Bill Thomas (ice hockey)

Bill Thomas
Born June 20, 1983 (1983-06-20) (age 28)
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams
Florida Panthers
Phoenix Coyotes
Pittsburgh Penguins
HC Lugano
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2006–present

William Thomas (born June 20, 1983) is an American professional ice hockey player. He currently plays right wing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League.

Contents

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 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament, Thomas signed his first pro 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 1st 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]

Awards

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 Cleveland Jr. Barons NAHL 51 3 3 6 2
2001–02 Cleveland Jr. Barons NAHL 52 12 17 29 16
2002–03 Tri-City Storm USHL 60 29 21 50 20 3 0 3 3 4
2003–04 Tri-City Storm USHL 60 31 38 69 30 9 8 6 14 4
2004–05 University of Nebraska-Omaha NCAA 39 19 26 45 12
2005–06 University of Nebraska-Omaha NCAA 41 27 23 50 43
2005–06 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 9 1 2 3 8
2006–07 San Antonio Rampage AHL 47 13 20 33 20
2006–07 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 24 8 6 14 2
2007–08 San Antonio Rampage AHL 75 24 28 52 40 7 1 2 3 0
2007–08 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 7 0 0 0 0
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 16 2 1 3 2
2008–09 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 39 8 10 18 24 12 1 4 5 12
2009–10 Springfield Falcons AHL 33 5 12 17 14
2009–10 HC Lugano NLA 6 2 1 3 2 2 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Rochester Americans AHL 53 16 20 36 12
2010–11 Florida Panthers NHL 24 4 3 7 6
NHL totals 80 15 12 27 18

References

External links