Christian Thomas (ice hockey) explained

Christian Thomas
Team:HC Bílí Tygři Liberec
League:ELH
Former Teams:New York Rangers
Montreal Canadiens
Arizona Coyotes
Rögle BK
Traktor Chelyabinsk
SC Bern
KooKoo
Barys Nur-Sultan
HC Bolzano
Ntl Team:Canada
Position:Right Wing
Shoots:Right
Height Ft:5
Height In:9
Weight Lb:180
Birth Date:26 May 1992
Birth Place:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Draft:40th overall
Draft Year:2010
Draft Team:New York Rangers
Career Start:2011

Christian Patrick Thomas[1] (born May 26, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for HC Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga. He was selected in the second round, 40th overall, by the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.[2] [3] Thomas has also previously played for the Montreal Canadiens and Arizona Coyotes. He is the son of former NHL player Steve Thomas.[2] [4]

Playing career

Junior

Thomas started his junior hockey career with the OHL London Knights in 2008 as the 13th overall selection in the OHL Priority Selection. He was traded to the Generals in the middle of the season in a trade in which London received Michael Del Zotto, John Tavares and Daryl Borden.[5] [6] [7] [8] During the 2008–09 season, Thomas scored four goals each for the Knights and the Generals.[8] In 2009–10, his second OHL season, Thomas scored 41 goals.[3] [9] Tyler Seguin and Jeff Skinner were the only two 2010 first round draft picks to score more goals in junior hockey in 2009–10 than Thomas.[3] He also was credited with 25 assists, for a total of 66 points, leading Oshawa in both goals and points.[9] He had four shorthanded goals during the season, a new Oshawa franchise record. He was named the Eastern Conference's most improved player in a post-season coaches poll, and was also in the top three in several other categories—best shot, hardest shot, most dangerous in goal area, and best stickhandler.[8] [10]

In 2010–11, Christian Thomas finished second in the league with 54 goals and sixth in the league in scoring with 99 points, while also tying for the league lead in power play goals.[11] [12] [13] He also finished 5th in the league in game-winning goals with nine.[14] 12 of his regular season goals came against the Kingston Frontenacs, Oshawa's first round playoff opponent.[15] He was named the OHL player of the week three times, including for the first week of the OHL playoffs.[16] At the time Oshawa was eliminated from the OHL playoffs, Thomas was leading the OHL in playoff scoring, and he ended up 7th overall in playoff points and 9th in playoff goals. In the post-season coaches poll, he was named as having the OHL Eastern Conference's best shot and as "most dangerous in the goal area," after finishing as runner up in those categories the prior year.[17] [18] He also repeated his runner-up status as having the conference's hardest shot.[17] [18] Thomas' 95 goals over the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons are more than any other OHL player over those two seasons. As a result of Thomas scoring more than 50 goals in 2010–11, Steve and Christian Thomas became the first father son combination to each score 50 goals in a single OHL season.[19] [20] [21] Steve Thomas had scored 51 goals for the Marlboros in 1983–84.[4]

Thomas got off to a slow start in the 2011–12 season, marred by a 10-game suspension for a high-sticking incident.[22] [23] However, he recovered and was named the OHL player of the week for the week of November 28 to December 4 for scoring 3 goals and 6 assists with a +6 plus-minus rating in 2 games.[24] He was also named the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) player of the week for that week, beating out Jérôme Gauthier-Leduc and fellow New York Ranger draftee Michael St. Croix for the honour.[25] He finished the season with 67 points in 55 games with 34 goals and 33 assists.[9] In 6 playoff games he scored 2 goals and 2 assists.[26] After the Generals were eliminated from the 2012 playoffs, Thomas joined the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL).[27]

Professional

Thomas signed a professional contract with the Rangers on May 19, 2011.[28] He scored his first professional goal for the Connecticut Whale on April 13, 2012, against the Manchester Monarchs.[29] In five regular season games for the Whale in 2011–12, Thomas scored that one goal and added one assist.[9] [30] He also played for the Whale in the AHL playoffs.[30] On February 23, 2013, Thomas was recalled to the Rangers.[31] Thomas made his NHL debut that night against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal, and was scoreless with 2 shots on goal in 12 minutes as the Rangers were shut out.[32] [33] Thomas returned to the Whale after the game.[34] He finished the 2012–13 AHL season with 19 goals and 16 assists in 73 games for the Whale.[9] After the 2012–13 Whale season, he was added to the Rangers' playoff roster.[35]

