Thomas Tragust is a

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

for Italy at the

2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships The 2006 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 70th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams representing 45 countries participated in four levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for ...

and the

Texas Tornado The Texas Tornado were a Junior A hockey team located in Frisco, Texas, USA. The team joined the North American Hockey League's Central division in 1999 (and moved into the newly formed southern division three years later) while located in North ...

of the

NAHL Nahl or NAHL may refer to: * Nahl (surname) * National Accident Helpline, a British personal injury lawyer service * North American Hockey League, an American junior hockey league * North American Hockey League (1973–1977), an American professi ...

. He participated at three

IIHF World Championship The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide Sport governing body, governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zürich, Zur ...

s as a member of the Italian National men's ice hockey team.

Career

Before North America

Tragust began to play

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

Latsch Latsch (; it, Laces ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northwest of the city of Bolzano. Geography As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 5,156 and an area of .All demographi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, until he was eleven years old. Afterwards, he played for

Meran Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier ...

. In 2003, he debuted in the A1 series, the premier ice hockey league in Italy, where in his first game he recorded a 6-0

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. He led the team to two national championships. In 2005, he played for Italy at the

IIHF World U-20 Hockey Championship The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...

in Division I. He missed out on selection for the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

held in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, but in the

2006 IIHF World Championship The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in between 5–21 May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). One of the requirements of the IIHF for Latvia to host the event ...

, Tragust was on the roster and got his break in the final game, when they were risking demotion to Group B. Italy was down 3-0 to Slovenia when head coach

Mickey Goulet Mickey Goulet (born September 13, 1947) was the head coach for the Italian Olympic team (2005–2008). Goulet is the former head coach of the University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to a ...

pulled veteran Jason Muzzatti in favour of Tragust, who ended up helping the Italians to tie the game. After Tragust left Meran, the team dropped to the second division.

North America and return to Italy

He was the starting goalie for the

. Having attended development camp with the Buffalo Sabres, he is seeking to further his professional career, possibly playing in the NHL. He returned to his native land to play for

HC Fassa HC Fassa Falcons, previously known as HC Fassa, are an ice hockey team from Canazei, Italy. They play in the Alps Hockey League, having formerly played in the top division of Italian ice hockey, the Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A ...

. He also played for Italy at the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

World Championships (four matches at each tournament, all defeats), and was on the roster for the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

edition but did not make an appearance (other than in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, when he was not selected, Italy did not qualify for the elite level world finals in the odd-numbered years of that period, nor for the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

References

External links

*
Interview with Tragust about playing ice hockey in North America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tragust, Thomas 1986 births Living people Italian ice hockey goaltenders Germanophone Italian people People from Schlanders SHC Fassa players Sportspeople from Südtirol Italian expatriate ice hockey people Expatriate ice hockey people in the United States Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Texas Tornado players