Wayne Thomas
Born (1947-10-09) October 9, 1947
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Rangers
Playing career 1972–1981

Robert Wayne Thomas (born October 9, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers between 1972 and 1981. He also held several positions in coaching and management in the NHL and the minor leagues, including 22 years in management with the San Jose Sharks.

Playing career

Thomas played junior hockey from 1963 to 1967 with the Ottawa Capitals of the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL),[1] and was the league's top goaltender in 1965–66.[2] Thomas then played three years of varsity hockey at the University of Wisconsin under coach Bob Johnson.[3] Thomas recorded a shutout in his first game with Wisconsin in 1968, an 11–0 victory against Pennsylvania.[4] He was with the team in its first appearance in the Frozen Four tournament in Lake Placid, New York in 1970. Thomas ranks in the top 10 all-time for Wisconsin goaltenders in save percentage (.909 – 9th all-time) and goals against average (2.84 – 10th all-time) as of the 2019–20 season.[5]

Thomas's National Hockey League rights were originally held by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who traded him to the Los Angeles Kings in 1968, and who in turn traded him to the Montreal Canadiens in 1970.[6]

Thomas played two seasons with the Montreal and Nova Scotia Voyageurs, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. With the Voyageurs he won the Calder Cup, the AHL championship trophy, in 1972.[7] The following year, he became the tenth goalie to record a shutout in his NHL debut, with a 3–0 Canadiens victory against the Vancouver Canucks.[6] He won his first seven consecutive home starts,[8] and overall recorded an 8–1 regular season record, but did not play in the playoffs; Thomas was the number 3 goalie behind Ken Dryden and Michel Plasse.[9] In 1973–74, with Dryden sitting out the season to complete his bar exam, he shared duties with Plasse and Michel Larocque, playing 42 games and sporting a 2.76 goals against average,[10] but again was not used in the playoffs. On March 10, 1974, Thomas set a Canadiens record with 53 saves in a 5–4 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins; the record has since been tied by Carey Price.[11] Thomas's goals against was the fourth-best average in the NHL, and was Montreal's winner of that year's Molson Cup.[12] He then spent the entire 1974–75 season as Montreal's number 3 goalie, but did not see action in a single game as Dryden returned with Larocque as his backup.[10][12] Thomas was frustrated, but appeased when Montreal general manager Sam Pollock advised him that the team intended to not utilize him but would trade him to a "good situation" in the off season.[13]

After three seasons in Montreal he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in June 1975 for a first-round draft pick.[14] He played in the 1976 All Star game and recorded the win.[3] After two years in Toronto, he became expendable upon the emergence of Mike Palmateer, and the New York Rangers acquired him in the 1977 NHL Waiver Draft, to use him as the backup to John Davidson.[10] When Davidson got injured, Thomas took over as the starter, playing in 41 games that season.[6] Thomas played four seasons with the Rangers and retired in 1981.[15]

Coaching and management career

After retiring as a player, he was hired by the New York Rangers as a goaltending coach, one of the first in professional hockey.[16] By January 1981, Thomas was third on the Rangers' goalie depth chart behind John Davidson and Doug Soetaert, and was seen by coach and general manager Craig Patrick to be more useful to the team as a coach;[17] Thomas was announced to be coaching the team's goalies on January 28.[18] He remained in that position until the end of the 1984–85 season.

In 1985 Thomas became the head coach of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the International Hockey League (IHL), a Rangers affiliate.[19] In his second year in Salt Lake City, the Golden Eagles won the Turner Cup[3] and Thomas was awarded the Commissioner's Trophy as the IHL's Coach of the Year.[20]

In 1986, he returned to the NHL as assistant coach of the Chicago Blackhawks,[3] a hiring based in part on his work with goalies such as Mike Vernon with the Golden Eagles, and Glen Hanlon and John Vanbiesbrouck with the Rangers.[21] Under head coach Bob Murdoch, Thomas focused on Chicago's goalies and was involved in the development of Jimmy Waite and Ed Belfour.[22] During the 1989–90 season, Thomas served as head coach of the St. Louis Blues' IHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen.[23] In January 1990, the Blues temporarily brought him to St. Louis as a de facto goaltender coach to consult on the development of Blues prospects Vincent Riendeau and Curtis Joseph.[23] That summer Thomas was officially named a Blues assistant coach,[24] with specialty in goaltending, and was specifically hired by head coach Brian Sutter for his experience.[25] Thomas stayed on as an assistant coach in 1992 when St. Louis replaced Sutter with Bob Plager.[26]

In 1993, Thomas left the Blues to join the San Jose Sharks as assistant to the general manager and assistant coach. He remained in that role until the 1995–1996 season, when he was named assistant general manager. He was named vice president of the Sharks in 2001. He remained vice president and assistant general manager until his retirement in 2015.[3]