On July 2, 2013, Thomas was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for prospect Danny Kristo.[36]

In the 2014–15 season, on February 12, 2015, Thomas scored his first NHL goal against Edmonton Oilers in Montreal, Quebec at the Bell Centre.[37]

During the 2015–16 season, on December 15, 2015, Thomas was traded by the Canadiens to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for prospect Lucas Lessio.[38] He was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons He was recalled for 2 games before the All-Star Break and appeared in a solitary game with the Coyotes before being returned to the AHL during the All-Star Break. During his first game upon returning to the AHL he suffered a season ending injury which required surgical repair.

On July 1, 2016, Thomas signed as a free agent to a one-year, two-way contract with the Washington Capitals.[39] In 65 games with the Bears in the 2016–17 season, Thomas added 24 goals and 49 points.

As a free agent in the following off-season, Thomas was unable to secure an NHL contract and later agreed to a one-year AHL deal with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, affiliate to the Pittsburgh Penguins, on September 13, 2017, in order to maintain his Olympic team eligibility.[40]

After completing his sixth professional season, Thomas signed his first contract abroad as a free agent, agreeing to a one-year deal with Swedish club, Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), on July 12, 2018.[41] On November 1, 2018, Thomas left the SHL in order to sign a contract for the remainder of the season with Russian outfit, Traktor Chelyabinsk, of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[42]

In the following 2019–20 season, Thomas continued in the KHL with Chelyabinsk, contributing with just 2 goals and 3 points in 20 games. With Traktor finishing well out of playoff contention, on February 17, 2020, Thomas left the KHL and joined SC Bern of the National League (NL) to provide depth for the final playoffs push.[43]

Thomas signed with HC Bozen-Bolzano in August 2022.[44]

On June 18, 2024, Czech Extraliga club HC Bílí Tygři Liberec announced Thomas had been signed to a one-year contract.[45]

International play

Thomas represented Canada at the 2010 IIHF World U18 Championships.[46] [47] He had two goals and one assist in six games for Team Canada.[46] [47] He was invited to the selection camp for Canada's National Junior Team for the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[25] In November 2017, as part of the Olympic evaluation process, Thomas travelled to Finland as a member of Team Canada to participate in the Karjala Cup. In the final Olympic evaluation tournament, Thomas won the Spengler Cup with Team Canada in Davos, Switzerland on December 31, 2017. Thomas was then selected as a member of Canada's team for the 2018 Winter Olympics where he earned the bronze medal.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

  Regular season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
2008–09London KnightsOHL3247114
2008–09Oshawa GeneralsOHL274101410
2009–10Oshawa GeneralsOHL6441256627
2010–11Oshawa GeneralsOHL665445993810910194
2011–12Oshawa GeneralsOHL553433671262240
2011–12Connecticut WhaleAHL5112060000
2012–13Connecticut WhaleAHL7319163515
2012–13New York RangersNHL10000
2013–14Hamilton BulldogsAHL5511162722
2013–14Montreal CanadiensNHL20000
2014–15Hamilton BulldogsAHL5211112218
2014–15Montreal CanadiensNHL181017
2015–16St. John's IceCapsAHL1877144
2015–16Montreal CanadiensNHL50222
2015–16Springfield FalconsAHL163474
2015–16Arizona CoyotesNHL10000
2016–17Hershey BearsAHL65242549651010
2017–18Wilkes–Barre/Scranton PenguinsAHL511816341420002
2018–19Rögle BKSHL110110
2018–19Traktor ChelyabinskKHL35910192241012
2019–20Traktor ChelyabinskKHL202136
2019–20SC BernNL11010
2020–21KooKooLiiga32101323622020
2021–22Barys Nur–SultanKHL90110
2021–22SC BernNL28107174
2022–23HC BolzanoICEHL48251035101946108
2023–24HC BolzanoICEHL4817213810111454
AHL totals335949619083131012
NHL totals271239
KHL totals641112232841012

