Tim Thomas 'couldn't communicate with anybody' after 2013 concussion

Former Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas revealed he stepped away from hockey after the 2013-14 season due to brain damage from a concussion.

"I couldn't communicate with anybody for a few years," Thomas said Thursday ahead of his induction into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, according to ESPN's Emily Kaplan. "I didn't call my dad. I didn't talk to anybody.

"There was a time period, yeah, where I hated the game, so to speak."

Thomas said he suffered the life-changing concussion while playing for the Florida Panthers in December 2013. He was traded to the Dallas Stars the following March but called it quits at the end of the campaign.

"I woke up the next morning after it and I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, where I wanted to go," Thomas added. "I couldn't plan a schedule. I survived following the team schedule the rest of the year and just made it through that season."

The 45-year-old admitted he went off the grid for the last several years to deal with concussion-related symptoms. He's undergone many experimental treatments, which have helped with his brain function.

"I couldn't follow the game anymore," Thomas said. "My brain wasn't functioning well enough to be able to keep up with the game, so I sat out in the woods for a few years. I didn't watch much hockey."

Thomas' NHL career spanned just eight seasons after he broke into the league as a full-time goaltender at 31 years old. He helped lead the Bruins to a Stanley Cup in 2011, taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy in the process.

Copyright (C) 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.