Rocky Thompson
| 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 | ||
Rocky Lee Thompson (born August 8, 1977) is a Canadian former ice hockey right wing and the current head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League. 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 provinicial Golden Gloves tournament championships in Alberta and Saskatchewan.[1]
Playing career
After 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
Following 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]
Career statistics
| 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 Roadrunners | 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 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 117 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ https://www.nhl.com/goldenknights/news/rocky-thompson-named-head-coach-of-ahls-chicago-wolves/c-289826900
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- 1977 births
- Calgary Flames draft picks
- Calgary Flames players
- Canadian ice hockey defencemen
- Edmonton Oilers coaches
- Edmonton Road Runners players
- Florida Panthers players
- Hershey Bears players
- Ice hockey people from Alberta
- Living people
- Louisville Panthers players
- Medicine Hat Tigers players
- People from Whitecourt
- Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players
- Saint John Flames players
- San Antonio Rampage players
- Sportspeople from Calgary
- Swift Current Broncos players
- Toronto Roadrunners players
- Windsor Spitfires coaches
- Chicago Wolves coaches
- First Nations sportspeople