BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Tim Thomas had his second day with the Stanley Cup on Saturday, taking the trophy back to his alma mater the University of Vermont, where he played four seasons (1993-97) and led the Catamounts to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, including a Frozen Four in 1996.
Thomas was asked about his unorthodox goaltending style, and he referenced that opponents still question his technique. Following a press conference at the university, Thomas was asked if he had the chance to speak with Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo -- who earlier this summer admitted that he regretted questioning Thomas’ goaltending style following Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals -- at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
Thomas said it was never an issue as far as he was concerned.
“That was the media,” Thomas said. “We’re fine.”
In Game 5 of the finals, Thomas came out of the crease to play the shooter on the winning goal in the Canucks' 1-0 win, which put them up 3-2 in the series. Luongo questioned Thomas' positioning on the play.
"It's not hard [to stop] if you're playing in the paint," Luongo said at the time. "It's an easy save for me, but if you're wandering out, that's going to happen."
Luongo tried to explain himself a day later saying: "I said also that he might make some saves that I don't, so I was just saying on that particular play I would have played it different and that's the difference between me and him. I've been pumping his tires ever since the series started and I haven't heard one nice thing he had to say about me, so that's the way it is.”
Two days later, Thomas quipped: "I guess I didn't realize it was my job to pump his tires."
Last month, Luongo said he regretted his comments.
"If I could do it again, I wouldn't say it," Luongo said in an interview with Radio-Canada.ca. "I didn't want to create the buzz that it did. After the fifth game, I had never been so emotional and I got carried away."