Thomas Dion is an American retired ice hockey

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who was an All-American for

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

Career

Dion was a consistent producer from the blueline for the Terriers for parts of five seasons. During his first two years with the team, Dion led the defense in scoring but BU didn't have much success team-wise. He played on

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the 1989 World Junior Championships along with future

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

stars like

Jeremy Roenick Jeremy Shaffer Roenick ( ; born January 17, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 8th overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Chica ...

and

Mike Modano Michael Thomas Modano Jr. (; born June 7, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player, who played primarily for the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise. He spent the final season of his NHL career with his hometown Detroi ...

. Despite the talent on the team, the US finished 5th with a .500 record. During what was to be his junior season, Dion was felled by a season-ending injury after just 3 games and sat out the remainder of the year with a

medical redshirt Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. In his absence, the Terriers went on a surprising run in the 1990 NCAA Tournament, reaching the Frozen Four. When he returned, the Terriers improved upon their record from the year before and won the Hockey East championship. The Terriers received the second eastern seed and dominated in their first three national tournament games to make the 1991 NCAA championship game. Dion had led a defense that had surrendered just 5 goals to that point so when the team took a 3–0 lead after the first period everything pointed to BU winning the title. Unfortunately for Dion,

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popul ...

had one of the strongest offenses in NCAA history and the Wildcats scored 6 goals in just over a period to take a commanding lead. Boston University charged back and eventually tied the game, forcing overtime. Three extra periods were needed but in the end BU ended up on the wrong side of the score and Dion was denied a championship. For his senior season, Dion was named

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

and led the Terriers to an excellent record in the regular season. Dion was one of the key contributors in BU's third consecutive

Beanpot A beanpot is a deep, wide-bellied, short-necked vessel used to cook bean-based dishes. Beanpots are typically made of ceramic, though some are made of other materials, such as cast iron. The relatively narrow mouth of the beanpot minimizes evapo ...

championship. With all signs pointing to the Terriers competing for another championship, the team collapsed in the playoffs. The Terriers were beaten by long-time rival

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

in the conference quarterfinals, causing the team to receive a 4th-seed for the NCAA Tournament. Boston University received a poor draw for the first round and lost to

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

in their only game. Dion signed a professional contract after the season, playing the following year with the

Wheeling Thunderbirds The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...

. Despite posting good numbers for a first-year pro, he decided to retire after the year.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dion, Tom 1969 births Living people Ice hockey players from New York (state) People from Massena, New York American men's ice hockey defensemen Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Wheeling Thunderbirds players