CECIL THOMAS
Date of Birth: 1934
Place of Birth: Grand Falls, NL
Inducted: 2018 (Athlete/Builder Category)
He wasn’t the biggest defenceman in the game, but Cec Thomas sure played big as a member of the Grand Falls Andcos which won five straight Herder Memorial Trophy championships from 1955-59.
Captain of his Grand Falls Academy high school team, Thomas played forward but was moved back to defence in his second season of high school hockey by coach Walter Clarke. Despite his diminutive size, he remained on the blue line for the remainder of his career. While still in high school, Thomas made the Grand Falls junior all-stars as a 14-year-old, and played his first game of senior hockey as a 17-year-old.
Just two years after breaking into the senior ranks, Thomas was selected for the Grand Falls all-stars by Coach Wes ‘Bucko’ Trainor, where he was a mainstay on the blue line.
For three straight years, he won the top defenceman award in the Grand Falls senior circuit. After retiring, he went on to coach the Grand Falls Academy high school team, and the Grand Falls juniors in provincial competition. He also helped out behind the bench with the senior Cataracts.
At the executive level, he served as central vice-president on the provincial junior hockey committee, and was vice-president and a director on the Grand Falls Minor Hockey Association.