Personal life

Thomas has a bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Wisconsin.[3] He and his wife, Barb, have two daughters,[27] Gretchen and Abby, and three grandchildren, Erik, Elsje, and Harrison.[3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPWLTMINGASOGAASV% GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1964–65 Ottawa Capitals CCHL ————————— ————————
1965–66 Ottawa Capitals CJHL ————————— ————————
1966–67 Ottawa Capitals CJHL ————————— ————————
1966–67 Morrisburg Combines Al-Cup ————————— 3021271306.14—
1967–68 University of Wisconsin NCAA ————————— ————————
1968–69 University of Wisconsin WCHA 169619434422.80.901 ————————
1969–70 University of Wisconsin WCHA 21147012506012.88— 4312401002.50—
1970–71 Montreal Voyageurs AHL 338176184511113.57— 3031791204.02—
1971–72 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 4122810239310012.51— ————————
1972–73 Montreal Canadiens NHL 108105832312.37.911 ————————
1972–73 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 6———300811.60— ————————
1973–74 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4223125241011112.76.905 ————————
1975–76 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 64282412368419623.19.900 10555873413.48.906
1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 3310136179911613.87.890 4122011203.58.886
1977–78 New York Rangers NHL 4112207234914143.60.883 10160404.00.852
1978–79 New York Rangers NHL 3115103166610113.64.866 ————————
1979–80 New York Rangers NHL 124706644403.98.873 ————————
1979–80 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 55002801102.36.927 ————————
1980–81 New York Rangers NHL 103615973403.42.868 ————————
NHL totals 243103933413,743766103.34.891 15688485013.54.898

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-WCHA Second Team 1969–70 [28]

References

  1. ↑ "NHL Alumni ALL TIME". www.thecchl.ca. Central Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "League Awards (By Award)". www.thecchl.ca. Central Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Longtime Sharks Front Office Executive Wayne Thomas Retires". NHL.com. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "This week in Wisconsin hockey". Wisconsin Badgers. University of Wisconsin. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "201920 HKY Fact Book (PDF)" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. University of Wisconsin. p. 86. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Grimm, George (2019). Guardians of the Goal: A Comprehensive Guide to New York Rangers Goaltenders, from Hal Winkler to Ed Giacomin, Henrik Lundqvist, and All Those in Between. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-68358-328-8.
  7. ↑ "Calder Cup Champions – Players". theahl.com. American Hockey League. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Blues Goaltender Jordan Binnington Named NHL Rookie Of The Month". 590 The Fan. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  9. ↑ Mulvoy, Mark (2 April 1973). "A LOT MORE WHERE THEY CAME FROM". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 Herman, Robin (11 October 1977). "Rangers Acquire Thomas, a Goalie". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "Canadiens vs. Predators - Game Recap - November 14, 2009". ESPN. 15 November 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  12. 1 2 Keese, Parton (19 June 1975). "Rangers Make a 5 ‐ Man Trade". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  13. ↑ Brooks, Larry (4 December 2016). "Ex-Ranger knows firsthand predicament of Isles' backup". New York Post. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  14. ↑ Shea, Kevin; Wilson, Jason (2016). The Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club: Official Centennial Publication. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-7931-3. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  15. ↑ Clarity, James F. (7 May 1981). "Rangers Eliminated, but Patrick Is Proud". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  16. ↑ Kennedy, Ryan (25 November 2019). "Mask Mentors: How the coaching profession expanded to include the crease". TheHockeyNews. The Hockey News. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  17. ↑ "Rangers Set Back Canucks, 7-5". The New York Times. 25 January 1981. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  18. ↑ "Transactions". The New York Times. 28 January 1981. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  19. ↑ Yannis, Alex (12 July 1985). "Shifts for 3 Rangers". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  20. ↑ "Commissioners' Trophy award winners at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  21. ↑ Tierney, Tim (10 June 1987). "Hawks Hire Ex-Goalie Thomas as Assistant". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  22. ↑ Tierney, Tim (1 October 1987). "Hawks Drop Goalies Belfour, Waite". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  23. 1 2 Hamilton, Linda (12 January 1990). "Ex-Eagle Skipper is Getting Attention". www.deseret.com. Deseret News. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  24. ↑ "Deals". The New York Times. 24 August 1990. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  25. ↑ Johnston, Mike (2011). Simply the Best: Insights and Strategies from Great Hockey Coaches. Heritage House Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1-926936-78-9. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  26. ↑ "Plager named Blues head coach". UPI. 1 May 1992. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  27. ↑ Halligan, John, ed. (1979–80), The 1979-80 Ranger Yearbook, New York Rangers, p. 49
  28. ↑ "Honors & Awards" (PDF). wcha.com. Western Collegiate Hockey Association. p. 169. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
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