Tiny Thompson - Playing Style

Playing Style

Thompson was a stand-up goaltender, rarely falling on both knees to stop a puck. He was one of the first NHL goaltenders to catch the puck with his hand to make a save, and helped popularize the technique. Using gloves that were smaller than those of other players, he was among the best puck-catchers of his era. He stood in the way of the puck with minimal padding, risking being struck when moving to catch it instead of simply deflecting it away from the net. His signature technique, very often featured in photographs of him, involved dropping to one knee with the paddle of his goalstick covering the five-hole, and extending his glove to cover the left side of the net. Although he caught the puck with his glove, he did so without gloves resembling the modern blocker and trapper glove combination. Thompson was described by Johnny Bower, a former goaltender who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, as a good puckhandler, and one of the best of his time at forward passing. In the 1935–36 season, Thompson became the first goaltender to get an assist by intentionally passing the puck with his stick to a fellow player.