You know, the more I watch this guy, the more he grows on you. Even
though I was raised to despise anything black and gold, I find it hard to
hate this guy. He appears to be one of the "good guys" of professional
s****ts.
Here's a guy who was drafted in the 9th round and toiled in the minors
and beer leagues for 8-10 years. Most guys probably would have given up.
He comes to Boston as a free agent, has a very unorthodox style, but
stops the puck nonetheless.
He played well for the Bruins last year, but they went out and got
Fernandez anyway to be their starter. Thomas doesn't say a word and
accepts it. Fernandez gets hurt and he leads them into the playoffs. He
made the All Star team this past season, and I remember him with a
permanent grin on his face at the skills competition and during the game.
Just happy to be there and playing hockey.
Same thing last night. Cherry showed him getting into his zone during
the warmup and a guy plows into him. Instead of glaring at him and
getting upset, he just laughed. During the game, you'd see him grinning
while talking to his players or to the ref. During the post game hand
shakes, had a big smile on his face, chatting with each player as they
went by.
Some people may not like that and say he lacks "killer instinct" and he
just lost game seven so what the hell is he smiling at. But he's a
welcomed change from the other so called "professional" athletes (Barry
Bonds, Sean Avery, Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Pacman Jones, Vince
Carter, etc) that just "don't get it" that they are priveleged to play
professional s****ts. He is living the dream, and he knows how lucky he
is.
Rick
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