Bill Thomas (ice hockey)

William Thomas (born June 20, 1983) is an American professional ice hockey player. He currently plays right wing for Anyang Halla, member of the Asia League Ice Hockey (AL).

Bill Thomas
Thomas with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2012
Born (1983-06-20) June 20, 1983
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Right
AL team
Former teams
Anyang Halla
Phoenix Coyotes
Pittsburgh Penguins
HC Lugano
Florida Panthers
KHL Medveščak Zagreb
Modo Hockey
EC Red Bull Salzburg
Tampereen Ilves
Kölner Haie
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2006present

Playing career

He was undrafted out of suburban Pittsburgh Fox Chapel Area High School. Thomas played for the Cleveland Jr. Barons of the NAHL and Tri-City Storm of the USHL. He also played for the University of Nebraska at Omaha Mavericks for two years, leading them to their first NCAA Division I hockey tournament appearance.[1]

After playing in the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament, Thomas signed his first professional contract on March 26, 2006, with the Phoenix Coyotes a few days after the Mavericks were eliminated from the tournament in the first round. Thomas played 47 games for the Phoenix Coyotes' AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, in the 2006–07 season. He led the Rampage in goals in the 2007–08 season until he was also called up to the NHL for 24 games with the Coyotes during the same year. After the season Thomas signed a one-year contract with the Penguins on July 15, 2008.[2] William scored his first goal with the Penguins, his hometown team, against the San Jose Sharks on February 11, 2009.[3]

On September 13, 2009, Thomas accepted an invite to the Toronto Maple Leafs' pre-season training camp on a tryout basis only to be subsequently released from the Maple Leafs on September 19, 2009.[4] During the 2009–10 season, on November 3, 2009, Thomas then signed a Professional Try-out Agreement with the Springfield Falcons. After scoring 17 points in 33 games with the Falcons, he was released from his P.T.O on January 22, 2010, to join HC Lugano of the Swiss National League A for the remainder of the season.

William returned to North America following the conclusion of the season with Lugano to sign a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers on July 2, 2010.[5] Assigned to the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, Thomas led the team in goals to start the 2010–11 season, before he was recalled to make his Panthers debut and first NHL return in two seasons, against the New York Islanders on November 20, 2010.[6] Thomas tied a career high to appear in 24 games with the Panthers, scoring 7 points.

In the following 2011–12 season, Thomas attended the Panthers training camp without a contract. Reassigned to new AHL affiliate and previous AHL team, the San Antonio Rampage, Thomas later earned a one-year deal for the remainder of the season with Florida on December 20, 2011.[7] With only 7 games with the Panthers, Thomas matched his last season with the Rampage in 2008 to tie a career-high with 52 points.

On July 3, 2012, Thomas signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche.[8] With the NHL lockout coming to affect, Thomas was assigned directly by the Avalanche to AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. During the duration of the 2012–13 season, Thomas provided a veteran presence for the Monsters and featured in every game to lead the team with 22 goals.

On June 14, 2013, Thomas signed his second contract abroad with a one-year contract with KHL Medveščak Zagreb from Croatia, the newest member of Kontinental Hockey League.[9]

After two seasons in the KHL in Zagreb, Thomas left as a free agent to sign a one-year contract in the Swedish Hockey League with Modo Hockey on June 22, 2015.[10] In the 2015–16 season, Thomas added 12 goals and 22 points in 48 games, however was unable to help keep Modo in the SHL, losing in relegation to the HockeyAllsvenskan.

On June 24, 2016, having left Modo as a free agent, Thomas agreed to a one-year contract with Austrian club, EC Red Bull Salzburg of the EBEL.[11]

On November 30, 2017, Thomas signed a one-month try-out contract with the Finnish club Ilves Tampere of the Liiga.[12] After spending a month with Ilves, on the January 2, 2018 he was introduced as a new forward of German club, Kölner Haie of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01Cleveland Jr. BaronsNAHL513362
2001–02Cleveland Jr. BaronsNAHL5212172916
2002–03Tri-City StormUSHL602921502030334
2003–04Tri-City StormUSHL6031386930986144
2004–05University of Nebraska-OmahaCCHA3919264512
2005–06University of Nebraska-OmahaCCHA4127235043
2005–06Phoenix CoyotesNHL91238
2006–07San Antonio RampageAHL4713203320
2006–07Phoenix CoyotesNHL2486142
2007–08San Antonio RampageAHL752428524071230
2007–08Phoenix CoyotesNHL70000
2008–09Pittsburgh PenguinsNHL162132
2008–09Wilkes-Barre/Scranton PenguinsAHL3981018241214512
2009–10Springfield FalconsAHL335121714
2009–10HC LuganoNLA6213220000
2010–11Rochester AmericansAHL5316203612
2010–11Florida PanthersNHL244376
2011–12San Antonio RampageAHL65272552181055100
2011–12Florida PanthersNHL71010
2012–13Lake Erie MonstersAHL7622214333
2013–14KHL Medveščak ZagrebKHL541119301441122
2014–15KHL Medveščak ZagrebKHL6018183622
2015–16Modo HockeySHL4812102218
2016–17 EC Red Bull Salzburg EBEL 54 17 29 46 24 11 5 2 7 0
2017–18 Ilves Liiga 6 2 1 3 0
2017–18 Kölner Haie DEL 14 1 6 7 4 6 1 1 2 2
NHL totals 87 16 12 28 18

Awards and honors

Award Year
College
All-CCHA Rookie of the Year 2004–05
All-CCHA Rookie Team 2004–05
All-CCHA Second Team 2004–05
All-CCHA First Team 2005–06

References

  1. Anderson, Shelly (April 2, 2006). "Shelly Anderson's NHL Notebook: Fox Chapel High grad has taken his scoring touch to Phoenix". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  2. Adamski, Chris (August 14, 2008). "PG North: Fox Chapel's Thomas eager to get started with Penguins". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 31, 2008.
  3. Robinson, Alan (February 11, 2009). "Crosby's shootout goal leads Pens past Sharks". Pittsburgh. AP. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  4. "Maple Leafs trim training camp roster". Toronto Maple Leafs. September 19, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
  5. "Panthers sign RW Bill Thomas and LW Triston Grant". Florida Panthers. July 2, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  6. "Florida Panthers recall RW Bill Thomas". Florida Panthers. November 20, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  7. "Panthers sign Bill Thomas". Florida Panthers. December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  8. "Avalanche signs six players". Colorado Avalanche. July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  9. "NHL forward Bill Thomas adds to Bears attack" (in Croatian). KHL Medveščak Zagreb. June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  10. "Modo's next acquisition is Bill Thomas" (in Swedish). Modo Hockey. June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  11. "New forward and defender sign with Red Bull" (in German). EC Red Bull Salzburg. June 24, 2016. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  12. "American forward Bill Thomas signs a try-out contract with Ilves" (in Finnish). Ilves. November 30, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
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