A Badger To The Crease

Logan Thompson likely isn't a household name in Canada. Thompson, pictured on March 15, 2021 in the pregame warmup, earned his very first NHL start tonight as NHL goaltender which is a pretty big deal when you consider that the former OUA Brock Badger was playing university hockey in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2018-19. Thompson has shown great growth and progress in his time with the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights since signing with the Golden Knights, but the eight minutes of time he played in 2021 likely wasn't going to enough to fulfill his NHL dreams. Tonight, against the Nashville Predators, Logan Thompson made his NHL dream a reality!

First, let's get the highlight out of the way. Logan Thompson gets his ceremonial "rookie first lap" with the Golden Knights this evening as the team prepared to take the ice against the Nashville Predators!

Hard work and consistent play are the hallmarks of Logan Thompson's goaltending career as the former Brandon Wheat Kings netminder has shown a knack for stealing games, showing up big, and helping his teams win. With the Wheat Kings, he went 63-41-4 with a 3.51 GAA and an .890 save percentage - hardly numbers to write home about when it comes to blue-chip, can't-miss prospects.

His 2018-19 season with the Brock Badgers, after going 29-22-2 with Brandon in 2017-18, showed that he was willing to put the work in to get the results he wanted as he posted an 18-6-0 record on the strength of a 2.22 GAA and a .934 save percentage. It should be noted that Brock went 19-9-0 that season to finish second in the OUA's West Division, one game back of Ryerson. If you're doing the math, Thompson's goaltending partner was 1-3-0 in the four games he played, so Logan Thompson had a major impact on Brock's success in '18-19 as he earned OUA Goalie of the Year honours.

Thompson's dream of going pro after junior hockey never faded, though.

"I still had people saying to me, 'Don't leave school. What are you doing? You're stupid. You're an idiot. You're not going to make it,'" Thompson told Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun in June. "But I just wanted to take a chance and at least say I tried. I didn't want to just sit back and listen to everyone saying that I wasn’t good enough. At least I could say I tried and if I didn’t get that contract I wanted, I could look myself in the mirror and say, 'Well, I did everything I could.'"

Days after the OUA playoffs ended, Thompson chased that dream by signing with the ECHL's Adirondack Thunder. His eight games was a bit of a struggle in the ECHL in terms of wins and losses, but his 2-4-1 record shouldn't distract anyone from his 2.72 GAA and his .918 save percentage. He earned his first pro win in his first game, though, as he made 44 stops in an 8-1 drubbing of the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday, March 2, 2019! That was enough for the Binghamton Devils to offer Thompson a PTO, but he only appeared in one game on April 14 where he surrendered five goals to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 5-2 loss.

It wouldn't be long before Thompson found a new home as he signed a deal with the Hershey Bears on May 21, 2019, but he'd never actually wear Hershey's uniform as he was sent to the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays where his game excelled once more. Thompson went 23-8-1 in backstopping the Stingrays with a 2.25 GAA and a .929 save percentage as South Carolina fans loved their new netminder for his success. And if they didn't enjoy the goaltending, they may have enjoyed Thompson's fighting skills when he endeared himself to Stingrays fans by scrapping with Jacksonville's Michael McNiven on December 15, 2019!

After a great season in the ECHL, former Wheat Kings GM Kelly McCrimmon contacted his former Wheat Kings netminder, and Logan Thompson joined the Vegas Golden Knights franchise on July 13, 2020. Playing for the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights, Thompson just continued to do what he does best in stopping pucks as he compiled a 16-6-1 record on a 1.96 GAA and an AHL-best .943 save percentage. Those numbers would earn him the Bastien Memorial Award as the best goalie in the American Hockey League, putting him on radars across the NHL as a potential breakout netminder.

Thompson's play with Henderson moved him up the depth chart as well, and he was on the Vegas taxi squad for the playoffs last season. That gave him an opportunity to learn from two of the game's best netminders on adaily basis in 2021 Vezina Trophy and Jennings Trophy co-winner Marc-Andre Fleury and Jennings Trophy co-winner Robin Lehner.

"Skating every day with Lehner and Fleury, it's a privilege. Those are two very, very skilled goalies that you can learn from," Thompsontold Gilbertson. "You look at Flower, and that's kind of how I've always played — that aggressive, athletic style. He makes that big save, never gives up on a puck, and that's something I’ve always had in my game. And when I look at Lenny and watch him practice, he's a very well-positioned goalie and he reads the puck so well. He's smart. Everyone always looks at his size but the way he does video and watches puck and the way he reads the puck off the stick, it's incredible. That's something I'm trying to learn and steal from him is the way he reads plays and uses his body, because I'm a fairly big goalie."

Thompson's start to the season with Henderson this year doesn't have the same shine as his first season's numbers, but he's still 10-6-3 with a 2.53 GAA and a .929 save percentage. He's helped Henderson break away from the pack in the AHL's Pacific Division as Henderson, Ontario, and Stockton are in a class of their own. While Henderson is in third-place in the division, they sit just two points back of Ontario. Getting Thompson back will help the Silver Knights, but tonight is all about Thompson stopping pucks in the NHL!

Through two periods of play, the Golden Knights haven't given Thompson much run support as they trail the Predators by a 2-0 score. It should be noted that the first NHL goal that Thompson surrendered was to a guy who has victimized a number of NHL goalies in his career as Filip Forsberg beat Thompson up high on the stick side at 2:41 of the second period!
After 40 minutes of play, Thompson has made 19 saves, but he needs the Golden Knights to find space past Juuse Saros in the third period!

Again, the path to an NHL career isn't determined by where one is drafted or a linear path of junior hockey to AHL hockey to NHL hockey. There are lots of twists and turns in careers as shown by Thompson's winding path above and by Zach Sawchenko yesterday, but the key is that both men chased down their dreams and got to play in the NHL. It'll be up to them to work hard enough to remain there, but don't look at Canadian university hockey as some watered-down, lesser version of the game because we've seen two players in three days play in U SPORTS and end up in the NHL.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!