Among the interviews in the last week was a lengthy session with former NHL’er Jim Thomson.
Thomson played on a variety of NHL teams during his career, most notably as a member of the L.A. Kings when they advanced to the 1993 Stanley Cup.
He made his living as an NHL tough guy, and as such, you have to respect his perspective on the game- then and now- and his role in it, having played the enforcer throughout his career.
Thomson talks sometimes eagerly, sometimes with reticence, but always is forthright about what he had to do to survive both on the ice and in the periods before and after games.
It was a life filled with angst, with self doubt, one fueled by alcohol, pills and drugs that allowed him to exist, and now, years later, look back, sometimes in shame, at what he was, and what he hopes no one ever has to deal with.
These days, Jim Thomson conducts a couple of initiatives, including ” Dreams Do Come True “, plus a crusade to have fighting eliminated from hockey.
There’s no question about Thomson’s sincerity. or the case he constructs against fighting in hockey.
And while he’s optimistic, saying an abolition of fighting is ” close “, I think there’s many miles to be travelled before he sees this dream accomplished
I’m Fred Wallace