What a difference two legs make for Tim Thomas.
Until he underwent hip surgery in May, the 36-year-old Boston Bruins veteran regarded himself as a one-legged goalie because of a hip injury.
"I had about two years there where I could only recover (after making a save) with one leg," he says. "I went over it with Bob Essensa, our goalie coach. He was trying to get me to practice using the correct leg and it was just impossible. I couldn't do it."
But now he can, and the Bruins are benefiting. With Thomas playing at the top of his game, Boston ranks as one of the Eastern Conference's elite teams.
He kept his NHL-leading goals against average below two per game Saturday as he backstopped the Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, who sit first overall. Thomas made 27 saves and improved his career record against the league-leading Canucks to 3-0 with just the one goal against.
"It seems like he's on top of his game this year," says Vancouver winger Daniel Sedin.
But such dominant performances were rare last season. The then undisclosed hip injury got so bad that Thomas, the 2009 Vezina Trophy winner, was backing up Tuukka Rask late in the season and in the playoffs.
There was little doubt that his career would be in jeopardy unless he could regain his old Gumby-like form.
And he did. The Flint, Mich., native tops the NHL with a .939 save percentage and a number of other categories.
"(The injury) gave me a greater appreciation just for being in the NHL and for being able to compete against the best players in the world," says Thomas. "It's given me a little bit of personal satisfaction to prove to myself that I can still not just play with these guys, but play pretty well."
Coach Claude Julien says Thomas has helped the club win a number of important games while delivering a steady effort.
"Last year, the way his season was going and some of the issues he had, (Rask) took over just by his play," says Julien. "So it's not about losing (the starter's job). It's about putting the best goaltender in at certain times. (Rask) really got hot for us and we utilized him. This year, we're in a position where (Thomas) has played well enough that he's taken over that spot."
Despite the uncertainty following surgery, Thomas posted eight straight wins at the start of the season -- the best showing in Bruins history, surpassing the six held by the legendary Tiny Thompson in 1937-38. His seven career shutouts, which rank him second in the league, are a career high. He is the first Bruins goaltender to post that many goose eggs since Byron Dafoe recorded 10 back in 1998-99.
Other impressive accomplishments: He was the winning goaltender in the all-star game, stopped Philadelphia 's Scott Hartnell on a penalty shot in December and even fought Montreal's Carey Price.
Which begs the question: When was the turning point in his recovery from his injury?
"The very first game in Czech (Republic against Phoenix) was a big game for me," he says. "I was feeling (good) after surgery and all the work that I did over the summer just to be back playing. It seemed like a long summer because I knew I was feeling so much better over the summer that I was kind of chomping at the bit to play again. I didn't know going into camp exactly how I was going to feel, because it was a long recovery ? all summer-long. I knew I felt better but, even at the beginning of camp, it was still a little sore at times."
"He had a tough time with injuries last year and he's playing the same way he did two years ago," says Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Thomas continues to deliver lights-out netminding with an unorthodox style that can only be compared to the twists and turns of Dominik Hasek. However, Thomas has incorporated elements of the butterfly technique which is the style embraced by most NHLer's and minor hockey goalies alike, thanks to the efforts of goaltending gurus like Francois Allaire, but the Bruins goaltender is distinctly untechnical.
"Getting myself into position nowadays, I'd say, is a lot of technique," says Thomas. "The first save is, in general, a lot of technique. Just after the first save is kind of when it goes out the door."
Although Allaire, a former Anaheim Ducks goaltending coach, and others have perfected the butterfly technique, it was just coming into vogue when Thomas, who was drafted in the 11th round (217th overall) by the Quebec Noridiques in 1994 just before they became the Colorado Avalanche, turned pro at the age of 23 in 1997.
"Jacques Cloutier, in Colorado, he just tried to pound it into my head and made me learn it," says Thomas, who played four seasons at the University of Vermont before entering the pro ranks. "At the time, I didn't like it, because I was a pretty good goalie as it was. But it didn't take me too long to realize the benefits of some of these things. So I spent my whole rookie year, whether I was in the East Coast, the (now-defunct) IHL or Finland, because I played in all three leagues that year, every practice ? before practice and if I had the energy after practice ? I was practicing the techniques ... We covered so much. I didn't even know the pushes. I didn't even know how I was moving. I never thought about it. It's still that way today."
He still believes it's important to get training in the proper technical elements. But it's also important to freelance on a regular basis.
"I think you need to learn the technique," he says. You need to practice the technique. But when it comes game time, you have to do whatever it takes. Even in practice, there are certain times when you should do the goalie drills and practice the technique.
"Then during the game, you only use them when they're necessary. The rest of practice, you don't want to just get schooled on the practice technique the whole time. You need to find a way to stop it and play a little street hockey ... I've seen a lot of kids who have great technique, but they turn into robots and their arms are glued to their sides. They don't have that ability to move their shoulders. You have to be ready to move out of technique mode if you need to."
And what does Luongo, who loves the tight games in which he and Thomas have competed, think of his Boston counterpart's style?
"I don't think you have enough tape in the camera for that, bud," responds Luongo to a TV reporter. "I'll tell you what, he's probably the best goalie at battling. He battles hard, no matter what type of situation he's in. He's not going to give up on a play, and that's why he's so successful."
With his hybrid style, Thomas has become a poster boy for late bloomers. Although he has permeated the public consciousness in recent years, this is only his sixth full NHL season.
Before splitting the 2005-06 campaign between Boston and its Providence farm club, he logged many miles between the minors, Europe and Beantown. (He's still a big star in Finland after four stints there.)
Despite his battles with job security and his hip, he appears relaxed on game days. Many other teams' goaltenders have a policy of not talking to reporters after morning skates, but he answers questions willingly.
"I got to the NHL so late and I was so low on the bottom of the totem pole I never had that option (of refusing)," he says Thomas. "So I got used to it right from the start. It's not something that I tried to do different. I didn't know that there was another way when I was younger. I found out it doesn't bother me."
Neither does his lack of technique. Or his hip.
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