Wilkes-Barre Watch: Thomas chases Olympic dreams taken at Highmark Stadium (Penguins)

Christian Thomas. - KDP Photography / WBS Penguins

Penguins

Wilkes-Barre Watch: Thomas chases Olympic dreams

By Taylor Haase

Jan 29, 2018 • 12:48 am

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Christian Thomas is an Olympian.

The 25-year-old Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward is headed to PyeongChang, South Korea, as the youngest member of Team Canada's 2018 Olympic roster, a roster that looks quite different than the Sochi Games without NHL talent like Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews or Carey Price.

This Saturday, Thomas left Wilkes-Barre to fulfill a dream he's had since he was a child.

"Every young hockey player growing up, especially in Canada, has a dream of being an Olympian," he told me before his departure. "It was definitely one of my dreams."

When it was announced that players on NHL contracts would not be eligible for the Olympics, Thomas, with 27 games of NHL experience, signed an AHL contract to make himself eligible for the Olympics.

"It gave me an opportunity to at least have a chance," he said of his decision. He was then invited to two pre-Olympic evaluation tournaments, the Karjala Cup and Spengler Cup. He scored one goal in three games in the Karjala Cup, and had an assist in the four games in the Spengler Cup, where Canada won the tournament.

"After that we just played the waiting game. I got the call the day before the lineup came out, it was a very special moment," he said.

It was his father, former NHL winger Steve Thomas, who delivered the news.

"I had a couple of missed calls after practice. I stepped outside to call them back, saw it was a Calgary number. When I got on the phone there was some staff from Canada, the GM, and my dad, so it was really cool how they went about it."

Steve Thomas is no stranger to wearing the red and white maple leaf across his chest, winning a gold medal and two silver medals in four World Championships appearances with Canada. Representing Canada on an international stage like this is something the two will now have in common.

"It's really cool," Christian Thomas said of the feat. "He played in three or four World Championships, he had a great career. He didn't play in the Olympics, but he did very well in his career. 20 years in the NHL is unbelievable. Having that in common is pretty special."

It was through his father that Christian got his first taste of Olympic hockey action, attending the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. His father was friends with a few members of the team, and after Mario Lemieux and Canada defeated the United States in the gold medal game, Steve took Christian down to Canada's locker room.

He can't remember exactly who that medal belonged to, either Brendan Shanahan or Steve Yzerman.

Now, he has a chance to earn one of his own.

He said that the support from the Penguins organization throughout this process has been great, as he leaves the team for the third time this season. While the team will miss his contributions, 12 goals and nine assists in 30 games, they're behind him all the way.

"They've been really supportive, allowing me to play in these tournaments so far has been awesome," he said. "I've missed, I think, eight games total, which they're totally fine with. They're very encouraging, and it's awesome that they've been like that."

The member of the organization from whom he's received the most support is his head coach, Clark Donatelli. But did Donatelli, a former Olympian himself, give Thomas any advice?

"Yeah," he laughed. "He was an Olympian twice, he was captain of one of the teams. It's really cool. He said just to enjoy the moment. It's an awesome time, a cool experience, that I'll meet a lot of cool people. I'm really excited to go there."

While Thomas can't wait for the hockey itself to get underway, he's looking forward to the entire experience. He's looking forward to getting a peek at other Olympic events, and he's ready to "cheer some Canadians on."

"I'm excited to take part in the opening ceremonies, and enjoy the village and meet some athletes, and the closing ceremonies," he said. "You always watch the Olympics and you watch that, a great show and a good production. I'm ready to be a part of it. I'm excited."

SPRONG SHOWCASES HIS SKILLS

Daniel Sprong was the Penguins' lone representative at the AHL All-Star Classic, with Casey DeSmith still in Pittsburgh. He participated in three events in the skills competition Sunday night: the rapid fire shooting event, the three-on-none pass and shoot drill, and the shootout relay.

Sprong went 0-for-5 in the rapid fire event, shooting alongside Hershey's Chris Bourque at Milwaukee's Anders Lindback. Tyler Piccotti shot this video in Utica:

He picked up the assist in his team's three-on-none drill, skating with Charlotte's Warren Foegele and Providence's Austin Czarnik:

He didn't score, but showed off his hands in the shootout relay:

The Eastern Conference won the skills competition by a score of 10-9.

The AHL All-Star Classic will be held tonight, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. Fans can catch the game on the NHL Network in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada. The game will also be streamed for free on AHL Live with the promo code ALLSTAR18.

