In 2009-10 Tim Thomas went from being the hero in the Boston Bruins net to being the backup to a youngster known as Tuukka Rask. Rask was seen as Boston's goalie of the future and few could blame him. Thomas was in his late 30s while Rask was in his early 20s. However, Thomas was coming off a Vezina-winning season the year before and many had expected him to hold the fort a bit longer for the Bruins. He was pushed back into the backup role throughout 2009-10 and it seemed like the team would cut ties with him during the summer. It turns out the Bruins made their best move of recent times by sticking with Thomas and giving him one final chance. And he made the most of it. Not only did Thomas reclaim the top spot in the Bruins' net, but he led them to the promised land for the first time in several decades.

To call Thomas' regular season play in 2010-11 great is an understatement. The goalie managed a tremendous .938 save percentage in 57 games and would top that in the postseason. Things did not go swimmingly for Thomas in the opening round. He lost the opening two games against the Montreal Canadiens at home and was outplayed severely by Carey Price. He stopped 18 of 20 shots in the opening 2-0 loss but Price pitched a shutout with 31 saves. Price stopped 34 shots in a 3-1 Game 2 win while Thomas managed to allow three goals on 26 shots. Thomas bounced back in Game 3 three with 34 saves in a 4-2 win and stopped 34 shots in a 5-4 overtime time. He then proved to be a savior in a 44-save effort that resulted in a 2-1 double overtime win for Boston. Despite losing 2-1 in Game 6, Thomas managed 25 saves. In Game 7, Thomas picked up his third overtime victory of the series by stopped 34 shots as Boston won 4-3.

Thomas had a tall order in the ensuing round as the Bruins were forced to take on the Philadelphia Flyers for a second straight year. During the prior season, Rask coughed up a 3-0 series advantage and Boston became the fourth professional sports team to lose a series after leading 3-0. Thomas and the Bruins won Game 1 by the score of 7-3 and the keeper stopped 31 shots in the process. He had arguably his best performance of the postseason with 52 saves in a 3-2 overtime win; Thomas stopped 22 shots in the third period alone. He stopped another 37 in Game 3 and closed out the series with a 22-save performance. He only allowed two goals in the final eight periods of that series.

Thomas did not get off to a great start in the Eastern Conference finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning and was blitzed for four goals in 33 shots in a 5-2 loss. He made 36 saves in Game 2, but still allowed five goals in a 6-5 win. Thomas responded by pitching his first shutout of the postseason in a 2-0 win in Game 3; he made 31 saves in that contest. But Game 4 saw him return to his inconsistent form as he allowed four goals on 36 shots in a 5-3 Game 4 loss. Thomas won 3-1 in Game 5 while stopping 33 shots but reverted to conceding five goals on 26 shots in a 5-4 Game 6 loss. However, with everything on the line, Thomas was excellent in a 1-0 goalie duel against Dwayne Roloson; he stopped 24 shots. Despite allowing all those goals, Thomas still managed an average .916 save percentage in that series.

But the best was yet to come, and in a big way. In the opening game of the finals, Thomas conceded a late goal in a 1-0 defeat against the Vancouver Canucks despite stopping 33 shots. In Game 2, he stopped 30 shots but still lost 3-2 in overtime. In Game 3, his team bounced back with an 8-1 win in which he made 40 saves; he got a 38-save shutout in a 4-0 Game 4 win to even the series. The Canucks' Roberto Luongo managed to pull off a 1-0 shutout in Game 5 as Thomas conceded a controversial goal. The netminder was caught far away from the net on a shot that facilitated a Vancouver rebound. But Thomas, who got into a verbal dispute with Luongo via the media, stopped 36 shots in a 5-2 Game 6 win. He would get the last laugh in Game 7 with a 37-save shutout to hoist the Cup.

He finished the playoffs with a stellar .940 save percentage, the 14th best among goalies in the postseason and the second best among goalies to win all 16 playoff games. He was the holder of this latter record until Jonathan Quick took it away from him a year later. He does hold the record for most shots faced by a goalie during a playoff run (849) and also the most saves by goalie during a playoff run with 798.

Check out some of Thomas' best playoff moments in 2010-11.