It sounds like Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was in his happy place when notified by general manager Peter Chiarelli about the trade to the New York Islanders.
Chiarelli said it sounded as if he caught the Conn Smythe winner talking his dogs for a walk on his Colorado property when he broke the news to him. The 38-year-old was planning on sitting out the 2013 NHL season regardless of whether he was traded or remained the property of the Bruins, so the news certainly was disturbing enough to send him speeding toward his computer to type up a Facebook post.
I spoke with Tim to make him aware of this trade and he understood. He knew that this was the type of thing that I had talked to him about earlier on in the summer and in the fall, that this could happen, said Chiarelli. He was comfortable with it and he sounded quite at peace with himself. It was a brief conversation, but I just wanted to talk a little bit about Tim because he was an important member of this team.
While some close to Thomas claim that the goalie only wanted to return to the NHL as a member of the Bruins, it will have to be with the New York Islandersor any other team that trades for his rightsif he hopes to resume his hockey career as a 39-year-old player coming off a year-long sabbatical. Indications are that Thomas' thoughts haven't changed about sitting out the current season, and his agent told Chiarelli "he's still contemplating the idea of playing next season" while not fully committing to it.
Its highly doubtful that anybody saw things ending this way for Thomas and the Bruins after glorious Stanley Cup heights and some bizarre side turns out of left field, but it just goes down as another page-turning chapter in the book of Tim Thomas. It sounds like the goaltender is perfectly okay with that, however, as he continues his year-long refocus on friends, family and faith far away from the NHL cities of Boston and New York where this registered as news.