This is most likely the last we have seen of Tim Thomas. Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin will definitely officially be the goaltending tandem for the Boston Bruins when the 2013 season opens at a not-yet-determined date later this month. As for Tim Thomas, he has no interest at all in coming back to Boston.
He’s happy living the family life out in Colorado, which he has been doing since he decided in June to not play for the 2012-13 season. Now to make it official, he is uninterested in fulfilling his final contract year with the Bruins–or, in fact, with any other team at all.
That’s kind of a sour way to end a stellar All-Star, Vezina, Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup-winning career. Add that to his controversial Facebook postings from this summer and it’s easy to see why some, though certainly not all, Bruins fans no longer see him as just the idealistic, do-no-wrong puck stopper that he used to be. It’s okay to feel that way, too. It’s okay to have conflicting opinions on him based on different aspects of his personality. He’s only human.
It’s just a shame that we won’t get a nice lavish retirement ceremony for him, apparently. At least Detroit Red Wings fans got a press conference and one more photo opportunity when Nicklas Lidstrom decided to hang up the skates in May 2012. But on the other hand, at least Thomas sounds happy, and family is very important.
Of course, the team is still on the hook for his $5 million cap hit, so now general manager Peter Chiarelli will need to do a little rearranging to try to handle that. Look for Marc Savard to go on the long-term injured reserve because that will save $4 million. As for the other million? Well, I’m sure Chiarelli will think of something.
Rask said that he wanted to give Thomas a call recently, but when he tried the number he had registered for the former other half of the tandem, he found it didn’t work anymore. Now Rask is hoping to find his new number and call him. As for trying to call Khudobin, who will take Rask’s old role as backup goalie, Rask hasn’t even tried.
“He’s in Russia. I don’t even know what kind of number he’s got there,” he said.
Don’t worry, Rask. Khudobin is probably on his way back to Boston in the next few days. At that time, I’m sure you’ll get a number from him–a number that actually works.
