Thomas, B’s Team Up to Help Vermont Organization

BARRE, Vt. – Tim Thomas is no stranger to Vermont.

The former Bruins netminder spent four years at the University of Vermont and his wife, Melissa, hails from The Green Mountain State.

“I’m starting to feel like I’m a part of the community,” said Thomas, who moved back to Vermont within the last couple of years. “I always did, which is why I came back. Graduated from University here, my wife’s from Essex. We came up here in the summertime all the time when I was playing for the Bruins.”

As such, when Thomas heard about the chance to give back to the state he now calls home, he was eager for the opportunity. The 49-year-old joined the Bruins organization – and the Bear Tracks crew – on Monday afternoon to help with the clean-up and rebuild efforts at YouthBuild’s center in Barre, which was heavily damaged by the devastating flooding that wreaked havoc on the area earlier this summer.

“I know people from Barre. I don’t know anybody that was personally affected, but it’s affected the whole area. I’m glad to be a part of this and glad that Bear Tracks came to help,” said Thomas, who played for the Bruins from 2002-12 and helped lead them to the Stanley Cup in 2011 when he was crowned the Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP.

“It’s been great. I got to learn about a new organization, YouthBuild, and learn about the good work they’re doing with helping a ton of kids to find their way. It was nice to be able to help them out.”

Video: Russo talks with Tim Thomas

ReSOURCE YouthBuild is a national program for 16- to 24-year-olds that provides opportunity to earn trade certification and learn construction skills. Its motto is “empowering youth to build their future through education, job skills training, and service.”

“I was just talking to Tim a little bit. I was excited to learn that he’s back in Vermont living here,” said Andrew Jope, the program’s Training Director. “I think it does help shine a light on ReSOURCE and what we’re going through right now. New England’s all about hockey so it’s great to have the Bruins here.”

YouthBuild’s facility was flooded with roughly six inches of water during the catastrophic flash flooding in July, destroying the near 100-year-old building’s electrical system, which has required that the entire structure be stripped down. On Monday, Thomas and members of the Bruins’ community relations and communications teams helped remove debris and trash from the building, while also assisting with pulling up portions of the wooden floor.

“This has been a challenging time for us,” said Jope. “We’ve had so many great people like [the Bruins] step up and show up to help. Just to have [the Bruins] travel up here from Massachusetts and get Tim down here and recognize that we need help…we’re just really appreciative of the help.”

To learn more about YouthBuild and donating to flood relief in Vermont, visit resourcevt.org or Vermont’s government website.

Wait, There’s More 

• Thomas said he is very much looking forward to taking part in some of the Bruins’ upcoming Centennial celebrations. “I’m looking forward to seeing some old teammates,” he said. “It seems like the Bruins have planned a lot of exciting events and should be a fun season.”
• Thomas said he and his family attended the 2023 NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park, where 13 years earlier he was named to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team after the B’s overtime win over Philadelphia in the teams’ first outdoor game. “I didn’t know if I was gonna make [the Olympic team] that year or not,” said Thomas. “I wanted to so bad, but when we’re going to OT, in my mind, I’m thinking I’m still on a tryout all the way to the very last second. So, when we won, I was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna make it.’ And I didn’t have to wait long to find out.”
• Thomas said that everything came together perfectly for him during the 2010-11 season when he was the Vezina Trophy and Conn Smythe winner, while helping the Bruins to the Stanley Cup and setting the club’s record for single-season save percentage (.938). “I was pretty locked in that whole year. It was just the year for me,” said Thomas. “I was at peak physical [shape], everything I guess…there’s insecurities in the middle of it. Were three of the series Game 7s. And then the other one that wasn’t a Game 7 was Philly who had came back on us the year before so even when you’re at 3-0 in a series, you’re not feeling comfortable. I can’t say that I knew that we were gonna win the whole time, you don’t. You think you can.”

Video: Tim Thomas takes Bear Tracks on tour of Vermont home