MORE FROM WILKES-BARRE

• Jan. 24: at Hershey, 4-0 win

• Jan. 26: at Lehigh Valley, 5-2 loss

• Jan. 27: vs. Binghamton, 4-3 overtime win

• Tomas Surovy, formerly a winger with the Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the latter from 2001-06, will be on Team Slovakia's roster for the Olympics, it was announced this week. He is the seventh former WBS Penguin to be named to an Olympic roster, following Chad Kolarik (2012-13) and Noah Welch (2005-07) on Team USA, Andrew Ebbett (2013-15) and Chris Lee (2009-10) on Team Canada, Ondrej Nemec (2003-04) on Team Czech Republic, and Bryan Young (2006-07) on Team Korea.

• Saturday's win was coach Donatelli's 99th with Wilkes-Barre, moving him into sole possession of third place on the franchise's all-time win list, behind John Hynes (231) and Glenn Patrick (115).

• Captain Tom Kostopoulos returned to action Saturday, after being out of the lineup since Oct. 28 with an injury. He recorded one assist in his first game back.

• With Tristan Jarry's return to Wilkes-Barre, goaltender Charles Williams was released from his professional tryout contract, it was announced Thursday. Forward Freddie Tiffels and defenseman Jeff Taylor were reassigned to Wheeling this week.

• Wednesday's win over Hershey was Anthony Peters' first career shutout. He made 18 saves.

• Zach Aston-Reese had a big week, scoring a goal in each of the three games, plus an assist Saturday. His goal Saturday was in overtime, a backhander after initially missing on a breakaway. His effort and unwillingness to quit is unmatched:

• Teddy Blueger's bout with Viktor Loov on Saturday was his first career fight:

• Lines and defense pairings from Saturday:

Zach Aston-Reese - Jean-Sebastien Dea - Ryan Haggerty

Garrett Wilson - Gage Quinney - Daniel Sprong

Adam Johnson - Greg McKegg - Jarrett Burton

Thomas Di Pauli - Teddy Blueger - Tom Kostopoulos

Jarred Tinordi - Ethan Prow

Kevin Czuczman - Frank Corrado

Andrey Pedan - Chris Summers

• Lukas Bengtsson remains out of the Penguins' lineup with an upper-body injury unrelated to his POTS diagnosis. His last game was on Dec. 8. Bengtsson returned to full practice this week, and was questionable to play this weekend. While he didn't play, his status for next weekend's games is encouraging.

• After this week, the Penguins’ record of 26-12-3-1 ranks first in the Atlantic Division, and second in the Eastern Conference.

• The Penguins have two games at home this weekend. They'll host the Hershey Bears (17-21-3-4, last in Atlantic Division) on Friday, and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (26-13-3-3, 2nd in Atlantic Division) on Saturday.

GOALS OF THE WEEK

Jarrett Burton sure does have a knack for scoring weird goals this season off the goaltender, after scoring an absurd one last month. He scored this one off of Hershey's Pheonix Copley on Wednesday:

Jean-Sebastien Dea scored this goal Saturday, his second game since being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre:

SAVE OF THE WEEK

Jarry made this save Saturday in his first start since being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre. The save was one of 26 on 29 shots in the win:

TOP PICK TRACKER

• Defenseman Zachary Lauzon (second round, 2017) is still dealing with a neck injury. He has not played for Rouyn-Noranda since Nov. 26. Coach Gilles Bouchard said that Lauzon needs to continue to strengthen his neck muscles, and that a return will not happen in January, but “possibly” in February. Lauzon did practice this week, however.

• Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist (second round, 2016) scored one goal in a pair of games against Northeastern this week. The puck bounced off of Bjorkqvist and in for his 11th goal of the season:

• Goaltender Filip Gustavsson (second round, 2016) recorded his first shutout of the year, a 2-0 win over Linköping. He made 34 saves in the win, 17 of which came in the third period alone, including these saves in the final seconds:

After the game, Gustavsson called his first shutout a "relief." He said that his consistent play as of late has been good for building his self-confidence, and that he doesn't feel as hesitant anymore. Writers in Sweden say that it is easy to see his growing confidence and calmness in net.

This meme defies any language barrier:

• Defenseman Connor Hall (third round, 2016) was scoreless on Tuesday, then was held out of the Kitchener Rangers' lineup for the remainder of the week with the flu.

WHEELING WATCH

Tomorrow’s Wheeling Watch will focus on defenseman Dylan Zink, who earned an AHL deal after attending Pittsburgh's last two development camps.

PROSPECT FUN THING

Sprong signed some autographs for kids in Utica:

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