Darwin Knelsen

Former Wheat King makes NHL debut

 

The Brandon Wheat Kings are the only Western Hockey League team that Logan Thompson played for during his major junior career.

Besides suiting up in 22 games in the 2014-15 season with the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Thompson called Brandon home for his junior days.

Following a four-game stint with the Wheat Kings during the 2014-15 season, Thompson returned to the Wheat City the following year and he was nearly perfect. In a season where Brandon won 48 games, Thompson was a dazzling 17-1. Playing as a backup to Jordan Papirny, the former Wheat King played one more game in net during that year’s playoff run, one that ended up in a championship as Brandon took down Seattle in five games in the league championship series.

Thompson had a much heavier load of the games in the 2016-17 season as he suited up in 40, winning 14 of them. Medicine Hat made quick work of Brandon in the 2017 WHL playoffs as they swept the team in four straight.

Moving forward to the 2017-18 season, it was Thompson’s final in Brandon and the 6-foot-3 netminder went into the campaign with a lot of confidence. In the end, Thompson won 29 games in net and the Wheat Kings advanced to the second round of the playoffs, where they fell to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

129 games after he arrived in Brandon, Thompson was Ontario bound as he joined the Brock University Badgers of the OUA and sparkled. He was 18-6 in the regular season with a 2.22 goals-against average to go along with a superb .934 save percentage. In five playoff games, Thompson was 3-2.

Season accolades with Brock:

  • USports (OUA West) All-Rookie Team;
  • USports (OUA West) First All-Star Team;
  • USports (OUA West) Goaltender of the Year; and
  • USports (OUA West) Rookie of the Year

Following that, Thompson turned in his amateur status as he became a professional when he joined the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL in the 2018-19 season. He played eight games with the Thunder and one with the AHL’s Binghamton Devils. Another season was spent in the ECHL with the South Carolina Stingrays before Thompson signed with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Making the big leagues:

Thompson signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights back on July 13, 2020. Since that day, Thompson has played seven games with the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL and he’s been almost impossible to get a puck past. His 6-1 record has helped the Silver Knights jump out to a 10-1 start — good for 20 points — eight more than San Jose for the top spot in the Pacific Division. Logan also has an incredible .946 save percentage and a rock-solid 1.72 goals-against average.

Then on Wednesday night, Logan made his NHL debut with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Thompson replaced Marc-Andre Fleury after he gave up three goals on 22 shots in his 48 minutes of play. Thompson ended up playing 8:15 and he turned away both shots he faced as Vegas nearly completed a comeback against the Minnesota Wild.