Tim Thomas’ historic 2010-11 season was rewarded with a lot of hardware and recognition. From it came the Vezina, the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe trophy. Locally, he was on the cover of the Improper Bostonian, and nationally, he was one of three Bruins to go on The Today Show. 

Yet what may come next for Thomas isn’t specific to hockey and surpasses previous off-ice celebrity. It spans every sport, and would really put just how special a performance he had in perspective. 

On Dec. 6, when Sports Illustrated announces the 2011 Sportsman of the Year, it should go to Thomas. If it does, Thomas would become the fourth NHL player to win it (Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Bob Bourne), and would become the first goaltender to win the award on his own since its inception in 1954 (the entire Olympic team won it in 1980).

Thomas would also join the likes of Orr, Carl Yastrzemski, Tom Brady and the 2004 Red Sox as Boston athletes to win it.

Whether he does win remains to be seen, but his achievements last season – an NHL record .938 save percentage in the regular season in addition to the aforementioned hardware – make for a pretty strong candidacy. 

“Stanley Cup champion. Vezina winner. Conn Smythe. He set a record for save percentage. I don't know many guys that last year set a record in their sport, let alone all those other accomplishments,” Chris Kelly said Monday of Thomas’ candidacy. “I think if he's not the leading candidate, I don't know who is.”

That last line raises an interesting point. Looking at the various standout athletes, there really isn’t a candidate with more achievements in their individual sport. 

Yani Tseng, at just 22 years of age, is currently No. 1 in the Women’s World Golf Rankings. She has won two majors in 2011 and, upon winning the Women’s British Open became the youngest player to ever win five major championships.

You can look at the other three major sports, and none of them features a candidate that holds a candle to Thomas. No one won a significant regular-season award and then led their teams to a championship. Dirk Nowitzki did not set a major single-season record, nor did Justin Verlander or Ryan Braun lead their respective teams to the World Series. Sorry for the reminder, but Brady’s Patriots were eliminated in the second round.   

Patriots owner Robert Kraft presents a strong case. Kraft played a major role in ending the NFL lockout, going back and forth from the negotiating table to his wife, who was in the final days of her life. Colts center Jeff Saturday famously stated after the new labor deal was reached that “without him, this deal doesn’t get done.” 

Thomas certainly has competition, but he should have the edge. The Michigan native didn’t read SI much when he was a kid  (“I don't think it got popular till I was in college and they came out with the swimsuit issue”), but he can appreciate what the distinction would mean, saying that winning would be “a great honor.”

With that being said, Thomas finds himself trying to repeat last season’s performance rather than crossing his fingers for one last accolade from it. 

“I hadn't thought it through, which is probably a good thing,” Thomas said Monday of potentially being names Sportsman of the Year. “… It obviously would be a very huge thing if it were to happen, but it's out of my control. I've already submitted my application. I'm not going to focus on that. I'll just take every day as it goes and just try to stay in the moment, stay in the now.”

The University of Vermont product is used to winning things at the NHL level. Last season’s Vezina, awarded to the best goalie in the regular season, was the second of his career. He is also oldest player and the first American goalie to win the Conn Smythe. 

“In the long run, they'll be really nice things to look back on and realize, 'Wow, I really accomplished that,' but being in the middle of it, I'm focused on trying to do more,” he said. “I'm trying to accomplish more rather than taking the time to sit back and pat myself on the back and saying, 'Wow, look at what you've accomplished.' I've been trying to set the bar higher and go even further if I can.”

Kelly has a good appreciation for sports in general (he was quick with a Rip Hamilton reference when first addressing The Cage back in April), and in addition to seeing Thomas as a deserving candidate, can only imagine what it would mean for the sport and the city. 

“It would be great for hockey,” Kelly said. “Especially for Timmy being a US-born player. I think us going so well in a hockey market, would maybe generate a lot of kids that want to become hockey players and goalies. Not to the same extent, but kind of like Gretzky did in California. 

“If you look, there's a lot of kids coming up in the NHL draft [Editor’s note: Emerson Etem, Beau Bennet and Rocco Grimaldi are all California-born players who were selected in the first 33 picks of the last two drafts.] because when he got there, their dad took them to a hockey game to see Wayne Gretzky and all of a sudden they started playing."

Added Kelly with a grin: “It will be interesting to see if there's a big chunk of goalies coming from here in 18 years because of Timmy.”