Tim Thomas

[Jumptheshark]

There may not have been anything special about Thomas prior to the 2010-2011 season but in that season he likely provided the Boston Bruins with the best goaltending they ever had and was the principal reason the Bruins won the Cup. Rask is an elite goalie but not sure he will ever scale the heights Thomas did in the 2011 playoffs.

Look at his D--his output had more to do with the system the bruins had in place then his play

 

[Bleedred]

I think Rinne is quite fun to watch. He catches pucks like baseballs with that glove, it just zooms at them no matter where they come. He is also very athletic goalie.

Rinne is about the only big goalie that I like. I'm starting to feel that way about Ben Bishop too. There's too many of these big goalies that just wound up flopping. Blimpback and the Loch Ness Markster being two of the most recent ones. There was also that dude from the Islanders that must have had half of his total NHL wins against the Devils. I used to call him the leaning tower of padsa.

 

[Konk]

Rinne is about the only big goalie that I like. I'm starting to feel that way about Ben Bishop too. There's too many of these big goalies that just wound up flopping. Blimpback and the Loch Ness Markster being two of the most recent ones. There was also that dude from the Islanders that must have had half of his total NHL wins against the Devils. I used to call him the leaning tower of padsa.

Anders Nilsson, now with the Blackhawks as a part of the Nick Leddy trade.

 

[Over the volcano]

2012 Kings - 20 games played - 13 odd man rushes against as per video
2011 Bruins - 25 games played - 32 odd man rushes against as per video



You don't give up that many odd man chances if you have a good defense.

You don't win the Stanley Cup giving up less than 2 goals a game through the playoffs with a bad defense.

It makes no sense at all to use a highlight film as a basis for statistics.

 

[Pizza the Hutt]

Goalies have gone totally monopneumatic ever since they brought in hoverskates and neural blockers. The acrobatics of the early 21st century are a thing of the hyperpast.

 

[RapidFire]

You don't win the Stanley Cup giving up less than 2 goals a game through the playoffs with a bad defense.

It makes no sense at all to use a highlight film as a basis for statistics.

2.12 GA/G is not less than 2 goals a game. Saying bad defense was a bit of an exaggeration, but it wasn't great by any means. Can we at least agree their defense wasn't "great" as say the 2012 Kings, 2008 Wings, 2007 Ducks?

I thought that the 2013 Bruins easily had better defense play.

 

[SenzZen]

Thomas played just like Quick does. Incredibly talented and fast. Often caught out of position and overreacting to plays and making up for it with acrobatic saves.

Yeah I definitely thought of Quick while reading the OP.

Anderson swims around alot, too.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

I just saw some old Tim Thomas-highlights and it hit me how boring todays goalies are. I mean, they basically just stand on their knees all the time. Or are there any aggressive and acrobatic goalies like Tim Thomas out there?

He was playing just last year and was around and playing when most of the goalies you have an issue with were starters as well.

Also, Quick, Miller, Lundqvist, Price, Rinne, Bobrovsky are a few that come to mind when talking about acrobatic saves, especially Quick, Miller, and Bobrovsky.

 

[Over the volcano]

2.12 GA/G is not less than 2 goals a game. Saying bad defense was a bit of an exaggeration, but it wasn't great by any means. Can we at least agree their defense wasn't "great" as say the 2012 Kings, 2008 Wings, 2007 Ducks?

I thought that the 2013 Bruins easily had better defense play.

That's fair enough

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

there was nothing special about Thomas--the fact they changed goalies without missing a beat tells me that his numbers were more of a product of the system in front of him

Too many fans ignore the 10 years as a pro before he went to Boston.

Thomas turned pro in 97/98 and took him to 2008/2009 to actually show some skill or something that separated him from an AHL golaie

Woah. Talk about misinformed! Thomas' peak was higher than nearly any other goalie in history. He was quite the goalie before his vacation.

The fact that his replacement is another top 5 goalie in Rask is why we didn't skip a beat....

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

2.12 GA/G is not less than 2 goals a game. Saying bad defense was a bit of an exaggeration, but it wasn't great by any means. Can we at least agree their defense wasn't "great" as say the 2012 Kings, 2008 Wings, 2007 Ducks?

