Life can take you down some very unexpected roads. After being a late pick for the Maine Timber in the S55 draft Thomas underperformed. To his surprise we was still drafted by Texas with the 55th overall pick. A late pick that many teams seemed to have overlooked. That was a big surprise, but it was not done there. Soon after when he was looking to try and get down to Texas and settle in, he was shipped off to San Francisco. His world was completely turned upside down. The shock had barely worn off from being drafted to suddenly being shipped off before his career had even started. This young man from the Prairies had no idea what to expect when he landed in San Francisco’s airport but being met by the current leaders of the team in HLO and Petrenko seemed to have calmed his nerves and helped show him what he could be a part of with the Pride team. He was quiet and didn’t know much of anything when he first arrived but when he was able to make the jump and become a full time SHL player he really came out of his shell and the young talented team in San Fran had everything to do with it. Life is full of surprises it is all about how to handle them and try to make the most of out of them. Becoming part of the Pride was one of the most welcome surprises of Thomas’ life so far.

(WC:253)