It was after midnight in the bowels of IMA Sports Arena on March 3, 1991, nearly
four hours after the hockey game began on March 2, 1991.
“It’s past my curfew,” said a smiling Tim Thomas, Davison High School’s junior goaltender.
Davison and Port Huron Northern players would’ve already been home in their beds if not for a goaltending performance
for the ages by Thomas.
Thomas made 62 saves, 38 of them in the six overtime periods, as Davison won, 3-2, in a Class A regional championship
game against the heavily favored Huskies.
At the time, it was the longest game in the history of Michigan high school hockey, taking 86 minutes and 49 seconds
before Mark Everett completed his hat trick to send the Cardinals into the state quarterfinals. Davison was outshot, 64-36.
“I didn’t want to lose and go home,” Thomas said. “I was just thinking about how great this team is and the people on it.”
The legend of Tim Thomas began that night.
No doubt, Thomas was a great high school goaltender. But being a great high school player in Michigan usually comes
with limits, particularly in Thomas’ era.
The best high school players might play college hockey, but not at the NCAA Division I level. And they could certainly
dismiss any silly notions of making the Olympics or playing in the National Hockey League.
When Thomas was at Davison, only one Michigan high school player had ever made it to the NHL. Mike Donnelly, a
10-year NHL veteran, played one season for Livonia Franklin in 1980-81.
Hockey isn’t like other high school sports. When Glen Rice played basketball at Flint Northwestern or Mark Ingram
played football for Grand Blanc and Flint Southwestern, you got the feeling you were watching a future NBA or NFL player.
But in hockey, the best players don’t usually play for their high school teams, choosing instead to play for elite travel
teams.
Thomas was a late bloomer who played three seasons at Davison, but temporarily gave up his goalie pads when he
joined the team in 1989-90.
“Davison had a senior goalie (Al Sumner), so I started out playing forward and defense for the first couple games,”
Thomas said. “The senior goalie went to the coach, because I was practicing as a goalie and he said, ‘Hey, this kid’s better
than me.’ The senior goalie switched to defense and I switched to goalie.”
Thomas got the opportunity to play lower-level junior hockey in Waterford after high school, earning the attention of
the University of Vermont. Thomas signed with Vermont, helping to usher in the greatest stretch in that school’s history.
As a junior, he backstopped the Catamounts to the 1996 NCAA semifinals where they lost to Colorado College in double
overtime, 4-3.
He graduated from Vermont as its career leader in victories (81), shutouts (10), save percentage (.914) and goals
against average (2.70).
Thomas was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, but he would travel a long
and winding road before finally reaching the big time.
He played in Finland, Sweden and three different North American minor leagues before making his NHL debut for the
Boston Bruins on Oct. 19, 2002 at Edmonton. He was 28 years old, an age at which players are no longer considered
prospects and are often thrown on the scrap heap in favor of the next shiny new thing.