International

YearTeamEventResult GPGAPtsPIM
2009Canada OntarioU1762026
2010Canada7th62136
2018CanadaOG61122
Junior totals 12 41512
Senior totals 61122

Notes and References

  1. The middle name "Patrick" is confirmed in the "BIRTHS DEATHS" section of the Toronto Star dated Saturday May 30, 1992 page C7. "Births" section.
  2. Web site: Rangers Select Thomas, Son of Former Islanders & Devils Forward. Brooks, L.. June 27, 2010. New York Post. 2011-03-25.
  3. Web site: Rangers select Steve Thomas' son, Christian, in second round. Zipay, S.. June 26, 2010. Newsday. 2011-04-04.
  4. Web site: Steve Thomas. hockeydb.com. 2011-04-04.
  5. Web site: OHL: Mark Hunter willing to wear it for London Knights' tumble. Sager, N.. Yahoo!. November 26, 2010. 2011-04-04.
  6. Web site: Tavares dealt to London. 2011-04-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20090604180233/http://sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/2009/01/08/tavares_trade/. 2009-06-04. dead.
  7. Web site: Christian Thomas hoping to follow in dad's shoes. June 21, 2010. McGourty, J.. nhl.com. 2011-04-12.
  8. Web site: Prospect Watch: Christian Thomas. Boylen, R.. December 23, 2010. The Hockey News. 2011-04-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20120328031309/http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/37243-Prospect-Watch-Christian-Thomas.html. March 28, 2012. dead.
  9. Web site: Christian Thomas. hockeydb.com. 2011-04-04.
  10. Web site: OHL Announces 2009–10 Eastern Conference Coaches Poll Winners. hockeysfuture.com. 2011-04-18. 2010-03-24.
  11. Web site: 2010–11 OHL Goal Leaders . . 2011-04-04 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110522150428/http://ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/show/type/records . 2011-05-22 .
  12. Web site: 2010–11 OHL Scoring Leaders . . 2011-04-04 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110406190017/http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/show/type/top_scorers . 2011-04-06 .
  13. Web site: 2010–11 OHL Power Play Goal Leaders . . 2011-04-04 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120509201708/http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/show/type/records/ls_season/42/subtype/2 . 2012-05-09 .
  14. Web site: 2010–11 OHL Game Winning Goal Leaders. Ontario Hockey League. 2011-04-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20120515220029/http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/show/type/records/ls_season/42/subtype/5. 2012-05-15. dead.
  15. Web site: Fronts paying plenty of attention to Generals star. https://archive.today/20120912224319/http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3041148. dead. 2012-09-12. Graham, D.. Kingston Whig-Standard. 2011-04-18.
  16. Web site: Thomas is OHL's best once again. Vancouver Sun. March 28, 2011. 2011-04-04.
  17. Web site: IceDogs Lead the Way in Eastern Conference Coaches Poll. March 12, 2011. Niagara IceDogs. 2011-04-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20110823070042/http://niagara.localsportsreport.com/News/icedogs-lead-the-way-in-eastern-conference-coaches-poll. 2011-08-23. dead.
  18. Web site: Boys coming together at right time. The Oshawa Express. April 15, 2011. 2011-04-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20111007013433/http://www.oshawaexpress.ca/viewposting.php?view=943. October 7, 2011. dead.
  19. Web site: Thomas' promise reflected in numbers. newyorkrangers.com. 2011-03-21.
  20. Web site: Generals' Christian Thomas follows in father Steve's 50-goal footsteps. Toronto Star. Zwolinski, M.. March 24, 2011. 2011-03-25.
  21. Web site: Nugent-Hopkins tops in WHL . March 14, 2011 . . 2011-03-25 .
  22. Web site: Generals' Thomas Closes In On Savard for 5th All-Time. Headley, A.. Ontario Hockey League. 2012-03-02.
  23. Web site: World Junior Power Rankings. December 5, 2011. King, P.. sportsnet.ca. 2011-12-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20120115140313/http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/2011/12/05/king_power_rankings/. January 15, 2012. dead.
