Bruins Stanley Cup Champion Takes Off Skates To Coach Alumni Game

The Boston Bruins Alumni assembled a stacked lineup of Stanley Cup champions for their upcoming battle with the Warrior For Life Fund on Dec. 7.

Members of the 2011 title team will be reunited for the Nate Hardy Memorial game at Warrior Ice Arena, and one crucial member of the Cup-winning team will serve as the coach — Tim Thomas.

Don’t expect the 2011 Vezina and Conn Smythe winner to actually coach given the caliber of players that will be suiting up.

“I’m going to have to wing it when I get there,” Thomas told NESN.com. “I’m going to have to see if they get it all sorted out and I’m on the sidelines or whether I need to give some structure or not.

“I haven’t thought through a coaching lens ever in my career. I was always a player, right? And I haven’t done any coaching since I stopped playing. From my perspective, hopefully I do a good enough job for (Bruins Alumni president Frank Simonetti) because I don’t know for sure what my responsibilities are.”

If Thomas does have to set the lines, he will have the opportunity to reunite two-thirds of the Bruins’ top line from the 2011 postseason run with Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi both suiting up, as well as the Merlot line with Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell.

Although the lineup features two goaltenders — Thomas and Tuukka Rask, from the 2011 team, neither will be between the pipes for the Bruins.

“You get enough rubber thrown your way over decades like me and Tuukka did in our careers,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t seem like as much fun as maybe throwing some rubber at some other guy; I don’t want to say dummy, some other target in the net rather than us.”

Bruins Alumni president Frank Simonetti said he is hoping to have Cleon Daskalaskis in the crease for the Dec. 7 contest.

“Cleon Daskalaskis is really the only Bruin alumni that still wants to play net,” Simonetti told NESN.com. Everybody wants to play out. … .Cleon will be in net, at least for the first half (of the game).”

Thomas wasn’t shocked the 62-year-old Boston native would be willing to man the pipes for the Alumni group, but he did take the opportunity to take a jab at the retired netminder.

“Man, I might have to do some coaching to win,” Thomas laughed. “I’m kidding. I know Cleon very well so I can make that joke about him.

“Cleon Daskalaskis, he likes to go back and play goalie,” Thomas said. “But he didn’t play as long as us. He didn’t get hit in the head as many times as we did.”