No Gas in the Tank? The Decline of Tim Thomas

What are you thinking?!

All goaltenders are a little crazy.  You’ve got to have a screw loose somewhere if you’re willing to have frozen vulcanized rubber launched at you at 100+ mph.  This whole Tim Thomas thing really drives that home. 

“Crazy?” you ask.

Yes. Crazy. 

It would be a little better if the 38-year-old Tim Thomas had announced via press conference or through the Bruins organization that he was taking the year off or retiring.  But no, we got a cryptic Facebook post preaching about family, friends and faith.  He has stated that he would like to take the year off, but nothing is certain.  Bruins and NHL fans alike are still utterly confused as to what the Tank will be doing next season.  Even Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli has no idea what he’ll be doing next season.  In a recent interview with CSNNE.com Chiarelli said, “Nothing is definitive, I guess… I’m just operating under the assumption he’s not coming back.”

Politics and hockey don't mix.

Wait… what?

The Boston Bruins organization still does not know with 100% confidence what Tim Thomas will be doing this season.  Is he retiring?  Is he taking a year off?  Is he coming back?  This is a guy who had the most saves in a Stanley Cup finals series (238), the most saves in a playoff run (798) and a two-time Vezina trophy winner.  Not to mention, this guy won the Conn Smythe in 2011 when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, establishing himself as the Bruins most valuable player. 

This guy went from King to Jester in the Boston sports kingdom is just under a year.  The four-time all-star first came under scrutiny this past year when he refused to traditionally visit the White House with the Bruins organization for personal reasons.  And while I can understand standing up for your opinions and beliefs, it is absolutely unacceptable that he refused to attend a team function of that kind of magnitude. 

I used to be like this. No joke.

It’s about being a team, Timmy!  We don’t care if you’d rather have a beer with Glenn Beck, just don’t talk about it!  We don’t care if you disagree with President Barack Obama’s constitutional interpretations, just play the damn game!  Don’t use your stardom to make the target on your back any bigger than it has to be!  It makes me so upset because I used to idolize this guy.  I met him at my school, (the University of Vermont) when he visited last year with the Stanley Cup.  I fan-boyed out on his wife and daughters and nearly fainted when I shook his hand.  But now I’ve lost a tremendous amount of respect for the guy.  You can’t just quit when you still have one year on your contract.  You can’t just stop being a teammate. That's crazy.

To be honest, I’d rather just see him retire at this point.  If he’s really that tired and there’s no more gas in the tank, why would you put it off for another year? What’s he going to do when he comes back from his year hiatus?  Play backup for Tuukka Rask at age 40?  It’s Tuukka time, ladies and gentlemen.  The legend of Tim Thomas is over.

The one who flew over the Thomas nest

As I reported on Friday Tim Thomas has officially announced via Facebook of all places, that he plans to sit out the 2012-2013 season. I don't see why he is doing this, he won't gain anything from it. If he sits out for the year he doesn't get paid 5million and his trade value goes to nothing. Let's also point out the fact of how much he's screwing the franchise that has stuck with him. The Bruins have been nothing but fantastic to him by bringing him in and let him play his way. By Thomas doing this the Bruins are now still in the hook for the 5million, that's alot of money they could use to boost up their team.
I still can't believe that almost exactly a year ago Tim Thomas was the most popular goalie the Bruins have had since Andy Moog and Gerry Cheevers.
How about going out in class by finishing up your contract with the Bruins either by becoming the backup, or making another run at a Stanley cup.
Don't get me wrong I will always be thankful for what he has done    
and I understand the importance of friends and family, but I feel that's a lame excuse for your actions.

Much needed Vacation

The Boston Globe is reporting that Tim Thomas is thinking of sitting out of the 2012-13 season. He will be in the last year of his contract and also has a no trade claus. The Bruins are in contract negotiations currently with Chris Kelly. Thomas hasn't stated yet if he wants to play after this upcoming season. Let's face it though how much more does he have to prove 2time Vezina trophy winner, 2 time NHL all star, 2011 Conn Smythe trophy winner and of course a Stanley Cup Champion.
Maybe its time to step aside and let Rask take the reins and for Thomas to relax a tad.

It's been awhile, I shouldn't have left you without a dope blog to read to

So the last time I posted a couple of things have happened, the Red Sox and Theo Epstein have parted ways.The famous  fried chicken / beer scandal, and other type of things. But I have to say that I have enough of the fried chicken and beer talk.I defiantly think that its time for Red Sox nation and the players to get over themselves and start looking at what our next move should be.

The NBA / David Stern is ready to announce the cancellation of more regular season games. Which should take them to mid November. I personally don't care because I lost all interest in the NBA as soon as the NHL season started.








The Bruins are not playing to good and their record of 3-5 have some "Pink Hats" jumping ship already. What did they honestly expect? that they would go 8-0? Perfection takes time and that's exactly what the fans need to realize. Thomas and the rest of the core Bruins who won the Stanley cup are intact. Yes, they did have a short summer and alot of celebrations to deal with.The Bruins will put it together I just know it.








The Patriots are set to Sunday matinee at 4:15pm, and it's sure to be a good game. The Steelers are coming off a 32-20 win against the Cardinals, and the Patriots are coming off a bye week. I look for the Patriots to have a slow start and then take care of business and pull it out at the end. But next week is no walk in the park either when they face up against the New York football Giants.






Just in case you cared, or didn't know the Texas Rangers are one win away from taken home the trophy against the St Louis Cardinals. I for one didn't watch much baseball this year so I couldn't give you any insight on the series, nor would you actual care about my opinion lol.

Time to move on

Team posing with Cup and Banner 

"Presenting your 2011 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS" 

So the Garden was electrifying last night with the raising of the banner and showing of the cup to the home audience. It def was an emotional night and you could see that in every persons eye that was in black and gold.

However the embracing of the night lead to a 2-1 loss to the Flyers. Brad Marchand (Moshmont) got wide open and received a half ice pass from Tyler Seguin. Marchand scored with a beautiful backhand goal. Tim Thomas gave us a pretty good outing saving 29-31 shots on goal, and even with the loss he was as good as we thought he would be. 

Before the game it was announced that Andrew Ference, and Chris Kelly would be the holders of the "A" patch (Assistant Captains patch). I would have thought that either Shawn Thorton, or Nathan Horton might have gotten it . 

The sure to be hall of famer Recchi getting the jacket one last time 

The Bruins will get back to action this Saturday at 7:00pm against another familiar foe, the Tampa Bay Lighting. Look for Martin St Louis and Stephen Stamkos to make an early impact, (revenge) but the Bruins will be the more dominating ones in this. The new season has begun and now the celebrating can officially end. "We Want another CUP!!"