  24. Web site: Generals' Christian Thomas Named OHL Player of the Week. Ontario Hockey League. December 5, 2011. 2011-12-08.
  25. Web site: Generals' Christian Thomas Named CHL Player of the Week. Ontario Hockey League. December 6, 2011. 2011-12-08.
  26. Web site: Top scorers: 2012 playoffs. Ontario Hockey League. 2012-04-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20120326203051/http://ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/show/type/top_scorers/ls_season/45/first/40. 2012-03-26. dead.
  27. Web site: Two More Ranger Draft Picks Join Whale. Connecticut Whale. April 1, 2012. 2012-04-08.
  28. Web site: Thomas agrees to first NHL contract. New York Rangers. 2011-05-20.
  29. Web site: Whale's Last Regular-Season Home Game Yields 5–4 Shootout Loss. Ring, B.. Connecticut Whale. 2012-04-16. https://archive.today/20120723052443/http://www.ctwhale.com/news/index.html?article_id=976. 2012-07-23. dead.
  30. Web site: A Tale of Two Thomas'. Crawford, B.. May 4, 2012. SportsPageMagazine.com. 2012-05-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20120915150226/http://www.sportspagemagazine.com/content/hy/all-hy/art-all-hy/a-tale-of-two-thomas.shtml?52528. 2012-09-15. dead.
  31. Web site: NY Rangers recall Christian Thomas and Steve Eminger prior to Saturday's game in Montreal, Rick Nash placed on IR retroactively. Leonard, P.. New York Daily News. February 23, 2013. 2013-02-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20130225090545/http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/rangers/2013/02/ny-rangers-recall-christian-thomas-and-steve-eminger-prior-to-saturday%E2%80%99s-game-in-mon. 2013-02-25. dead.
  32. Web site: Price and Canadiens shut out Rangers 3–0. Associated Press. February 23, 2013. 2013-02-23. 2016-04-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20160418112034/https://sports.yahoo.com/news/price-canadiens-shut-rangers-3-031320546--nhl.html. dead.
  33. Web site: NY Rangers at Montreal. February 23, 2013. 2013-02-23.
  34. Web site: Rangers assign Thomas to Whale. Connecticutplus.com. February 26, 2013. 2013-02-28. 2016-03-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205554/http://connecticutplus.com/cplus/information/news/hockey/Rangers-assign-Thomas-to-Whale1952219522.shtml. dead.
  35. Web site: Rangers call up 10 players from Whale. April 28, 2013. New York Rangers. 2013-04-29.
  36. Web site: Rangers trade Thomas to Canadiens for Kristo . . 2013-07-02 . 2013-07-02.
  37. Web site: (Video) First NHL Goal: Thomas opens scoring for Canadiens with bullet past Fasth. Hockey's Future. 18 February 2015. 2015-02-13.
  38. Web site: Coyotes Acquire Thomas from Montreal in Exchange for Lessio . . 2015-12-15 . 2015-12-15.
  39. Web site: Capitals sign Cannata, Dietz and Thomas . . 2016-07-01 . 2016-07-01.
  40. Web site: Penguins sign Christian Thomas . . 2017-09-13 . 2017-09-13.
  41. Web site: Attacker ready for Rogle! . . 2018-07-12 . 2018-07-12 . Swedish.
  42. Web site: Traktor agree to terms with Canadian Thomas . . 2018-11-01 . 2018-11-01 . Russian.
  43. Web site: Christian Thomas joins SCB . . February 17, 2020 . February 17, 2020 . German.
  44. Web site: Swiss Hockey News . Next stop Bolzano - Christian Thomas to play in the ICEHL . swisshockeynews.ch . 30 August 2022 . 14 January 2023.
  45. Web site: The Hockey News . Ex-NHLer Christian Thomas signs with Czech club Liberec . thehockeynews.com . 18 June 2024 . 20 June 2024.
  46. Web site: Christian Thomas. CapGeek.com. 2011-07-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20110703080017/http://www.capgeek.com/players/display.php?id=2025. 2011-07-03. dead.
  47. Web site: Player Statistics by Team: Canada. https://web.archive.org/web/20210509144500/http://reports.iihf.hockey/Hydra/211/IHM2110CAN_83_6_0.pdf. live. May 9, 2021. IIHF. 2011-07-06.