Former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie and NHL exec Wayne Thomas dead at 77
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Wayne Thomas, the Maple Leaf in net when Darryl Sittler had a record 10 points at the other end and who went on to a long coaching and executive career in the NHL, has died from cancer.
The San Jose Sharks, for whom the 77-year-old Thomas worked for nearly the past two decades, confirmed his passing in his hometown of Falmouth, Mass.
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Thomas joined the Leafs in 1975-76, idled from game action the entire previous season with Montreal by their outstanding goaltending duo of Ken Dryden and Bunny Larocque.
Obtained for a first-round pick that became forward Peter Lee, Ottawa native Thomas played two seasons in Toronto with a record of 38-37-18, a 3.41 goals-against average and three shutouts.
Thomas played Feb. 7, 1976, watching Sittler pump in six goals and four assists at the Gardens versus Boston and its unfortunate keeper Dave Reece.
“That was incredible, the (points) just kept coming,” Thomas told the Sun in 2023. “My wife was in the crowd and said to a guy sitting next to her, ‘quite a night, eh?’
“‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Except that’s my son in the other net.’”
Thomas was also in when Sittler had a five-goal playoff game against the Philadelphia Flyers that spring.
“I came into a great situation in Toronto,” Thomas said. “Doug Favell and Gordie McRae were there, but I played a lot and began to feel part of a team again. That Toronto would use a high pick to get me was a confidence-builder. General manager Jim Gregory was really good to me.
“It was a team of many characters. I got close to the family of Ian Turnbull and George Ferguson, Darryl was a great leader and Borje Salming was tough as nails. He came out of that Flyers series looking like a pin cushion.”
The arrival of Mike Palmateer eclipsed Thomas, who was claimed on waivers by the New York Rangers in 1977.
Thomas gradually moved to coaching, winning the IHL Turner Cup with New York’s farm club in Salt Lake City.
He scouted, coached and influenced a number of future netminding stars in his various stops around the NHL, such as Glen Hanlon, Mike Vernon, John Vanbiesbrouck and Ed Belfour.
Thomas joined the expansion Sharks in the early 1990s as assistant GM/coach and remained an exec until departing in 2015.
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