CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Lose Veteran Brent Thompson to AHL

Published on September 24, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


WINDSOR, CO – The Colorado Eagles of the Central Hockey League announced the loss of their Assistant Coach and Defenseman Brent Thompson to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League, Vice President and Head Coach Chris Stewart announced today.

As an undisputed leader for the Eagles in their inaugural season campaign, the 6'2, 200 pound defenseman amassed 29 points (5G, 24A) and toughed out 172 penalty minutes, leading the way to a 2003-04 CHL Northwest Division title. Thompson brought 13 professional seasons of experience and toughness to the Eagles lineup in 2003-04, including over 100 games at the National Hockey League level. In 121 NHL games for the Los Angeles Kings, the Winnipeg Jets, and the Phoenix Coyotes, Thompson had 352 penalty minutes and accumulated 11 points (1G, 10A).

"Being the leader that he (Thompson) is, we wanted to give him every opportunity to stay here in the organization," remarked Vice President and Head Coach Chris Stewart, "but Brent opted to continue playing instead." "We wish Brent and his family the best of luck not only in his hockey career, but also in whatever else he and his wife Kim choose to do," Stewart added.

Thompson played major junior hockey for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League from 1988-1991, where he sat out 414 penalty minutes and accrued 103 points (18G, 85A) in three seasons. He was selected 39th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft while playing in the WHL.

Thompson began his professional career with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International Hockey League for their 1991 playoff run, registering six penalty minutes and one assist in four games. He played his first professional season of hockey in the fall 1991, skating for both the Los Angeles Kings and for the Roadrunners until the conclusion of the 1993-94 season. Thompson spent the 1994-95 season playing 29 games for the Winnipeg Jets, registering 78 penalty minutes. He also skated for the Springfield Falcons, the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Louisville Panthers, and the Hershey Bears of the AHL before joining the Eagles lineup in the fall of 2003.

Entering into his fourteenth professional season of play for the Providence Bruins of the AHL, Thompson has skated in 556 AHL contests, and is ranked ninth time in Penalty Minutes in AHL history with 1,828. In 840 career professional games, Thompson has an impressive 2,788 penalty minutes and 222 points (37G, 185A) to his credit. As the Captain of the Hershey Bears in the 2002-03 season, the recipient of the AHL's Yanick Dupre Memorial Award for AHL Man of the Year in 1998-99, and the Assistant Coach of the Eagles in 2003-04, Thompson brings a wealth of leadership skills as a seasoned veteran with him to the Bruins.

Thompson's 840 professional games would qualify him as a veteran under the new CHL regulation that states that no team may have more than four players with 260 or more professional contests played on their rosters. This restriction, designed to continue to push the CHL in the direction of a more developmental league, has shifted the lineups of several CHL clubs.

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Central Hockey League Stories from September 24, 2004


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