Paul Thompson (ice hockey, born 1988)

Paul Thompson
Born (1988-11-30) November 30, 1988
Derry, NH, USA
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Right
NHL team New Jersey Devils
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2011present

Paul Thompson (born November 30, 1988) is an American ice hockey forward who is currently playing within the New Jersey Devils organization of the National Hockey League (NHL). In the 201011 he was the Hockey East player of the year, led the Hockey East in scoring, and led the nation in power play goals while playing with the University of New Hampshire.[1]

Playing career

Born in Derry, New Hampshire, Thompson began playing hockey at age five.[2] He became a fan of the UNH hockey team while his elder cousin, Mike Souza, played on the team.[3] He later attended Pinkerton Academy where he played hockey his freshman and sophomore year. While at Pinkerton he also played Baseball and Football.[2] The next two years he played for the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.[4] After scoring fifty one goals in fifty games in the 200607 season, Thompson was named the EJHL Offensive Player of the Year.[5] In 2007 he was ranked seventy second among North American hockey players by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He was the highest ranked North American player to not be selected in the NHL Entry Draft that year.[6]

He then attended the University of New Hampshire where he is a Health Management major.[7] Thompson scored his first college hat trick on November 17, 2007 in a game against Providence College.[2][8] In the 200910 season he scored thirty nine points, second on the team to Bobby Butler.[5] Thompson is now the highest scoring New Hampshire native on the UNH ice hockey team in the past thirty years.[9] He is a finalist for the 2011 Hobey Baker Award.[1]

In March 2011 he signed a two year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.[10] He then began playing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

On February 6, 2014, Thompson was traded by the Penguins to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Spencer Machacek.[11]

As a free agent in the off-season, Thompson signed a one-year AHL contract with the Albany Devils. Prior to the 2014–15 season, he attended NHL parent club, the New Jersey Devils training camp.[12]

On July 1, 2015, Thompson signed a two-year, two-way free agent contract with the New Jersey Devils.[13]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
200708 U. of New Hampshire HE 35 6 6 12 22
200809 U. of New Hampshire HE 27 4 5 9 22
200910 U. of New Hampshire HE 39 19 20 39 24
201011 U. of New Hampshire HE 39 28 24 52 32
201011 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 6 1 2 3 2 4 0 1 1 2
201112 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 67 10 15 25 37 12 2 1 3 2
201112 Wheeling Nailers ECHL 1 1 1 2 0
201213 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 58 20 9 29 84 15 3 3 6 21
201314 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 39 4 3 7 50
201314 Springfield Falcons AHL 30 4 4 8 50 5 0 0 0 5
201415 Albany Devils AHL 73 33 22 55 67
AHL totals 273 72 55 127 290 36 5 5 10 30

Awards and honours

Award Year
College
All-Hockey East First Team 2010–11 [14]
AHCA East First-Team All-American 2010–11

References

  1. 1 2 "Paul Thompson Wins Hockey East Player of the Year". WMUR. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Rose, Lauren (13 November 2008). "No sophomore jinx for Paul Thompson". Derry News (Derry, NH). Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  3. Lessels, Allen (March 25, 2011). "Local boy makes good". New Hampshire Union Leader. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  4. Pike, Al (March 24, 2011). "N.H. native Thompson has dream career with Wildcats". Seacoastonline.com. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  5. 1 2 Labor, Anthony (22 November 2010). "Hometown hero: UNH senior Thompson thriving". Seacoastonline.com. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  6. McMahon, Mike (13 December 2010). "Thompson follows cousin to UNH, paves his own path". The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, MA). Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  7. Merritt, Andrew (24 February 2011). "New Hampshire boasts punch line". New England Hockey Journal. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  8. "Friars fall to Wildcats in overtime". The Providence Journal. 18 November 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  9. Lessels, Allen (31 January 2011). "Allen Lessels' UNH Notebook: Maine event set". New Hampshire Union Leader. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  10. "Thompson signs with Penguins". USA Today. Associated Press. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  11. "Penguins trade Thompson to Blue Jackets for Machacek". The Sports Network. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  12. "Defenseman Eric Gelinas re-signs with Devils". FireandIce.com. 2014-09-15. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
  13. "Thompson inks two-year, two-way contract". New Jersey Devils. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  14. "Hockey East First-Team All-Stars". hockeyeastonline.com. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2011-04-01.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Bobby Butler
Hockey East Player of the Year
2010–11
Succeeded by
Spencer Abbott
Preceded by
Bobby Butler
Gustav Nyquist
Hockey East Scoring Champion
2010–11
Succeeded by
Spencer Abbott
Preceded by
Bobby Butler
Hockey East Three-Stars Award
2010–11
Succeeded by
Kieran Millan
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