Marty Williamson was head coach at Brock University when goalie was looking to prove himself; Thompson will start this afternoon for Team Canada vs. Switzerland
Barrie Colts general manager Marty Williamson may have the most interesting perspective of any person in Canada when Logan Thompson starts in goal today against Switzerland at the Olympics in Milan.
Williamson was the head coach at Brock University when Thompson played at the St. Catharines-based school in 2018-19. A fringe professional prospect to that point, Thompson was a rock for the Badgers.
“He was our backbone, MVP,” Williamson explained while rhyming off other honours the now 28-year-old piled up that season.
“He made us a (good team) … he had a good coach too,” quipped the veteran bench boss.
Williamson and Thompson crossed paths at one of the most critical times in what is surely the most circuitous journey on Team Canada’s men’s hockey team, loaded from head to toe with mostly players who have been stars from a young age.
Thompson’s stands out as the most unique and he has fought hard to get to Italy, winning a Stanley Cup and being named an NHL all-star along the way.
Williamson, in between Ontario Hockey League gigs at the time, learned a couple months before school started that Thompson was coming to Brock.
“(I) still remember getting the call in June that he was coming. We weren’t sure” to that point, recalled Williamson.
Plenty of good junior players go though U Sports, but most have much more modest professional prospects by that point in their careers. The 28-game regular season, plus shortened playoffs, doesn’t provide a great platform.
Thompson had something to prove, and Williamson gave him the chance to do it.
“I think I played him 27 of 28,” Williamson said. “You can do that in Canadian university (hockey).”
At the same time, NHL scouts were starting to reconsider their collective thoughts on the Calgary native, who was undrafted and largely not highly thought by the time he went to school.
“Sometimes others go away,” Williamson mused about other professional goalies being surpassed by Thompson as he remained an amateur at Brock.
“I think he rediscovered his love of the game for us (at Brock), too.”
It’s hard not to love how far Thompson has come.
He was signed a year after leaving Brock by Kelly McCrimmon, who was plenty familiar with Thompson from his days as the GM in Brandon, where Thompson played in the Western Hockey League, helping the Wheat Kings to a WHL title.
In what could be described as a massive miss by two other NHL organizations, Thompson was not signed after two brief American Hockey League cameos and then a full season in the ECHL.
McCrimmon swooped in and signed Thompson in 2020.
Thompson had to overcome a setback because of injury, which prevented him from playing in the Vegas Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup run in 2023, though it’s worth noting the organization may not have been in that position had they not got stellar minutes from him before he went down late in the season.
He signed with Washington two years ago and is the clear No. 1 for the Capitals.
Thompson’s getting the call in this afternoon’s game against Switzerland is a clear indication that he is No. 2 on Canada’s goaltending depth chart behind former Owen Sound Attack star Jordan Binnington.
Binnington, who is from Richmond Hill, shut out Czechia on Thursday in Canada’s 5-0 win.
The Colts have four alumni participating in Milan. Goaltenders Mathias Niederberger (Germany) and Arturs Silovs (Latvia) are backing up their country’s starters, while defenceman Rasmus Andersson is playing a key role for Sweden.
Greg Di Tomaso, Andersson’s teammate on the 2015-16 Colts, is playing for Italy. Di Tomaso is from the Toronto area, but qualifies for the host country through his Italian roots.
Both former Colts defencemen faced one another in Tuesday’s Olympic opener, when Sweden beat Italy, 5-2.
