News Article: Should The Bruins Retire Tim Thomas’ Number?

[GloryDaze4877]

A little light reading during this stressful time we are living through:

Should The Bruins Retire Tim Thomas’ Number?

As usual, don’t be shy, let me know what you think.

Click to read more...

 

[McGarnagle]

No.

I love Timmy, I'm a huge fan, but no. You can't. There's no precedent to do so. He had about 6 or 7 decent years, a couple Vezinas and a cup. That's great and borderline HOF, but not jersey retirement credentials when Tiny Thompson, Frank Brimsek, and Gerry Cheevers aren't retired.

You can't retire his unless you open the floodgates to everyone else, and at that point you're the Yankees or Celtics and number retirements mean nothing and all your players are wearing #58 because there's nothing left.

 

[CDJ]

Close call. He didn’t have a long dominant stretch but my goodness he was a sight to watch when he was among the leagues best. They don’t sniff the cup without him

I think we’ll end up seeing Chara/Bergy/Possibly Marchand up there from the cup team. If Thomas sneaks in there I certainly won’t complain. I don’t know if he was elite for long enough though. I lean no

 

[danpantz]

Tough call, he was beyond elite for that couple year stretch, but it didn't last long enough.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

It’s close. Not quite enough longevity.

 

[EvilDead]

Close...but no cigar. I love Tim Thomas and is imo the best Bruins goalie of all time. But I don't think they should retire his number because:

a.) The Bruins are retiring too many numbers

and

b.) I would like someone else to wear #30 to carry on Thomas' legacy

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

My favourite goaltender all time. Love him. I don’t think anyone will ever take his place in my heart.

Absolute no on the number retirement. His time in Boston was a glorious snapshot, but not baked in long enough to warrant it.

 

[82Ninety42011]

No and even if I wasn't a Canucks fan I'd say no. Bruins have a very rich history he has a place in it but not among the retired numbers.

 

[jgatie]

100% NO! Gerry Cheevers wore tha number and he's in the HHOF. If Cheevers didn't get it retired, Thomas certainly isn't going to.

 

[dafoomie]

Two #30 banners, one each for Thomas and Cheevers.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Gotta say no. Fantastic servant of the Bruins, amazing goalie when he was hot, and up there with the top two or three reasons for our most recent Cup win.

But you have to be absolutely elite and played with distinction for the team for a long time to earn number retirement, and Thomas just doesn't meet those criteria. He wasn't good enough in a Bs uniform for long enough. If he were deemed eligible then you could probably identify at least another 30 guys who also make the grade, and then it starts to become silly and pointless.

If he ever wanted to return to the Garden for an appreciation night or something like that he'd be more than welcome and rightly cheered to the rafters, but those cheers shouldn't be accompanied by his jersey.

 

[Aeroforce]

I'll go against the grain and say yes.

What if he played 5 more years with stellar numbers but didn't have a Cup? He would have the gaudy numbers some seem to want, but without the most coveted prize.

So what's more important - padding one's individual stats through longevity (in rather meaningless regular season games), or winning the Cup, which had eluded Boston for nearly 4 decades?

And as Thomas' Conn Smythe attests, that Cup win doesn't happen without him.

Plus I think Thomas' longevity gets underestimated. He was a 4 time All Star, won two Vezinas, a Jennings, in addition to a Conne Smythe and Stanley Cup. Mix in his rags-to-riches journeyman story, and I believe he's earned it.

I've been fans of players who put up HOF numbers but never won the big one - Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell. And though he has a Cup as a backup, Rask has had two chances in the Finals. Because Thomas won the Cup, that puts him over the top.

 

[Maine Fan]

No

 

[roflstomper]

I go with no. Number retirements are for the one's where you shouldn't even have to ask. He's still an immortal in Bruins history though so who really cares.

 

[McGarnagle]

If you retire Timmy, you have to retire Tuukka too. No question.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

I'll go against the grain and say yes.

What if he played 5 more years with stellar numbers but didn't have a Cup? He would have the gaudy numbers some seem to want, but without the most coveted prize.

So what's more important - padding one's individual stats through longevity (in rather meaningless regular season games), or winning the Cup, which had eluded Boston for nearly 4 decades?

And as Thomas' Conn Smythe attests, that Cup win doesn't happen without him.

Plus I think Thomas' longevity gets underestimated. He was a 4 time All Star, won two Vezinas, a Jennings, in addition to a Conne Smythe and Stanley Cup. Mix in his rags-to-riches journeyman story, and I believe he's earned it.

I've been fans of players who put up HOF numbers but never won the big one - Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell. And though he has a Cup as a backup, Rask has had two chances in the Finals. Because Thomas won the Cup, that puts him over the top.

You make some good arguments here. Perhaps, in isolation, you could put him over the line with them. But I agree with McGarnagle, how can you retire Thomas but not Thompson or Cheevers? 2 Cups for Cheevers, but Thompson is the one that really stands out for me - 10+ seasons in Boston, 4 Vezinas and a Stanley, a repeat all-star, and that still doesn't get him in the rafters. The bar for a goalie achieving that at the Garden has been set absurdly high, and rightly or wrongly that weighs against Timmy.

