Tim Thomas is pushing 40, which is pretty old for just about any human, let alone a professional athlete. However, just like about everything else that tried to get in his way over the years, age isn’t stopping him from getting back between the pipes.
Thomas joined the Panthers on Tuesday for a tryout and could be the starting goalie on Saturday when the team takes on Tampa Bay. It’s been a while since The Tank stopped NHL pucks as the former Bruins and Islanders goalie took the 2013 season off because he “needed a break.” — a move he still doesn’t regret to this day.
“Now I’m energized and I’m looking forward to it,” he told TSN. I feel great.
“In the big picture do I regret it? No,” he added. “I made the right decision for me and I made the right decision for my family.
After taking the year off to focus on “friends, family and faith,” he agreed to try out with the Panthers, who, as of this week, are relying on Jacob Markstrom to be the team’s starting netminder when the season opens.
While Thomas was off the grid all year, he certainly watched the Bruins run to the Stanley Cup final. It was the B’s wild ride that gave Timmy “the itch.”
“You know what really gave me the itch [was] watching the playoffs,” he admitted. “I was so proud of those guys, what they did, what they accomplished. But it started to get the competitive juices flowing again.”
