Tage Thompson is the son of a former Pro Hockey Player...Brent Thompson, who spent a lot of his time in the minors playing both in Springfield and Hartford, where he'd win a Calder Cup with the Wolfpack in 2000. At the time, he had a infant child, Tage...who ironically learned to skate at the XL Center...In fact, he even tumbled down the stairs of a skybox at a Wolfpack game where he needed stitches. He'd follow dad all over the place while growing up...As dad described it "a gypsy life." of Hockey....Alaska Coaching in the ECHL, later Bridgeport as the Head Coach of the AHL Sound Tigers and as an Assistant with the Islanders before returning to Bridgeport....
Meanwhile Tage was playing for the U.S. Developmental U-18 Team in Michigan and attending High School in Ann Arbor. 12 goals and 14 assists in 64 games. he helped the US win Gold at the IIHF U-18 Worlds in Switzerland. In choosing a college to play hockey as he told Mike Anthony in a Courant Article from 2015, the Boston Area wasn't for him...neither was Yale...too busy. It came down to Maine or UConn. He chose the Huskies and actually joined the program a year early as he took accelerated classes to graduate a year early...So soaking wet at 18, 6-4, 185..It was off to play in Hockey East for a program in it's second year in the league...
With the class that included heralded freshman Maxim Letunov from Moscow, the duo would make an impact. A three assist weekend in his debut..and in November of 2015 against #7 B.U., Tage recorded his first career hat trick in a 5-2 win in Hartford...3 more goals in a home and home with UMass-Lowell before exams...At the Duel in the Desert Tournament in Arizona, Tage lit the lamp twice against Arizona State. From January 1st thru February 2nd, Thompson had points in 9 of 11 games...Then a five game streak from February 13th thru the 27th...Including a 2g-1a weekend against New Hampshire that resulted in a pair of wins and home ice for the first weekend of the Hockey East Playoffs. Against Vermont, the Huskies suffered two one goal losses to the Catamounts at the XL Center. The later a tough 4-3 loss where Thompson scored the 14th and final goal of his season. It was his league leading 13th power play maker where he finished second among freshman in goals and 18 assists (4th) for 32 points....
In the off season, Tage put on 15, much needed pounds of muscle working with Moe Butler...And the physical Thompson became a bigger factor where people were watching. On June 24th, Thompson was the first round pick, 26th overall by the St Louis Blues....The Highest Draft pick for a UConn Hockey Player at the time. He immediately saw results on the ice..a 3g-2a weekend in the openers against Alabama-Huntsville...A pair of assists in a 4-2 win at Notre Dame, a 3g-2a weekend at Ohio State, 2 goals in a 3-2 win at Lowell and 2 more against UMass with a vicious wrist shot...And he wasn't quite done with 2 goal games at Maine and at Vermont..However he faced a slump..seven games without a goal...That changed in the final weekend of the season where he had 2 goals and an assist in a weekend sweep of New Hampshire. His 19 goal-13 assist season earned him Hockey East All Star status....He also had another big honor...playing for the U.S. at the World Junior Championships in Canada..where he had a goal and 4 assists in winning the Gold over Canada in the Final...
It was pretty much thought Thompson would take the next step after the season...And he did, playing in Chicago of the AHL at season's end...Tage Thompson made his NHL debut with the Blues on October 4, 2017 against Pittsburgh. Following a stint with San Antonio of the AHL where he scored 8 goals and 10 assists in 30 games, back to the NHL in December..where on the 21st of 2017, Thompson scored his 1st NHL Goal against Edmonton..He'd play 41 games with 3 goals and 6 assists. That offseason, Tage, two other players and a draft pick went to Buffalo in a trade that featured Ryan O'Reilly. The same guy who torched the Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final and won the Conn Smythe as Playoff MVP...
Tage only played one game for the Sabres this past season after a stint in Rochester of the AHL...November 1st against Chicago, he badly injured his shoulder where he eventually ended up needing season ending surgery. Hopefully the 2020-21 season is a reality and he returns...And he's not the only Thompson kid playing hockey...his younger brother Tice plays at Providence and was Hockey East's #2 scorer when play was stopped due to the Corona Virus and a draft pick of the New Jersey Devils....
Tage Thompson, one of the early success stories of the Huskies, Hockey East existence....and a UConn Legend