I thought that the 2013 Bruins easily had better defense play.

In 10-11 and 12-13 we had a top 5 defense and a top 5 goalie. We were a nearly perfect team aside from lacking the star offensive power of other elite teams.

 

[Beerfish]

[mod]

One of my biggest beefs with the league, boring clone goalies with cloned styles. You could literally take about 20 of the starting tenders in this league put them in neutral sweaters and masks and you could not tell them apart.

The other team comes across the line get on your knees. Puck behind the net, get on your knees.

Luckily there are still some good goalies that are not clones (like Quick for example)

 

[HomersWorld]

Petr Mrazek really reminds me of Thomas. Calculated, confident aggressiveness. Sometimes overconfident which leaves you scratching your head.

Mrazek had a wraparound scored on him against the Flames that looked ridiculous, but it gave me a flashback to the OT GWG against Thomas by the Canucks in the finals.

 

[Rebels57]

Jonathan Quick and Sergei Bobrovsky certainly fit into the acrobatic category.

 

[dafoomie]

The Bruins D didn't play well against Tampa and they were not great against Montreal but against Philly and Vancouver especially Chara, Seidenberg, and Boychuk were awesome. They had one subpar bad series and even then they ended it with the best defensive game that I may have ever seen. Not one single mistake, they were perfect and they needed to be.

Their worst defensive performance of the playoffs (and they had a few other awful ones) came against Philly in game 2. The Flyers dominated that game from start to finish, Thomas made 52 saves and stole it. He went into Philly and put the series away, the Flyers knew they were done after that. It was one of his best performances and largely forgotten because of the sweep, but he was a big reason it happened. Different series if they go into Boston with a split.

Tampa gave them major problems, Chara could shut down a top line but Tampa had two. They gave up 5 goals in 3 out of 7 games and blew a 3 goal lead in game 4. They shut down the Sedins vs Vancouver and their scoring depth was criticized but their other forwards got their chances, the video and the shot totals back that up.

 

[TrustyPatches*]

Thomas and Rask were/are the two players benefitting most from the obstruction rule being thrown out the window.

 

[Leafs87]

Brodeur. Never seen anything like it

Hasek

 

[loudi94]

I liked Thomas. Great goalie but couldn't skate for ****.







http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/?id=563268

 

[marquee]

Petr Mrazek really reminds me of Thomas. Calculated, confident aggressiveness. Sometimes overconfident which leaves you scratching your head.

Mrazek had a wraparound scored on him against the Flames that looked ridiculous, but it gave me a flashback to the OT GWG against Thomas by the Canucks in the finals.

Calculated? Sounds more like hasek who i believe mrazek idolized.

 

[TheTakedown]

Rask is like 6'2" and he doesn't look like he has excess padding or big pads at all. In fact Thomas was a lot shorter (5'10"-5'11")but he looked bigger in the body.

Thomas has a much bigger frame than Rask, which plays a part in why his acrobatic saves actually stop the puck. Hasek was a but smaller, but even moreso acrobatic.

 

[mmbt]

Woah. Talk about misinformed! Thomas' peak was higher than nearly any other goalie in history.

Uh what? Do you mean his peak was higher than any other goalie's peak (which I would question, as there have been a lot of goalies with tremendous peak play)? Or that it was higher than any other goalie's career as a whole (which isn't a particularly meaningful comparison)?

 

[Cult of Hynes]

Uh what? Do you mean his peak was higher than any other goalie's peak (which I would question, as there have been a lot of goalies with tremendous peak play)? Or that it was higher than any other goalie's career as a whole (which isn't a particularly meaningful comparison)?

I cant believe someone said that.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Thomas and Rask were/are the two players benefitting most from the obstruction rule being thrown out the window.

Not even close, that award goes to teams like Detroit and others who use clutch, grab, and interference as a main tactic.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Uh what? Do you mean his peak was higher than any other goalie's peak (which I would question, as there have been a lot of goalies with tremendous peak play)? Or that it was higher than any other goalie's career as a whole (which isn't a particularly meaningful comparison)?

I CLEARLY said 'nearly' and yes, his peak from 08-09 until his year off and demise clearly was one of the best in history.

I cant believe someone said that.

Such a well thought out response with reasons! Can't, by the way!