Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Tage Thompson was, of course, ecstatic that he was picked for his first NHL All-Star Game on Thursday.
Each team gets one representative to play in this year's All-Star Game, and now the fans get to vote for two more skaters and a goaltender.
Thompson was all smiles after practice on Friday in Buffalo.
“It’s something you dream of growing up, so to hear my name for that is a rewarding feeling,” said the Sabres center.
The journey wasn’t easy for Thompson. He was 24-years-old when he had his breakout season of 38 goals just last year.
Before that, it was a struggle.
After being drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 2016 NHL Draft, Thompson played 41 games with the Blues one year later, scoring three goals.
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Thompson was then part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade, and he was blamed when O’Reilly led St. Louis to the Stanley Cup, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy along the way. In his first season with the Sabres, Thompson only managed seven goals in 65 games, and then eight goals in 38 games the following year.
You would always see glimpses of Thompson's talent, but once general manager Kevyn Adams got rid of players that needed to go - some that seemed to intimidate him - Thompson blossomed with confidence, and here he is now.
“It’s been a tough journey, and I’ve definitely faced a lot of adversity along the way," Thompson said. "It just makes you grateful for where you’re at in your career now, and makes you not want to take things like this for granted. It’s something I’ve worked for.”
Rasmus Dahlin went to his first NHL All-Star Game last season, and Thompson hopes he wins the vote and joins him on Feb. 3 in Sunrise, Florida.
“It would be nice to have him there with me. I think he deserves it,” he said.
Dahlin really enjoyed his first experience there last year, and he’s happy for his teammate this time around.
"He deserves it more than anyone," said Dahlin on Friday. "I’m very happy for him, and he’s going to have a blast.”
As I mentioned, Dahlin still can get there with the fan vote, and he’d love for that to happen.
“You always want to be in the All-Star Game, but whatever happens, happens," Dahlin said. "I don’t really think about it. I’m happy for 'Tommer'.”
The first night is the NHL Skills Competition, and Dahlin has been through that. What skills competition category would be best for Thompson?
“Everything!," Dahlin exclaimed. "Hardest shot, [accuracy], dekes, he’s got it all.”
I had an interesting discussion with head coach Don Granato on why it seems to take longer to develop goalies. As usual, he had an interesting response.
“I don’t know necessarily if it takes goaltenders longer," said Granato. "Wayne Gretzky... if you had only one spot in Edmonton, how long would it have taken Mark Messier to get to the NHL?
"There’s only one goalie spot, there’s six defensemen spots, so you can play defensemen to get experience. But you only have one net, and that’s one dynamic that needs to be understood. It’s not that they take longer to develop, there’s only one spot. So if Player A is better than Player B, you’re playing Player A all the time until Player B becomes better. But he doesn’t get any time to get better, so it’s a tricky dynamic. That’s the biggest thing that doesn’t get talked about.”
With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen earning a spot with the big club, a decision is looming, as Eric Comrie plays another conditioning game in Rochester on Friday. Granato talked about how Luukkonen has earned his way, but stopped short at saying what the Sabres might do, because he doesn’t have to.
Granato mentioned a decision doesn’t need to be made right now. When that time comes, they’ll make it.
