Rocky Thompson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rocky Thompson |
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Thompson at the 2014 Edmonton Oilers training camp
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| Born | August 8, 1977 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
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| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing, Defence | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | Calgary Flames Florida Panthers |
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| NHL Draft | 72nd overall, 1995 Calgary Flames |
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| Playing career | 1996–2007 | ||
Rocky Lee Thompson (born August 8, 1977) is a Canadian former ice hockey player. He played as a right wing and defenseman. Today, he is an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL.
Rocky was picked by the Calgary Flames in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He was the 72nd player chosen overall. Rocky is a Cree person. He was born in Calgary, Alberta, and grew up in Whitecourt, Alberta. Besides hockey, he was also a talented boxer when he was a teenager. He won gold medals in boxing at the 1993 North American Indigenous Games. He also won championships in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Playing Career Highlights
Rocky Thompson started his professional hockey journey after playing four seasons in the Western Hockey League. His first pro games were with the Saint John Flames, a team linked to the Calgary Flames.
He played a few games in the NHL with the Calgary Flames during the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons. Later, he briefly played for the Florida Panthers in the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons. Even though he played only 25 NHL games, he was known for getting a lot of penalty minutes – 117 in total!
Most of Rocky's playing career was spent in the AHL. He played for many different AHL teams and often spent a lot of time in the penalty box. For example, in his last season (2006–07) with the Peoria Rivermen, he had 127 penalty minutes in 55 games.
Coaching Career Journey
After his playing days, Rocky Thompson became a coach. In 2007, he started as an assistant coach for the new Edmonton Oil Kings team in the Western Hockey League. He later became an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Barons.
On July 16, 2014, Rocky was promoted to assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers, a major NHL team.
Then, on July 3, 2015, he became the head coach of the Windsor Spitfires. In his first year, he helped the Spitfires go from last place to second in their division. They earned 87 points in the regular season. Rocky led the Spitfires to win the 2017 Memorial Cup, which is a huge championship for junior hockey teams!
After that, on June 7, 2017, Thompson was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League. He coached them for three seasons. Then, on September 22, 2020, he joined the San Jose Sharks as an associate coach. He did not return for the 2021–22 season. This was because he chose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which was required by the NHL for staff working closely with players.
In the summer of 2022, Rocky Thompson was hired by the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant coach. He has continued in this role for the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons.
Images for kids
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Thompson at the 2014 Edmonton Oilers training camp
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Thompson with the Edmonton Road Runners in 2004