And if we're saying contributing strongly to 1 Cup plus a great Bruins career gets you in the ballpark of being sufficient, then who else becomes eligible? Krejci was dominant in the '11 run, and again in '13, and while he might lack some of Thomas' accolades he's had a longer time playing at a very high level. Does Marchand also come into the picture for similar reasons? And what about Rask? Yeah no Cup as a starter yet but overall he has to rank above Thomas for long-term performance and the difference between the two in terms of Cup-winning status as a starter is one lousy game.

I think that's where I'm at - I could be convinced that Thomas 'earned' the right to have his number retired, but when you compare him to others whose jerseys aren't up there or who would have an equal claim based on the criteria that would make him eligible then the pool starts to become too wide and for me it just doesn't work.

 

[JOKER 192]

I gotta go with no. Like many others have pointed out , had some great years but not enough of them.

 

[UncleRico]

Wasn’t around long enough. Honestly think he would have needed roughly double the service time with Boston at a consistently high level to get his number retired.

 

[Blowfish]

Yes

 

[ON3M4N]

No for me. To have your number retired is a higher honor than being in the HHOF in my opinion. I think you could make an argument for him being a top 5 goalie in Bruins history as he's 6th in GP, 4th in SA, 4th in SV and 2nd in SV% among other Bruins goalies. To have your number retired though means you exemplify what it was to be a Bruin, along with being one of the franchises top producers. Looking at this current group....

- Bergeron and Chara are the only guys (right now) that are locks to me.

- Marchand I go back and fourth on. He's 7th in goals, 10th in points, 1st in SHG and 5th in GWG. Are his over the line moment though something that holds him back though?

- Rask I think you could make an argument for as he leads most Bruins goalie stats (GP, W, SA, SV, SV% and is 2nd in GAA & SO) but I'd really like to see him win a cup as a stater

- Krejci I don't think he would have his number retired, but he's 18th in goals (maybe can get into top 15) and 8th in assist and points. Strong playoff performer, but if I had a vote I would say no.

 

[Gee Wally]

I gotta say 'no' Joe.
Even though I love the guy and if ever in the same place he'll never have to take out his wallet.

Just not long enough of a career. But what he did do in that short time gave me a lifetime of memories.

 

[BruinDust]

If the Bruins were some mickey-mouse organization that retired the numbers of basically every noteworthy player like some teams do, I'd say yes, Thomas should be up there.

But their not. The Bruins have a long history of great players and only retire the numbers of the very best players with significant tenure with the franchise. That's not Tim Thomas.

 

[LSCII]

My first instinct is to say no, only because I personally feel that hanging a number is the ultimate honor for a player by the team, and for that you have to be the best of the best for said franchise. Thomas did drag them to a cup with a crazy run, so I get the case that can be made.

I think the real question here is would Thomas want that and would he show up if they did? I think its easy to look at the cup win and forget about the way the team and Thomas felt about each other the last few years here. They basically gave his job to Rask when Thomas was hurt, then tried to force him to waive his NTC, which he refused, and he stripped his pads, gloves, and mask of any Bruins colors and logos over it. And that doesn't even bring into play the white house visit crap, and surprise retirement, no show he did before ultimately being traded.

Way too much baggage, way too polarizing a figure. Doubt he'd be even open to it. So back to a hard no.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

I’m in the group that would say no because Thomas didn’t do it over a long enough period of time. However, I don’t understand the people saying (not here) that he had “one good year”. I don’t think that’s true either. He had some very good years in Europe as well as NHL on top of that (which doesn’t influence the Jersey thing in Boston obviously).

Also, I know this is important for some, but it doesn’t appear that winning a Cup enters into the discussion as far as the Bruins FO are concerned? More than a third of their retired jerseys are not Cup winners (Bourque, Neely, Middleton, O’Reilly).

 

[GloryDaze4877]

My first instinct is to say no, only because I personally feel that hanging a number is the ultimate honor for a player by the team, and for that you have to be the best of the best for said franchise. Thomas did drag them to a cup with a crazy run, so I get the case that can be made.

I think the real question here is would Thomas want that and would he show up if they did? I think its easy to look at the cup win and forget about the way the team and Thomas felt about each other the last few years here. They basically gave his job to Rask when Thomas was hurt, then tried to force him to waive his NTC, which he refused, and he stripped his pads, gloves, and mask of any Bruins colors and logos over it. And that doesn't even bring into play the white house visit crap, and surprise retirement, no show he did before ultimately being traded.

Way too much baggage, way too polarizing a figure. Doubt he'd be even open to it. So back to a hard no.

Time heals all wounds. Thomas seems to be a complex guy and he was dealing with concussion stuff that most weren’t aware of. Recently he’s been more of a public figure (US HHOF induction), so I don’t consider any of the off the ice stuff to be deal breakers. I just don’t believe he has the body of work to merit the honor.