Tim Thomas

Tim Thomas is an American former ice hockey defenseman who was an All-American for Wisconsin and won a Liiga championship in 1987. His stellar play earned him an invite to the National Team for the upcoming World Championships and he remained with the national team for the remainder of the year. Thomas helped the US win pool-B with an undefeated record and a promotion to the top bracket for the subsequent world championship.

With Wisconsin having won a National Championship in his absence, Thomas remained with Team USA for the next season as they prepared for the 1984 Winter Olympics. He played through the entire season with the program and was even included on the Olympic roster, but he didn't play in any of the games. After a disappointing 7th-place finish, Thomas left the national team and returned to Wisconsin. The team had fallen off the pace after making three consecutive championship games and was now playing just well enough to not make tournament appearances. Upon his return, Thomas produced a monster offensive season, leading the team with 50 assists and finishing second at 63 points. He led all defensemen in the nation in scoring and was named an All-American. After Wisconsin was eliminated from the playoffs, he rejoined the US national team one final time at the World Championships, helping the team to a 4th-place finish.

In his senior season, Thomas's numbers slipped a bit but he was still able to help Wisconsin to a 27-win season. The team, however, was swept in the conference semifinals and missed out on another NCAA tournament. Immediately after the season was over, Thomas began his professional career and played the rest of the season with the Indianapolis Checkers. Despite posting good numbers, he ended up playing the next season in Finland. He joined reigning league champion Tappara and helped the club repeat with their 6th championship.

He was back in North America the following season but ended up playing just 10 games for the Baltimore Skipjacks. He headed back to Europe in 1988 and played a year with Diables Noirs de Tours. After sitting out for a few seasons, Thomas ended his playing career with the Nijmegen Tigers in 1992.

Statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1981–82 Wisconsin WCHA 4410182833————— 1982–83 Wisconsin WCHA 23771431————— 1984–85 Wisconsin WCHA 4213506362————— 1985–86 Wisconsin WCHA 42113849122————— 1985–86 Indianapolis Checkers IHL 103581550222 1986–87 Tappara Tampere SM-liiga 4443750912315 1987–88 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 102467————— 1988–89 ASG Tours Nationale 1A 3017223966————— 1991–92 Nijmegen Tigers Eredivisie 103694————— NCAA totals 151 41 113 154 248 — — — — —

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1982 United States WJC 6th 7 0 3 3 10 1983 United States WJC 5th 7 4 5 9 4 1983 United States WC-B 1st — — — — — 1983–84 United States International — 56 — — — — 1984 United States Olympics 7th 0 0 0 0 0 1985 United States WC 4th 10 0 2 2 16

Awards and honors Award Year All-WCHA First Team 1984–85 AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1984–85