Early Life
Thompson grew up in Calgary, Alberta, where his brother, Paul—who also became a professional ice hockey player—was born in 1906. As a child, he enjoyed playing baseball and ice hockey. Initially, Thompson was not a goaltender, though he agreed to play the position to get into games. As a teenager playing competitive ice hockey, he acquired the nickname "Tiny" as a joke, as he was the tallest player on the team, standing 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m); the nickname stuck with him for the rest of his career.
Thompson began his junior career playing for the Calgary Monarchs in 1919 at the age of 16. He competed for the Memorial Cup, awarded to the Canadian junior hockey champions that year, playing in two games and surrendering 11 goals, a respectable amount in that era. After spending the 1920–21 season playing for Calgary Alberta Grain, Thompson played three seasons in Bellevue, Alberta. In the 1924–25 season, he joined the Duluth Hornets, playing 40 games, recording a shutout in 11 of them. The following season, Thompson joined the Minneapolis Millers of the American Hockey Association (AHA). In his three seasons with the Millers, he appeared in 118 games, recording 33 shutouts with a 1.37 goals against average (average of goals surrendered in a span of sixty minutes).
Read more about this topic: Tiny Thompson
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“We have been told over and over about the importance of bonding to our children. Rarely do we hear about the skill of letting go, or, as one parent said, “that we raise our children to leave us.” Early childhood, as our kids gain skills and eagerly want some distance from us, is a time to build a kind of adult-child balance which permits both of us room.”
—Joan Sheingold Ditzion (20th century)
“Art is only a means to life, to the life more abundant. It is not in itself the life more abundant. It merely points the way, something which is overlooked not only by the public, but very often by the artist himself. In becoming an end it defeats itself.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)