Don Thompson | |||
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | February 4, 1949||
Height | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) | ||
Weight | 150 lb (68 kg; 10 st 10 lb) | ||
Position | Forward | ||
Played for |
Michigan State New Haven Nighthawks | ||
NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
Playing career | 1969–1975 |
Donald Thompson is a Canadian retired ice hockey forward who was an All-American for Michigan State.[1]
Career
[edit]Thompson briefly played for the Niagara Falls Flyers in 1968–69 but soon left the team so he could register as a freshman at Michigan State University. In doing so, he would be able to count the year as his freshman season and begin to play as a sophomore on the varsity squad in 1970. Shortly after Thompson joined Michigan State, the NCAA changed its long-standing police to limit student athletes to three seasons of varsity play. Beginning with the 1969–70 season, all incoming players had four years of eligibility. As a consequence, when Thompson was named as the WCHA Sophomore of the Year for 1970, he was the final player to receive that award.
Despite the lost season, Thompson became a standout player for the Spartans in the early-1970s. He led the team in scoring in each of his three seasons with the club and was named an All-American in 1971.[2] As a senior, he finished sixth in the nation in scoring. When Thompson graduated he was the Sparta's all-time leading scorer, however, nearly all of his records were surpassed due to the deluge of scoring that occurred in the mid-1970s.[3]
After college, Thompson played senior hockey briefly before becoming a beneficiary of the rapid expansion of professional hockey. Due to both the NHL's and WHA's demand for players, Thompson was able to sign a professional contract with the New Haven Nighthawks. He played parts of two seasons with the team, providing depth scoring and helping them reach the second round in 1974.
Career statistics
[edit]Regular season and playoffs
[edit]Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1966–67 | Etobicoke Indians | MJBHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1968–69 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1969–70 | Michigan State | WCHA | 24 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1970–71 | Michigan State | WCHA | 31 | 19 | 38 | 57 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1971–72 | Michigan State | WCHA | 35 | 32 | 35 | 67 | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1972–73 | Clinton Comets | EHL | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1972–73 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 33 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1973–74 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 61 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | ||
1974–75 | Peoria Blades | CnHL | — | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
NCAA Totals | 90 | 65 | 91 | 156 | 125 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
AHL Totals | 94 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
Awards and honors
[edit]Award | Year | |
---|---|---|
All-WCHA First Team | 1970–71 | [4] |
AHCA West All-American | 1970–71 | [1] |
All-WCHA Second Team | 1971–72 | [4] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "1970-1971 All-American Team". The American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
- ^ Seibold, Jack (2003). Spartan Sports Encyclopedia: A History of the Michigan State Men's Athletic Program. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-58261-219-5.
- ^ "Michigan State hockey 2018-19 Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State Spartans. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ a b "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
External links
[edit]- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database