Thomas Says He Would Have Stayed

When September rolled around and he didn’t have a job, Steve Thomas nearly called the Mighty Ducks to ask if they’d take him back.

A trade-deadline pickup last season, the veteran winger provided leadership and offensive sparks during the Ducks’ march to the Stanley Cup finals. However, he felt torn because his family remained in Toronto.

“[The Ducks] got wind I wanted to stay a little bit closer to home. I might have said that along the way, during the playoffs, which is kind of dumb of me,” he said. “That’s kind of the impression they got, that I didn’t want to come back....I would have loved to have gone back. Believe me, I thought about it.”

But he never picked up the phone. “I just felt every day something was going to happen,” he said.

It did Nov. 5, when he signed a one-year, $1-million deal with the injury-depleted Red Wings. He’s happy to be three hours from home, but he was nostalgic Wednesday after facing the Ducks for the first time.

“It’s kind of a bittersweet win because we went through so much with that hockey team there and had so much success,” he said. “The guys I played with put everything on the line to be where they were. It’s one of the best places to play hockey.”

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The Red Wings put goalie Curtis Joseph on waivers and will go with a tandem of Dominik Hasek and Manny Legace.

Joseph signed with the Red Wings in the summer of 2002 after Hasek retired. But Hasek’s return, Joseph’s mediocre playoff performance and Legace’s solid play made Joseph expendable.

It’s unlikely he will be claimed before the waiver period ends on Friday because of his salary, $8 million this season and $8 million next season. The Red Wings can send him to the minors or buy him out.

-- Helene Elliott