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Tim Thomas the aggressor? Vancouver hopes officials will let them stand their ground

Vancouver Canucks v Boston Bruins - Game Three

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 06: Tim Thomas #30 of the Boston Bruins checks Henrik Sedin #33 of the Vancouver Canucks during Game Three of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 6, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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One of the lasting visuals from Game 3 was that of Bruins goalie Tim Thomas taking a stand in his crease and delivering a body check to Canucks star and captain Henrik Sedin. Sedin was trying to glove down the puck from mid-air to play it and try to score. Thomas wasn’t eager to wait for Sedin to do that so he dropped him to the ice sending the crowd into a frenzy at the site.

While the Bruins and their fans loved the scene the Canucks were clearly not too happy about Thomas’ aggression. During today’s pregame press conference, coach Alain Vigneault expressed his thoughts on Thomas’ play and hopes that officials will allow his players to stand their ground while keeping an eye on what Thomas is doing.

“Part of Thomas’ way of playing is playing out of the blue paint, initiating contact, roaming out there. He seems to think that once he’s out, set, makes the save, that he can go directly back in his net without having anybody behind him,” Vigneault said.

“Well, that’s wrong. He’s got the wrong rule on that. If we’re behind him, that’s our ice and we’re allowed to stay there. We’ve talked to the NHL about that. We’ve talked to the NHL about him initiating contact like did on Hank. They’re aware of it. Hopefully they’re going to handle it.”


The politicking never ends in the playoffs and while the Bruins and Canucks are both playing very physical hockey and dishing it out to each other ferociously, the one player you don’t expect that from is the goaltender. Given Thomas’ nature in goal the Canucks should be more aware of it, but that doesn’t make it right. As for what the Canucks might do in response, Vigneault was asked about that.

Q. Most of us weren’t even sure if it’s legal because surely you can’t body check him. What explanation did the league give you on his ability to throw a hit like that?

COACH VIGNEAULT: I’m not going to give you the explanation.

I will tell you, everybody is aware of it, we talked to it prior to this series, about the way he plays. We got clarification on what is allowable as far as him coming back in his net after he’s out five or ten feet past the blue paint. Hopefully everything will get sorted out on the ice.


While we don’t expect things to get out of hand around the goal, it’s not as if the Canucks are being saints either.

The play that helped set off the entire situation that ended with Milan Lucic taunting Alex Burrows started when Burrows tried to chop at the puck trapped on the side of the net. Thomas had his glove hand covering the puck to draw a whistle, but Burrows took a chop at his hand and then the shenanigans began in earnest between Burrows and Lucic.

Everyone’s getting their shots in one way or another and there are certainly no saints to be found on the ice in this series. If Vigneault wants it to be looked at closer, he may not like what ends up being called to settle things down.