With just 19 goals in 787 regular season National Hockey League games, Jim Thomson certainly earned the nickname ‘Scoreless Wonder’ from his Toronto Maple Leafs teammates. Thomson was a solid defenseman that helped the Leafs to four Stanley Cup championships in his first five years in the NHL.
Jim Thomson – Junior and Minor Pro
Thomson played two years of junior hockey with the St. Michael’s Majors, 1943-44 and 1944-45. In his second year, he was an offensive threat with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points over 18 regular season games. The Majors finished first overall, losing just one of their 19 games.
St. Michael’s won the OHA Junior A championship, sweeping the Galt Red Wings in the finals. Over the playoffs, Jim scored five and assisted on two over nine games.
Over the Memorial Cup run, the Majors captured the George Richardson Memorial Trophy with a four games to two win over the Montreal Junior Royals. St. Michael’s was crowned Memorial Cup champions after taking out the Moose Jaw Canucks in five games. Over the Mem Cup playoffs, he scored six and assisted on four over 14 games. This means he scored five more goals over 41 games in 1944-45 than he did over his 787 NHL games.
Thomson spent very little time in the minors. In his first year of pro hockey, 1945-46, he played 28 regular season games for the Max Kaminsky coached Pittsburgh Hornets in the AHL. Jim appeared in six more games in the Calder Cup playoffs for Pittsburgh. He also played his first five NHL games with the Maple Leafs. The Hornets finished third in the eight team AHL and fell in the semi-finals to the Cleveland Barons. That would be all the minor pro hockey Thomson would play.
Jim Thomson – NHL
Between 1945-46 and 1957-58, Thomson played 787 regular season NHL games, scoring just 19 goals and assisting on 215 for 234 points. He also sat a modest 920 minutes in the penalty box. In 63 Stanley Cup playoff games, he added 15 points. Except for his final year in the NHL when he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Jim’s entire career was spent with the Maple Leafs.
Jim Thomson Collection
Similar to Jean-Guy Talbot who showed up in the NHL just in time to win Stanley Cup championships in his first five years with Montreal, Thomson came to Toronto at a very opportune time. The Maple Leafs won championships in Jim’s first three years and after taking a year off, won again a year later.
In his rookie season, 1946-47, the Leafs took out the Montreal Canadiens in the finals. The following year, Toronto finished first overall and beat the Detroit Red Wings for the Cup. In 1948-49, the Maple Leafs finished fourth in the six team league with just 57 points over 60 games. Yet, they reached the finals and took out the first placed Red Wings. That year, Thomson was an offensive factor with 6 points in nine games. In 1950-51, Thomson got his last of four Stanley Cup rings with a win over the Habs in the finals.
He may not have directly put many pucks in the net but Thomson’s assist total was usually high. In 1950-51, he placed eighth in the NHL with 33 assists. However, his seasonal goal total never surpassed four. He was able to net that career high number in his final season with Chicago.
Twice, Thomson was named a Second Team All-Star defenseman. In 1950-51, he was beside Leo Reise of the Red Wings while Red Kelly of Detroit and Bill Quackenbush of the Boston Bruins took First Team honours. The following year, it was Jim and Hy Buller of the New York Rangers on the Second Team while Kelly and Doug Harvey of the Canadiens were First Team.
In his final season with the Maple Leafs, 1956-57, Thomson took over as team captain from Sid Smith. After being sent to the Blackhawks the following season, Jim was replaced by Ted Kennedy.
His exit from Toronto was due to his involvement in the creation of a player’s association. Conn Smythe didn’t want players cutting into his profits and did everything to keep his talent oppressed. Chicago was the destination of trouble makers as the kingpin Ted Lindsay was also shipped to the Blackhawks from Detroit.
Jim Thomson – Rookie Card
The Jimmy Thomson rookie card appears as number 82 in the 1951-52 Parkhurst set. The card, despite his importance in Toronto winning those four Stanley Cups, is valued as a common card.
His final card came as number 23 in the 1957-58 Topps set. This is the only card showing Thomson as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1945-46 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 28 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 16 |
| 1945-46 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 1946-47 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 60 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 97 |
| 1947-48 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 59 | 0 | 29 | 29 | 82 |
| 1948-49 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 60 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 56 |
| 1949-50 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 76 |
| 1950-51 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 69 | 3 | 33 | 36 | 76 |
| 1951-52 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 0 | 25 | 25 | 86 |
| 1952-53 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 69 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 73 |
| 1953-54 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 61 | 2 | 24 | 26 | 86 |
| 1954-55 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 63 |
| 1955-56 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 62 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 96 |
| 1956-57 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 62 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 50 |
| 1957-58 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 75 |
| NHL Totals | 787 | 19 | 215 | 234 | 920 |