Rocky Lee Thompson (born August 8, 1977) is a Canadian former ice hockey right wing, who is currently an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL. He was drafted in the third round, 72nd overall, by the Calgary Flames in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. This Cree forward/defenseman[1] was born in Calgary, Alberta and raised in Whitecourt, Alberta.[2] Along with hockey, he showed promise in boxing as a teenager, winning gold in the 1993 North American Indigenous Games as well as in provincial Golden Gloves tournament championships in Alberta and Saskatchewan.[1]
| Rocky Thompson | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Thompson at the 2014 Edmonton Oilers training camp | |||
| Born |
August 8, 1977 Calgary, Alberta, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing, Defence | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for |
Calgary Flames Florida Panthers | ||
| NHL draft |
72nd overall, 1995 Calgary Flames | ||
| Playing career | 1996–2007 | ||
Playing career
editAfter playing four seasons in the Western Hockey League, Thompson made his professional debut with the Flames' American Hockey League affiliate, the Saint John Flames. He appeared in 15 NHL games with the Flames during the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons. He made a brief return to the NHL with the Florida Panthers, appearing in ten games during the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons. In only 25 NHL games, Thompson racked up 117 penalty minutes.
Most of his professional career has been spent with various AHL teams, tallying numerous penalty minutes. Most recently, he played in 55 games for the Peoria Rivermen during the 2006–07 season, recording 127 penalty minutes.
Coaching career
editFollowing his professional career, Rocky Thompson turned to coaching, becoming the assistant coach for the expansion Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League in 2007.[2] He would later become an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Barons.
On July 16, 2014, Thompson was promoted to assistant coach of the Edmonton Oilers.[3]
On July 3, 2015, Thompson was hired as head coach of the Windsor Spitfires.[4] In his first season, he took a Spitfires team that finished last in the conference and guided them to 87 regular-season points and second place in the OHL West Division, before losing in five games to the London Knights in the first round of the playoffs. Thompson coached the Spitfires as they became champions of the 2017 Memorial Cup.
On June 7, 2017, Thompson was hired as head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.[5] He spent three seasons in the position before joining the San Jose Sharks as an associate coach on September 22, 2020.[6] He did not return for the 2021–22 season, as he would not be vaccinated against COVID-19 as required by the NHL for people in close contact with the players.[7][8] In the summer of 2022, it was announced that Thompson was hired by the Philadelphia flyers as an assistant coach for the 2022–23 season. He has remained in this position for the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons.
Career statistics
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1993–94 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 68 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 166 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1994–95 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 63 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 220 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | ||
| 1995–96 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 71 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 260 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 26 | ||
| 1995–96 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 47 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 170 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Swift Current Broncos | WHL | 22 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 90 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 22 | ||
| 1997–98 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 51 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 187 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 47 | ||
| 1997–98 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 27 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 108 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 53 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 125 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Louisville Panthers | AHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 54 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2000–01 | Louisville Panthers | AHL | 55 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 193 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 42 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 143 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 19 | ||
| 2001–02 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 79 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 275 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04 | Toronto Roadrunners | AHL | 69 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 196 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | Edmonton Road Runners | AHL | 69 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 231 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Peoria Rivermen | AHL | 59 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 247 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | ||
| 2006–07 | Peoria Rivermen | AHL | 55 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 127 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| AHL totals | 566 | 17 | 52 | 60 | 1919 | 39 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 93 | ||||
| NHL totals | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 117 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
References
edit- ^ a b "Rocky Thompson still hopeful of an NHL career | Windspeaker - AMMSA". www.ammsa.com. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
- ^ a b "Rocky hangs up skates to coach with Oil Kings". Sherwood Park News. Sun Media Corporation. July 24, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- ^ "Rocky Thompson hired as assistant coach by Edmonton Oilers". NHL.com. July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
- ^ "Rocky Thompson new head coach of Windsor Spitfires". CBC.ca. July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
- ^ "Rocky Thompson Named Head Coach of AHL's Chicago Wolves".
- ^ "San Jose Sharks Announce Organizational Coaching Staff". San Jose Sharks. National Hockey League. September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ^ Pashelka, Curtis (28 January 2022). "Evander Kane details heated altercation with former Sharks assistant coach". The Mercury News. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "Rocky Thompson Will Not Return to Sharks Coaching Staff". San Jose Sharks. National Hockey League. September 4, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database