Matt Thomas (ice hockey)

Matt Thomas
Sport(s) Ice hockey
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Alaska-Anchorage
Biographical details
Born (1975-10-25) October 25, 1975
Maple Ridge, BC, CAN
Playing career
1993–1994 St. Michael's Buzzers
1994–1998 RIT
Position(s) Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1998–1999 RIT (assistant)
2000–2002 Maine (assistant)
2002–2004 Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (assistant)
2004–2005 Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies
2005–2009 Fresno Falcons
2008–2013 Stockton Thunder
2013–present Alaska-Anchorage
Head coaching record
Overall 37–58–11 (.401)

Matt Thomas (born October 25, 1975) is a Canadian ice hockey coach currently working for Alaska-Anchorage.

Career

Thomas started his college career as a player for RIT during a period where the team was at the top of the Division III ranks. The Tigers finished as National Runners-Up in his sophomore season and continued with two more strong campaigns (including Thomas being captain in his final year), before Thomas ended his playing days and turned to coaching.[1] Thomas stayed with RIT for one season as an assistant before moving on to Division I, signing up with Maine in the early 2000s. Thomas arrived in Orono just after Shawn Walsh was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and helped the team through the difficult period when Walsh died the following year and the team was turned over to Tim Whitehead.[2]

Thomas remained under Whitehead for one year before heading to the professional ranks, serving as an assistant for the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies for two seasons before being promoted to head coach/Director of Hockey Operations for the 2004–05 season. After the 42-win debut, Thomas was offered a position with the Fresno Falcons and moved west to take the job. Thomas continued his success in the ECHL with a 43-win, 100-point season, ending with Fresno reaching the conference finals in 2006.[3] Thomas was able to get the Falcons to reach the playoffs in each of the following two seasons but in 2008–09, with the economic downturn, Fresno announced that they would cease operations 30 games into the season, ending Thomas' tenure with the team. Thomas did not remain unemployed for long as his former team (since having relocated) offered him the chance to turn around their season and Thomas agreed to take over as head coach for the Stockton Thunder.

With the Thunder Thomas was able to get the team back on the right track and make the playoffs is his half-season behind the bench. The next year he reached the conference finals for the second time, and was finally able to get into the championship series in 2013. With his success at the minor professional level Thomas was offered the chance to improve the fortunes of Alaska-Anchorage who hadn't had a winning season in 20 years and agreed to take over from the departed Dave Shyiak.[4] Thomas' hiring immediately paid dividends as the Seawolves produced their first above-.500 record since joining the WCHA which should establish Thomas for at least the near future.

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1993–94 St. Michael's Buzzers MetJHL 46 13 27 40 110 — — — — —
1994–95 RIT ECAC West 24 3 4 7 54 — — — — —
1995–96 RIT ECAC West 18 1 12 13 24 — — — — —
1996–97 RIT ECAC West 30 12 12 24 50 — — — — —
1997–98 RIT ECAC West 30 9 19 28 26 — — — — —
NCAA totals 102 25 47 72 154 — — — — —

College Head Coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves (WCHA) (2013–14–present)
2013–14 Alaska-Anchorage 18–16–4 12–12–4 6th WCHA Semifinals
2014–15 Alaska-Anchorage 8–22–4 5–21–2 10th Did Not Qualify
2015–16 Alaska-Anchorage 11–20–3 8–18–2 9th Did Not Qualify
Alaska-Anchorage: 37–58–11 25–51–8
Total: 37–58–11

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ↑ "RIT Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  2. ↑ "Walsh Memorial". USA Today. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  3. ↑ "2005–06 ECHL Standings". Hockey DB. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  4. ↑ "Alaska-Anchorage Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.