Clifford Bernard Thompson (December 9, 1918 – February 6, 1997) was an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player. He played defense in the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The ...

organization from 1939 until 1950, playing 16 career games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

with the Bruins during 1941–42 and 1948–49 seasons. The rest of his career was mainly spent in the minor

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart, ...

. After his playing career Thompsons became an linesman, and in 1955 was involved in an altercation with

Maurice Richard Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard (; ; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL hist ...

, leading to Richard's suspension and the

Richard Riot The Richard Riot was a riot on March 17, 1955 (Saint Patrick's Day), in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The riot was named after Maurice Richard, the star ice hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). Following a v ...

Playing career

Born in

Winchester, Massachusetts Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income, wealt ...

, Thompson started his pro career with a tryout with the

Boston Olympics The Boston Olympics are a defunct ice hockey team which operated as a farm team for the Boston Bruins. They began play during the 1940–41 Eastern Amateur Hockey League season. The Olympics were often referred to by the shortened name the ‘Pics ...

in the 1938–39 season. He returned for two seasons with the Olympics, scoring 16 goals in 35 games in his rookie season. In 1941–42, he made his NHL debut with the Bruins, playing three games, while mainly playing for the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since ...

and St. Paul of the American Hockey Association (AHA). From 1942–1945, Thompson fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He returned to the Olympics and played every season for the club until 1950, with a ten-game call-up to the Bruins in 1948–49 and nine games for the Bears that same season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honours

* EAHL Second All-Star Team (1947, 1948)

References

External links

* 1918 births 1997 deaths American men's ice hockey defensemen American military personnel of World War II Boston Bruins players Boston Olympics players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey players from Massachusetts National Hockey League officials People from Winchester, Massachusetts St. Paul Saints (AHA) players Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts {{US-icehockey-defenseman-stub