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Claire Thompson (ice hockey)

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Claire Thompson
Born (1998-01-28) January 28, 1998 (age 26)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 147 lb (67 kg; 10 st 7 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
PWHL team
Former teams
Minnesota Frost
PWHPA Toronto
National team  Canada
Playing career 2016–present
Medal record
Women's ice hockey
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Beijing Team
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Canada
Silver medal – second place 2023 Canada

Claire Thompson (born January 28, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Minnesota Frost of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). A graduate of Princeton University, she finished her career fifth in all-time points by a defenceman in Princeton Tigers history with a cumulative 87 points.

She made her debut for the Canadian national team in 2019 in a two-game series against the United States held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] She won gold with Team Canada at the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship.[2]

Thompson made her Olympic debut at the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing, China. She helped Canada win gold and was named a tournament all-star.[3][4] At the 2022 Olympics, Thompson set the Olympic ice-hockey record for points by a defenceman. She tallied 13 points on two goals and nine assists, shattering the previous record of nine.[5]

Playing career

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Hockey Canada

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In August 2019, Thompson was named to Canada's Under-22/Development Team for a three-game series against the United States in Lake Placid, New York.[6] Thompson debuted for the Canada women's national ice hockey team in 2019 in a two-game series against the United States held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] She was then selected to attend the 2020 Women's Hockey World Championships that were not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] She was one of 28 players invited to Hockey Canada's Centralization Camp, which represents the selection process for the Canadian women's team that shall compete in Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics.[8]

On January 11, 2022, Thompson was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.[9][10][11] Thompson finished with the highest plus-minus rating of the Olympic tournament with +23.[12]

University

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During her freshmen year with Princeton Tigers, Thompson skated in all 33 games finishing with 20 points on 6 goals and 14 assists; she was second in defence in scoring and the leading freshmen defender. She was also named to the ECAC All-Academic Team.[7]

In her sophomore season, Thompson the Tigers' defence in scoring, earning 21 points on 9 goals and 7 assists in 33 games. She was selected for Second-Team All-Ivy, ECAC All-Academic Team, and was named an AHCA All-America Scholar.[7]

After her junior year, Thompson finished third on the Princeton Tigers team in scoring, leading the defencemen with 28 points on 9 goals and 19 assists. She was sixth in the nation in points per game for a defenceman (0.85). The Tigers won the Ivy League championship this season. Thompson was selected for First-Team All-ECAC and First-Team All-Ivy League and was a finalist for ECAC Best Defenseman. Additionally, she was an Academic All-Ivy League selection, named to the ECAC All-Academic Team, and was an AHCA All-American Scholar.[7]

In her senior season with the Tigers, Thompson captained the team to their first-ever ECAC Championship.[13] The team was scheduled to play Northeastern University in the first round of the NCAA tournament; however, the tournament was cancelled by the NCAA due to COVID-19. Thompson led the team's defence in scoring, finishing the season with 23 points on 7 goals and 16 assists in 31 games. She was selected for Second-team All-Ivy, Third-team All-ECAC, ECAC All-Tournament team, a finalist for the ECAC Mandi Schwartz Student-Athlete of the Year, Academic All-Ivy honoree, ECAC All-Academic, and AHCA All-America Scholar.[7] Additionally, Thompson was selected as Princeton's nominee for NCAA woman of the year and was also a finalist for Princeton Athletics' C. Otto Von Kienbusch Award for Top Senior Female Student Athlete.[14][15]

Professional career

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Thompson was a full-time student at NYU School of Medicine during the 2022–23 PWHPA season, but participated in PWHPA and Team Canada events when she was able. Due to increasing demands of her second year of medical school during the inaugural PWHL season, she received a compassionate waiver exemption to play for New York, but was unable to sign a full-time contract since she was only available when she did not have academic obligations. She intended to sign a reserve contract with the club, but was unable to do so because she was on a student visa. Although she initially planned to remain in school the following year, she decided instead to declare for the 2024 PWHL draft.[16]

Thompson was selected third overall by PWHL Minnesota in the 2024 PWHL draft.[17]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2013–14 Toronto Jr. Aeros PWHL 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 2 0
2014–15 Toronto Jr. Aeros PWHL 38 5 19 24 24 14 0 5 5 4
2015–16 Toronto Jr. Aeros PWHL 34 5 13 18 14 11 1 4 5 12
2016–17 Princeton University ECAC 33 6 14 20 12
2017–18 Princeton University ECAC 32 9 7 16 30
2018–19 Princeton University ECAC 33 9 19 28 28
2019–20 Princeton University ECAC 31 7 16 23 27
2020–21 Toronto PWHPA 4 0 1 1 0
2022–23 Team Sonnet PWHPA 20 2 4 6 2
NCAA totals 129 31 56 87 97

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2021 Canada WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 0 4 4 0
2022 Canada OG 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 2 11 13 2
2023 Canada WC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 0 2 2 10
Senior totals 21 2 17 19 12

Awards and honours

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  • 2017 ECAC All-Academic Team
  • 2018 Second Team All-Ivy
  • 2018 ECAC All-Academic Team
  • 2018 AHCA All-America Scholar
  • 2019 First Team All-Ivy
  • 2019 First Team All-ECAC
  • 2019 ECAC All-Academic Team
  • 2019 AHCA All-America Scholar
  • 2019 Academic All-Ivy League
  • 2020 Second Team All-Ivy
  • 2020 Third Team All-ECAC
  • 2020 ECAC All-Academic Team
  • 2020 AHCA All-America Scholar
  • 2020 Academic All-Ivy League

[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Women's Team Roster Unveiled for Series Against United States". hockeycanada.ca. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  2. ^ "Poulin scores golden goal". iihf.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  3. ^ "Poulin leads Canada to gold again". iihf.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  4. ^ "Jenner MVP, all-stars announced". iihf.com. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  5. ^ Fundaro, Gabriella (May 25, 2022). "2022 Top 25 Under 25 - 3: Claire Thompson". The Ice Garden. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "Canada 2019 NWDT Series Vs. United States Roster". hockeycanada.ca. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Claire Thompson". goprincetontigers.com. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  8. ^ "CANADA'S NATIONAL WOMEN'S TEAM UNVEILS OLYMPIC CENTRALIZATION ROSTER: 28 players to centralize in Calgary ahead of 2022 Olympic Winter Games". hockeycanada.ca. May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  9. ^ Awad, Brandi (January 11, 2022). "Team Canada's women's hockey roster revealed for Beijing 2022". Canadian Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  10. ^ "Canada's 2022 Olympic women's hockey team roster". Canadian Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. January 11, 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "2022 Olympic Winter Games (Women)". www.hockeycanada.ca/. Hockey Canada. January 11, 2022. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  12. ^ "IIHF - Statistics 2022 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  13. ^ "Champions! OT Goal Defeats No. 1 Cornell as No. 6 Princeton Wins First ECAC Title". goprincetontigers.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  14. ^ "Thompson Selected as Princeton's Nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year". goprincetontigers.com. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  15. ^ "Princeton Athletics Announces C. Otto von Kienbusch Award Finalists". goprincetontigers.com. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  16. ^ Salvian, Hailey (June 5, 2024). "Why PWHL prospect Claire Thompson is putting medical school on hold to return to hockey". The Athletic. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  17. ^ Kennedy, Ian (June 10, 2024). "Claire Thompson is back, selected by Minnesota Third Overall". The Hockey News. Retrieved June 11, 2024.