Wayne Thomas, who played his final four NHL seasons with the New York Rangers and later served as their goaltending coach before leading their Salt Lake City farm team to the International Hockey League championship, died at age 77.
The San Jose Sharks, for whom Thomas worked for more than 20 years, confirmed that the team learned of Thomas’ death Wednesday from his family. A team spokesman said he died at his home in Falmouth, Massachusetts, after a battle with cancer.
Thomas arrived in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 1972-73, one year after leading their Nova Scotia farm team to the Calder Cup championship in the American Hockey League. He played parts of two seasons with Montreal and two full seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs – earning the victory in the 1976 NHL All-Star Game.
But the emergence of Mike Palmateer as Toronto’s new No. 1 in net made Thomas expendable, and the Rangers claimed him on waivers before the start of the 1977-78 season.
The Rangers planned to use Thomas as the backup to John Davidson. But when Davidson got hurt, Thomas wound up playing 41 games, posting a 12-20 record with seven ties, a 3.60 goals-against average and four shutouts.
His lone winning season with the Rangers came in 1978-79, when he was 15-10 with three ties, finishing with a 3.64 goals-against average and a save percentage of .866. He lost his only start in the playoffs that spring, serving as the backup to Davidson, whose play carried the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final; they lost to the Canadiens in five games.
Wayne Thomas, Rangers goalie and minor-league coach, dies at 77
The Ottawa native saw limited action during the next two seasons before retiring as a player in January 1981. He played 94 games during his four seasons in New York, and was 34-43 with 11 ties, a 3.64 GAA, a save percentage of .875 and five shutouts. In his eight NHL seasons, he was 103-93 with 34 ties, a 3.34 GAA, .891 save percentage and 10 shutouts.
Thomas’ last game for the Rangers was on Jan. 11, 1981, a 5-3 loss to Toronto at Madison Square Garden – and by the end of the month, he had been named their goaltending coach, one of the first in the NHL.
He remained in that role until the end of the 1984-85 season, when he was named coach of the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles of the IHL, a Rangers minor league affiliate. Thomas coached Salt Lake to the Turner Cup championship in his second season with the team. He was awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy as the IHL Coach of the Year.
His success in the minors brought him back to the NHL in the fall of 1987 as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he worked with future Hockey Hall of Famer Ed Belfour. Thomas later joined the St. Louis Blues in the same role to work with another talented young goaltender, Curtis Joseph.
Thomas moved to the Sharks in 1993 as both an assistant coach and an assistant to the general manager. He stayed with the team for 22 seasons and retired in 2015 as an assistant GM and vice president. In all, he spent 45 years in professional hockey.
For all his success as an executive, Thomas’ core passion was his daily work on and off the ice with NHL goaltenders throughout his coaching career. He continued fruitful relationships with many of them until his passing.
“During the last 17 years of Wayne’s life, his greatest joy and love was his grandchildren,” the Sharks said in a statement. “He was overjoyed to attend every activity, concert, play, and sporting event and was an active participant in their growth and development.”
