Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Logan Thompson (36) is shown during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers Thursday, March 17, 2022, in Las Vegas.
Thursday, May 12, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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Logan Thompson doesn’t want to come off as cocky. He just likes to have fun.
He knows what he’s doing when he speaks to the media, like when he was asked April 20 about Alex Ovechkin scoring his 50th goal — a tally against Thompson. With a sly grin, Thompson replied, “He’s OK.”
“I think my confidence gets kind of mixed up where I’m almost a smart ass,” said a laughing Thompson in a phone interview with the Sun.
That confidence, and wanting to have fun, is what Thompson thinks helped his game when he was pushed into the Golden Knights’ starter’s net for the final month and a half of the season.
The 25-year-old rookie goalie from Calgary carried the banged-up Golden Knights up until Game 81 before they were eliminated from postseason contention for the first time in the franchise's five-year existence. While Thompson would rather be playing for the Stanley Cup, he's keeping busy with representing Team Canada in the IIHF World Championships that begin Friday in Finland.
“Everything’s kind of gone by real quick for me,” Thompson said. “I’ve never been invited to anything Team Canada related. It’s my first opportunity to represent Canada, so it’s really exciting for me.”
Thompson received the phone call from Team Canada general manager Shane Doan shortly after Vegas’ season ended about representing his country. Without hesitation, he accepted. But Thompson admits he hasn’t had time to reflect on what a whirlwind the past two months have been for him.
The 2021 AHL Goalie of the Year with Henderson, Thompson went 1-2-0 in the first three starts of his NHL career, allowing eight total goals in the losses to Nashville (Jan. 4) and Columbus (March 13).
With injuries to Robin Lehner and subpar goaltending from Laurent Brossoit, coach Pete DeBoer started Thompson against the eventual Presidents Trophy-winning Florida Panthers on March 17. He made 33 saves in a 5-3 win. From that moment on, he earned the starting job the rest of the way.
“The one thing I always felt with Logan was that he had talent," said general manager Kelly McCrimmon in his end-of-season press conference. "To predict as a young goalie that this was going to develop and turn into that is the hardest position to predict. He’s gone through all the right steps.”
Thompson finished the season 10-5-3 with a 2.68 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. Those three overtime losses were via shootout in the final week of the regular season, with Thompson stopping 14-of-17 attempts in the three shootouts.
“When I get back, I think I’ll take some time off. I’ll sit down and reflect over my season and realize how fast everything in my life kind of changed and took a 180, being in Henderson for a year and a half and then kind of being the guy in Vegas, and now Team Canada,” Thompson said. “It’s exciting for me, and I’m definitely not going to take anything for granted.”
No game perhaps defined Thompson more to himself, and where the organization sees him, than that Washington game. Overshadowed in the controversy of DeBoer pulling Lehner after the first period, Thompson stopped 13 of 15 shots in the final 40 minutes of regulation and overtime for a 4-3 Vegas win.
Ovechkin, the third-best goal scorer of all-time, scored his 779th and 780th career goals on Thompson that night, including a powerful slap shot that tied the game in the third period.
After the game, Thompson texted Capitals goalie coach Scott Murray to see if Ovechkin would sign a stick for him. He hasn’t received one yet, but he said he’ll keep bugging him about it when he gets back.
“He’s the best scorer in the game and I was actually honored that he scored his 50th on me. It’s pretty cool,” Thompson said. “I think that’s definitely a stick I want to hold on to.”
Thompson said he learned to enjoy the game most from former teammate Marc-Andre Fleury. Thompson backed up Fleury in stints during the COVID-impacted 56-game season in 2021 while also making his NHL debut against the Minnesota Wild on March 10, 2021.
Thompson pointed toward the 37-year-old Fleury’s willingness to have fun at the rink, while learning something new every day, as to what he learned most from the third-winningest goalie in NHL history.
“Getting old, if you consider that old, he still acts like a 16-year-old kid and he has fun. He’s the hardest worker on the ice every day,” Thompson said. “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the league, or how young or old you are. You can always take something and learn. He’s not stopped learning, and I think that’s why he’s one of the best goalies in the world.
“I want to have that same infectious attitude and mindset so the guys can feed off it. I think I did a good job up there, hopefully earned a lot of guys’ respect because that’s where I hope to be.”
Once Thompson finally sits down to unwind, training camp will eventually be on the horizon. He will be firmly in competition with Brossoit for the backup spot with the Golden Knights, and could see a bigger role depending on the timeline with Lehner’s shoulder surgery.
First thing’s first: He wants to win a gold medal for his homeland.
“I’m definitely going to soak it all in and learn from these guys,” Thompson said, “and hopefully I can take things back and improve as a person and a goalie and help the Vegas Golden Knights next season, if that’s where I am.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
