Hifkissäkin pelannut Tim Thomas havittelee paikkaa Bruinsien kokoonpanossa...
WILMINGTON (September 13, 2001) - If Tim Thomas is fighting for a roster spot with the Boston Bruins, he put on a good battle Thursday night.
Thomas was the winning goalie for the Bruins’ Black team during the team’s annual Black and White intrasquad scrimmage at Ristuccia Arena. The former University of Vermont goalie sealed a 3-2 win over the White team with two saves in a surprising game-deciding shootout.
"It was good to win it. Other days it’ll go the other way, but when it goes your way, you’re happy about it," Thomas said.
The Bruins played pretty evenly against each other, swapping goals nearly instantly during the first 40-minute period and again in the second 30-minute period.
New Bruin Martin Lapointe got the scoring started halfway through the first period on a pass from Mikko Eloranta that sailed past goalie Andrew Raycroft. The Black team tied it up with 22:00 remaining when defenseman Jiri Jakes took a pass from rookie Andy Hilbert and got the puck past starting White goalie John Grahame.
In the second period, Ivan Huml got a shot from the point past Grahame, and the Black had a 2-1 lead for an entire minute of play. Thomas, who entered the game at the start of the second period, allowed the only goal against him to P.J. Axelsson, who knotted the score at two where it remained until the final whistle.
That’s when Bruins head coach Robbie Ftorek motioned to the referees from the stands in the arena that he wanted the score settled by a shootout. That came as some surprise to many of the Bruins playing. Rob Zamuner admitted that he certainly wasn’t thinking about it.
"The less you think in this game, the better you are," he said.
Thomas, however, did have the thought in the back of his mind. The goalie signed with Boston as a free agent this season after spending last year with AIK Solna in the Swedish Elite League, and had a 2.48 goals against average. With recent time logged in both Europe and the IHL, where the shootout is used to decide deadlocks, the goalie said he has become used to it.
"I made myself mentally prepared just in case it did happen," he said.
Good idea. Thomas stopped shots by White team members Martin Lapointe and Joe Thornton, while Zamuner and Andy Hilbert snuck a couple past Grahame for the win. In all, not a bad debut to the exhibition season by Thomas.
"Your goal every time is to let in zero and I let in one, but I’m just trying to do the best I can. It’s camp and I’m just trying to show how I can play," he said.
WILMINGTON (September 13, 2001) - If Tim Thomas is fighting for a roster spot with the Boston Bruins, he put on a good battle Thursday night.
Thomas was the winning goalie for the Bruins’ Black team during the team’s annual Black and White intrasquad scrimmage at Ristuccia Arena. The former University of Vermont goalie sealed a 3-2 win over the White team with two saves in a surprising game-deciding shootout.
"It was good to win it. Other days it’ll go the other way, but when it goes your way, you’re happy about it," Thomas said.
The Bruins played pretty evenly against each other, swapping goals nearly instantly during the first 40-minute period and again in the second 30-minute period.
New Bruin Martin Lapointe got the scoring started halfway through the first period on a pass from Mikko Eloranta that sailed past goalie Andrew Raycroft. The Black team tied it up with 22:00 remaining when defenseman Jiri Jakes took a pass from rookie Andy Hilbert and got the puck past starting White goalie John Grahame.
In the second period, Ivan Huml got a shot from the point past Grahame, and the Black had a 2-1 lead for an entire minute of play. Thomas, who entered the game at the start of the second period, allowed the only goal against him to P.J. Axelsson, who knotted the score at two where it remained until the final whistle.
That’s when Bruins head coach Robbie Ftorek motioned to the referees from the stands in the arena that he wanted the score settled by a shootout. That came as some surprise to many of the Bruins playing. Rob Zamuner admitted that he certainly wasn’t thinking about it.
"The less you think in this game, the better you are," he said.
Thomas, however, did have the thought in the back of his mind. The goalie signed with Boston as a free agent this season after spending last year with AIK Solna in the Swedish Elite League, and had a 2.48 goals against average. With recent time logged in both Europe and the IHL, where the shootout is used to decide deadlocks, the goalie said he has become used to it.
"I made myself mentally prepared just in case it did happen," he said.
Good idea. Thomas stopped shots by White team members Martin Lapointe and Joe Thornton, while Zamuner and Andy Hilbert snuck a couple past Grahame for the win. In all, not a bad debut to the exhibition season by Thomas.
"Your goal every time is to let in zero and I let in one, but I’m just trying to do the best I can. It’s camp and I’m just trying to show how I can play," he said.