Tiny Thompson

Thompson was born in the mining community of Sandon, British Columbia. He grew up in Calgary, Alberta, where his brother, Paul—who also became a professional ice hockey player—was born in 1906. As a child, he enjoyed playing baseball and ice hockey. As a teenager playing competitive ice hockey, he acquired the nickname "Tiny" as a joke, as he was the tallest player on the team, standing ; the nickname stuck with him for the rest of his career. Thompson began his junior career playing for the Calgary Monarchs in 1919 at the age of 16. He competed for the Memorial Cup, awarded to the Canadian junior hockey champions that year, playing in two games and surrendering 11 goals, a respectable amount in that era. After spending the 1920–21 season playing for Calgary Alberta Grain, Thompson played three seasons in Bellevue, Alberta. In the 1924–25 season, he joined the Duluth Hornets, playing 40 games, recording a shutout in 11 of them. ==NHL career==

Boston Bruins Thompson began his National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Boston Bruins in the 1928–29 season after his contract was purchased by Boston manager Art Ross. Despite having never seen Thompson play, Ross had heard about Thompson's good reputation in Minnesota. In his first season, he appeared in all 44 of the Bruins' games, posting 12 shutouts and a 1.15 goals-against average, the fourth-lowest goals-against average in NHL history to date, behind Alec Connell's 1.12 GAA and George Hainsworth's 1.05 and 0.98 GAA. Hainsworth set his record that same season. Thompson recorded three shutouts in the five playoff games, and allowed only three goals. The following season, Thompson again appeared in all of the Bruins' 44 games, posting three shutouts and a 2.19 goals-against average. The league changed its rules on forward passing, which resulted in a sharp increase in goal-scoring. Surrendering only 98 goals, Thompson bested Chicago goaltender Charlie Gardiner to win the first of his four Vezina Trophies. The Vezina Trophy is awarded to the league's top goaltender, which was determined prior to the 1981–82 season by number of goals surrendered by goaltenders who had played a minimum number of games. In the playoffs, however, they suffered their first two-game losing streak, as they were swept 2–0 by the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals. Earlier in the playoffs, Thompson's winning streak of seven playoff games was snapped; it remains, as of 2014, the longest playoff winning streak to start a career. In the 1930–31 season, he played all 44 games again, In the playoffs, Boston lost the semifinals to the Montreal Canadiens; during game two of the series Thompson became the first goaltender to be pulled for a sixth attacker at the end of a game to give his team a higher chance to score a goal. Even though Boston still lost, coach Art Ross' maneuver was described as "amazing" the following day, and this technique, known as "open net", caught on with the rest of the league. The Bruins missed the playoffs for the first time in Thompson's career in the 1931–32 season. He won only 13 games while appearing in 43 out of Boston's 48 games, which was the only time he missed games as a member of the Bruins. as he recorded 11 shutouts and a 1.76 goals-against average. as Thompson was named to the second All-Star team for the second time. The ensuing two-game, total-goal playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs was a series of contrasts, as the Bruins lost 8–6. In the opening game, the Bruins shut out Toronto 3–0, while they lost the other game 8–3. Thompson set a new record by winning his fourth and final Vezina Trophy. He was also named to the first All-Star team for the second time. To make space for Brimsek, Thompson was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Normie Smith and $15,000 on November 16, 1938; Thompson also received a $1,000 bonus from Boston. Boston manager Art Ross predicted that Thompson, now 35, would play for the Red Wings for at least another five seasons; however, Thompson remained with the team for only two seasons before retiring from playing. The Red Wings posted a losing record in both of these seasons, although they made the playoffs both times. Overall, Thompson appeared in 85 regular-season games for Detroit, recording a 32–41–12 record, seven shutouts, and a 2.54 goals-against average, and in 11 playoff games, posting a 5–6, with one shutout and a 2.41 goal-against average. ==Post-NHL career==

After retiring from professional play, Thompson became the head coach of the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League (AHL) in the 1940–41 season. He appeared in one game as goaltender in the 1940–41 season. During World War II, Thompson served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and doubled as the coach of the Calgary RCAF Mustangs of the Alberta Senior Hockey League. He led the Mustangs to the league championship series in 1942–43 against the Calgary Currie Army team where injuries to the Mustangs' goaltenders brought him back onto the ice in March 1943. With Thompson in goal, the Mustangs defeated Currie Army 8–4 to tie the best-of-five series at two wins apiece. He played the deciding game, but his team fell short of winning the Alberta title with a 3–1 loss to Currie Army. After the war, Thompson became chief Western Canada scout for the Chicago Black Hawks. He was one of the few scouts at the time who sought to discover a player's personality along with their playing ability. Thompson often conversed with players as part of an effort to learn about the players he was watching. ==Playing style==

Thompson was "the first of the great floppers" and frequently dove on his belly to stop a puck. He was one of the first NHL goaltenders to catch the puck with his hand to make a save, and helped popularize the technique. Using gloves that were smaller than those of other players, he was among the best puck-catchers of his era. He stood in the way of the puck with minimal padding, risking being struck when moving to catch it instead of simply deflecting it away from the net. His signature technique, very often featured in photographs of him, involved dropping to one knee with the paddle of his goalstick covering the five-hole, and extending his glove to cover the left side of the net. Although he caught the puck with his glove, the gloves he had did not have anything like the level of safety and comfort provided by the modern blocker and trapper glove combination. Thompson was described by Johnny Bower, a former goaltender who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, as a good puckhandler, and one of the best of his time at forward passing. In the 1935–36 season, Thompson became the first goaltender to get an assist by intentionally passing the puck with his stick to a fellow player. ==Legacy==

Thompson's points percentage in a season of .875, recorded in the 1929–30 season, still remains a record. His 38 wins during that season was a Boston record that was eclipsed only in the 1982–83 season, by Pete Peeters (who won 40 of 62 games played); since then, no Bruins goaltender has had more than 37 wins in a season. His 14 consecutive wins that regular season also set an NHL record, which has since been tied by 3 other goaltenders. Thompson is the all-time Bruins leader for shutouts and goals-against average. Thompson held the records for most games played (468) and wins (252) by a Bruins goaltender until 2019, when both records were surpassed by Tuukka Rask. Throughout his entire NHL career, Thompson accrued 81 shutouts, which is sixth all-time in NHL history, He also posted seven shutouts in the playoffs. He still has the most shutouts in Bruins history with 74. He is fifth all-time in goals-against average, allowing on average only 2.08 per a 60-minute span. He led all goaltenders in regular-season games played 10 times, and in regular-season wins five times. In 1959, Thompson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He died in Calgary on February 9, 1981. He was survived by his wife, Edith, and his daughter, Sandra. In 2023, he was named one of the top 100 Bruins players of all time as part of their All-Centennial Team. ==Career statistics==

Regular season and playoffs ==Awards==

NHL Boston Bruins ==References==