Cecil "Tiny" Thompson
Hockey Athlete- Special Legends Class of 2025
Born in British Columbia and raised in Calgary, Cecil Thompson initially played as a forward before switching to goaltender to get into games. In junior hockey, he played for the 1919–20 Alberta Champion Calgary Monarchs, and in senior hockey, he was part of the 1920–21 Alberta Champion Alberta Pacific Hockey Club and the 1923–24 Alberta Champion Bellevue Bulldogs.
Cecil’s professional career spanned ten seasons with the Boston Bruins and two with the Detroit Red Wings. In 553 of 560 regular-season games, he recorded 81 shutouts and maintained a goals-against average of 2.07—ranking sixth and fifth among all NHL goaltenders, respectively. He led the league in wins five times, in shutouts four times, and in goals-against average four times. Thompson became the first goaltender to win the Vezina Trophy four times and was twice named an NHL First Team All-Star and twice a Second Team All-Star.
A pioneer in goaltending, Cecil was among the first to make glove saves and handle the puck. He was the first NHL goalie to record an assist and the first to achieve 250 career wins. His record of 14 consecutive regular-season victories still stands today.
During World War II, Thompson served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and simultaneously coached the Calgary RCAF Mustangs in the Alberta Senior Hockey League. After the war, he scouted for the Chicago Black Hawks for over three decades, focusing not only on skill but also on players’ character. Nicknamed “Tiny” for being the tallest player on his midget team, Cecil Thompson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1959.
