Orr,Neely,Bourque,Esposito & … Thomas?

No one more than Bruins’ fans know that even when you think a playoff series is all but sewn up, it’s far from over. A little over a year ago Boston excelled in their first 3 games of a best of 7 series against a soon to be Stanley Cup Finalist’s Philadelphia Flyers. But they then went in to standby, and got dragged through the muck as passengers for the remaining games. They finished that series, as one of only a few teams in the NHL’s long and proud history to throw away a 3-nil lead to any team in the playoffs.

This hurt fans, management, staff and players alike but arguably no one harder than Thomas, a man is determination personified. Thomas has had something of an undercover career until the last 4-5 years, floating around and perceived as a nearly man product of the American College Hockey system.

After stints in Finland saw him come close to calling an end to his career many thought he might never reach the NHL. Alas, sheer perseverance has seen him get there, and talk about taking your chances. Thomas was a huge factor in Bruins ‘09 season winning the Vezina Trophy for what many thought was sure to be the best season of his career. He excelled in what many saw as a quite average defensive unit, but after injuries left him unable to grasp a good run of games in the 2010 season, his confidence dropped. It looked to all that Tuuka Rask was to be his deputy for the foreseeable future.

However, when the aforementioned collapse in the playoffs took place and left the Bruins red faced, cometh the hour, cometh the man… A born winner and a diehard competitor, Thomas ceased his opportunity to force his way back into the #1 spot, and boy did he do it in style.

At the end of the regular season Thomas was already being tipped for yet another Vezina, he was nothing short of a villain in the net robbing whoever came his way, setting a near breath taking season record which many needed to look at twice to believe. A save % of just .938 combined with a similarly miserly Goals Against Average, and with that he set the all time record beating Dominik Hasek’s record of .937.

The regular season was one thing, but Thomas wasn’t finished there. The first playoff series saw Bruins matched against an old rival, another member of the original six and with it Thomas at times had a more then able opponent in Price. However, where Price fell by the wayside as the series came to a head, Thomas grew in stature, atoning for the few errors that he had uncharacteristically made earlier in the series. The Bruins advanced 4-3.

It was there for all to see now, even in a series where Bruins failed to score on the power play for 6 of the 7 games including a few 5-on-3 periods, Bruins were a different animal this year, they were stronger more focused, and knew that all their effort was backed up and then some by a diamond hard net-minder in Thomas.

After some huge efforts to shut out Philly a second time around and take the series 4 and 0, the hardest test yet is at his door, a best of 7 series against a free scoring monster attack. Tampa Bay boast some of the world’s finest talent all on one line, with a new kid on the block who’s made scoring 40+ a season seem something normal. And he is supported by two of the NHL’s more recent icons in StLouis and LeCavalier. Those 3 alone racked up more goals then some teams looked like scoring in a season. And they did so with ease, and have knocked out some well favored teams along the way to this point, including Alexander “the great” Ovechkin’s Capitals.

Thomas’ series didn’t get off with a huge bang allowing 5 in a 5-2 loss, but now as game 5 has just finished and the Bruins lead 3-2 in the series, its undeniable that even having conceded 5 in 3 of those games, Thomas is the backbone of that team and then some.

If the Bruins should make the Stanley Cup finals, he more than anyone just might be the reason why. And whilst people might think that Thomas has been great in recent years, with his Yoga-Hybrid style and never say die attitude, he’s just one series away from being a legend in Bean-Town!

So whilst many a #1 draft pick has had more “talent” than Thomas, it’s thoughts like this, moments and players like him, that make Hockey great. That a player as much on heart as ability, can make a career that people might remember in years to come.

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