There are two truths about Tim Thomas.
The 37-year-old goaltender is a great aficionado of hockey history, and is always looking for motivation any place he can find it.
And Thomas -- who got a nice little honor Thursday morning when he was named the NHLs No. 1 Star for the month of November with a 9-0-0 record with a .941 save percentage -- may be able to put the two of them together for his next accomplishment of note.When asked about Bostons 12-0-1 record in the month of November, Thomas mentioned Gerry Cheevers' remarkable record of 32 games without a loss, set during the Bruins' Stanley Cup-championship season of 1971-72. There are marks of greatness for goaltending, andCheever's streak of going 24-0-8 without a regulation loss is unquestionably one of them.
Its an NHL record that still stands, and while Thomas admits his nine-game unbeaten streak is a long, long way from the record books, it's something he's aware of. And once the B's goaltender is made aware of something he can shoot for, he sets it in his sights and usually accomplishes it.The team clearly has something to do with it as well, and both the Bruins and Thomas don't show many signs of slowing down.
Its so far away that I cant even look that far ahead, said Thomas. The reason weve had success this month is because weve refused to look past any other teams on the schedule. I would expect that to continue moving forward.
Thomas' nine-game winning streak is a career high, but it's still little more than a quarter of the way to Cheevers' mark. Still, it would be pretty cool if the Bs goaltender could catch up to the record set by his puck-stopping ancestor in Black and Gold, and perhaps give the Bruins the mother of all win streaks after last years mastery in nearly all goaltender categories.If anybody is capable of it look no further than the second goalie in NHL history to earn the Vezina Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same season.
Cheevers consecutive wins streak would be something amazing to shoot for, but Im not even halfway there, said Thomas. It wasnt even on my radar.Well, after talking about it something usually ends up somewhere on Thomas' radar. That's not necessarily a bad thing when you're the best goaltender in the world and actually capable of reaching those kinds of heights.