User:GhostRiver/thompson

Nathan Thompson (born October 5, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey center. Between 2006 and 2022, he played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Winnipeg Jets.

Early life
Thompson was born on October 5, 1984, in Anchorage, Alaska, to father Robert Thompson and mother Cathy Thompson-Liddelow. The cold weather in Alaska froze many of the ponds in and around Anchorage for several months out of the year, and he spent his childhood ice skating on these makeshift outdoor rinks.


 * Alaska All Stars
 * Dimond High School

Amateur

 * Seattle Thunderbirds 2001-02
 * Seattle Thunderbirds 2002-03
 * Seattle Thunderbirds 2003-04
 * Seattle Thunderbirds 2004-05

Boston Bruins (2005–2008)
After the Thunderbirds' elimination from the WHL playoffs, Thompson joined the Providence Bruins, Boston's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, for the remainder of the 2005 Calder Cup playoffs. He recorded an assist and six penalty minutes in 11 games for Providence before they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Philadelphia Phantoms. Thompson signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Bruins on July 29, 2005.


 * 2005-06
 * 2006-07
 * 2007-08

New York Islanders (2008–2010)

 * 2008-09
 * 2009-10

Tampa Bay Lightning (2010–2014)
When the 2012–13 NHL lockout disrupted the start of the normal season, Thompson signed a contract with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL, a team whose games he had frequently attended as a child. When the NHL lockout ended that January, Thompson left the Aces to return to Tampa Bay. He missed some time in December with an undisclosed injury, but put up seven goals and 21 points in 24 ECHL games. On March 23, 2013, Thompson, who had been centering a checking line and had six goals and 10 points through the first 30 games of the lockout-shortened season, signed a four-year, $6.4 million contract extension with the Lightning.
 * 2009-10
 * 2010-11
 * 2011-12


 * 2012-13
 * 2013-14

Anaheim Ducks (2014–2017)

 * 2014-15
 * 2015-16
 * 2016-17

Ottawa Senators (2017–2018)

 * 2017-18

Los Angeles Kings (2018–2019)

 * 2017-18
 * 2018-19

Montreal Canadiens (2019–2020)

 * 2018-19
 * 2019-20

First stint with Philadelphia Flyers (2020)
On February 24, 2020, the trading deadline for the 2019–20 NHL season, the Canadiens sent Thompson to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Coach Alain Vigneault had been interested in acquiring more experience on the Flyers' fourth line, and Thompson displaced rookie Connor Bunnaman in the center role. On March 11, however, Thompson suffered a sprained left knee after a collision with Ondrej Kase of the Boston Bruins, and Bunnaman was called back up while he recovered. The following day, however, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to indefinitely suspend the remainder of the 2019–20 season, allowing Thompson time to recover from the injury without missing games. At the time the regular season ended, Thompson had only appeared in seven games for Philadelphia, centering Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and Michael Raffl and recording one assist. When the NHL returned to play for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, Thompson was one of 31 Flyers to join the team in the Toronto quarantine bubble. Vigneault was criticized by sportswriters for Thompson's expanded postseason role: he was one of the only players to appear in all 16 of the Flyers' playoff games, and was often tasked with "eating minutes", preventing the opposing teams' top forwards from scoring rather than generating goals of his own. He had one postseason goal before the Flyers fell to the New York Islanders in the second round of playoffs.

Winnipeg Jets (2020–2021)
Thompson signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Winnipeg Jets on October 10, 2020. He skated on the fourth line, centering Trevor Lewis and Mathieu Perreault. Sports broadcaster Kelly Moore referred to the line as the "Dirty 30s", as Perreault, the youngest of the three, was 33 years old. The Dirty 30s became one of the most productive lines on the Jets: by April 4, they had not allowed any even strength goals against them, and they had a collective +18 rating. Thompson played his 800th NHL game on April 17, in a 3-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. He was the third Alaskan skater to play in 800 NHL games, joining Scott Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky. Despite these on-ice successes, the season proved emotionally difficult for Thompson: with the Canada–United States border closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was isolated from his family in the United States, especially his son, who lived in Minnesota. Thompson did not take the ice for the game in which the Jets clinched their berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, and the fourth line was used only sparingly during Winnipeg's first-round playoff series against the Oilers. Thompson did, however, provide assists on both the game-tying and game-winning goals in Game 1. The Jets swept Edmonton and advanced to the second round, where they were swept in turn by Montreal. In 44 games with the Jets, Thompson scored two goals and three assists. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

Second stint with Philadelphia (2021–2022)
On July 28, 2021, Thompson rejoined the Flyers on a one-year, $800,000 free agent contract. He returned to his role as Philadelphia's veteran fourth-line center, with Zack MacEwen on his right wing and Patrick Brown alternating with Nicolas Aubé-Kubel on his left. Thompson was one of several Flyers centers to suffer a major injury in the first two months of the season, dislocating his shoulder during Philadelphia's November 26 game against the Carolina Hurricanes. He missed most of the season recovering from the injury and associated surgery, rejoining the team on April 2 for their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Retirement
On July 19, 2023, Thompson announced his retirement from professional ice hockey at the age of 38. He broke the news on the Empty Netters Podcast and confirmed the decision via Twitter. In 15 seasons across nine NHL teams, Thompson finished his career with 65 goals, 164 points, and 401 penalty minutes in 844 regular-season games, as well as eight goals and 21 points in 86 playoff appearances.

International play

 * 2012 WC
 * 2013 WC

Personal life
Thompson married his first wife, former Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey player Cristin Stuart, in July 2013. His brother-in-law was Mark Stuart, then a defenseman for the Winnipeg Jets. They divorced in February 2015, three months before the birth of their first child Teague, who lives full-time with Cristin in Minnesota. After his divorce, Thompson was romantically linked to reality television stars Bethenny Frankel of The Real Housewives of New York City and Christina Haack of Flip or Flop. He married his second wife, Sydney Kaplan, in July 2018. Raised in a Christian family, Thompson converted to Judaism, which Kaplan practiced, one week before his wedding.

For most of his professional ice hockey career, Thompson struggled with alcoholism and substance abuse. He began drinking alcohol around the age of 11, and by his mid-20s, he was regularly taking a number of receational drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, and psilocybin mushrooms. He stopped using drugs and alcohol while rehabilitating his Achilles tendon in 2016, and has been sober since. When he joined the Jets, Thompson elected to wear jersey No. 11 as a tribute to Rick Rypien, who died by suicide in 2011, as a tribute to both players' struggles with addiction and depression.

Thompson is known for his missing front tooth. He lost the tooth during the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, when it was knocked out by a high stick. Because it broke at the root, it could not be reinserted and had to be removed entirely.