the only one; there are other guys on the team, like [Shawn] Thornton, who have played a lot of games in the minors and worked their way up. Even [fellow goalie] Manny Fernandez spent his time in the minors. I do think it does give you a better appreciation.

TC: Playing in the minors is one thing, but you played for teams and even leagues that no longer exist.

Thomas: [laughs] Yeah, but I wanted to play, you know? It never felt like a job, whether it was the East Coast [League] or going to Finland or Sweden, it wasn’t a case of, “Oh, I’ve got to do this, this is the only thing I can do.” I was excited for each individual opportunity. If it worked out that the best job I could get was in the ECHL, if that was the highest level I could play, then when I went over there, I would say, “When I get over there, I’m going to show them what I can do.” That’s how I approached each step.

TC: There was never a point, looking out of a window of a bus or on a plane to Europe, that you wondered, “What the heck am I doing?” You never lost that drive?

Thomas: Never. Never. My first couple of years playing pro were in Finland, and their longest bus ride was like three hours. I will say my bus rides when I was playing in Hamilton [Ontario] were longer, and sometimes I wished for the shorter ones in Finland, but I never wished that the bus rides would be over altogether.

TC: You are 34 years old now. For position players, they’d be considered past their prime. You and Manny are both 34 years old. Why do goalies age so gracefully?

Thomas: [laughs] I don’t know. Good question. I think because of the nature of this position you can, with experience, make it easier. Not that it’s ever easy, because it’s hard for everyone. That’s part of it. Another part of it is that we’re getting hit with pucks, and sometimes that doesn’t feel the greatest, but we’re not getting pounded night in and night out by 240-pound bodies, which is what you have to deal with at the NHL level nowadays. Maybe that’s why age isn’t as much of a factor for goalies. But then you’ve got other guys that are out at their positions that are aging rather well, too, like [46-year-old Chris] Chelios and [39-year-old Joe] Sakic. Playing against Sakic this year and watching him on TV, it doesn’t look like he’s lost a step to me. He looks just as fast.

TC: We’ve seen a lot of games go into the shootout. I guess that’s good for the game, because it’s exciting and fans seem to like them. But as a goalie, would you rather see a game finish in a tie? Seems like it’s all about you at that point.

Thomas: Really, in the big picture, it’s not all about me. It’s all about the fans, and the fans love the shootout. Whether you can do the shootout without making it part of the point process, I don’t know. It is the way it is, and the system is actually working to keep the standings tight. That’s beneficial to the fan base overall, not just in Boston but everywhere. I don’t think that’s something the league’s going to be visiting anytime soon. As a goalie, when you lose in the shootout even if you played a great game, it’s tough to swallow because you end up feeling like you failed, you know? The danger is there to get too low, because the shootout comes down to a toss-up in a certain way. But, like I said, it’s not really about me, it’s about the fans.

TC: The win over Dallas got a lot of fans excited. It was a physical game, and you even skated out toward Stars goalie Marty Turco when it seemed like he was heading toward a fight in your end. Have you ever had a goalie fight before?

Thomas: Never. I’ve never been in a fight with another goalie. I’ve been in a few fights with forwards [laughs] in juniors and in high school but never with the other goalie. Never.

TC: Did you think you were going to have to go after Turco at that point?

Thomas: I didn’t know what he was thinking. The way he skated out, yeah. He’s been struggling this year, he’s frustrated, and his team was down, I thought maybe he just wanted to do this to get out of the game. To try to do something to turn his year around, and I was thinking he’s not going to turn his year around on me.

TC: You were the winning goalie in the NHL All-Star Game last year, and you’ve got the best goals-against average and save percentage in the league right now. Yet you’re not on the All-Star ballot. What’s a guy got to do to earn respect in this league?

Thomas: I don’t know. Be a high draft pick, I guess [laughs]. I’m not on the ballot, but I’m still going to play the best I can so that they can’t overlook me.

TC: There are plenty of fan websites urging a write-in campaign for you, so the word is out.

Thomas: I appreciate that, but it’s not something I can think about on an everyday basis. I’ve just got to think about my job.

OT contributor Tom Caron is the studio host of Boston Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network.