Thomas learning on the job

Tuesday’s annual school day game is held to promote literacy. And the Bulldogs who have a 3-4 and 2 record this American Hockey League season, will insert some hockey into the curriculum. For Christian Thomas of the Bulldogs, every game he plays is a learning experience.

It’s been a pretty good start to the season for Christian Thomas. Even though he was disappointed when he was demoted by the Habs.

Last year, he suffered an injury during training camp that go him off to a slow start, but so far this year, he’s netted four goals and an assist in nine games.

Christian Thomas: “This year, coming from Montreal, I was pretty confident, thought I had a good camp and everything was going well. So that transitioned here and helped me out a lot.”

Coach Sylvain Lefebvre: “He’s a shooter. He has speed and we want him to use his speed effectively.”

Lefebvre says Thomas’s line has struggled to find quality scoring chances, but he’s confident that with time they’ll find their groove.

Coach Lefevbre: “We also need him on power play to get his nose dirty in front of the net and he’s been doing that better lately.”

The Dogs’ powerplay record is currently ranked 29th in the league, after having scored only twice in 37 chances. Thomas is determined to change that: “This year I’m setting a personal goal of scoring the most goals of my AHL career, but we’ll see how it goes. It’s going well so far and hopefully it stays that way.”

Now in his third full American league season, Thomas says he’s in constant contact with his dad, Steve — a former NHL’er, who’s now an assistant coach in Tampa Bay.
Christian says his dad is always giving him tips on how to improve his game, but there’s one particular bit of advice he lives by: “I’d have to say ‘compete every shift’. If you work as hard as you can, your skill will show and things will go well.”