The Capitals netminder is fresh off his first Olympic win.
Just a few years ago, Logan Thompson was "just kind of over it."
After going undrafted through his junior years, the netminder was told by several critics, including eventual Vegas Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon, that he'd likely never land in the big leagues.
"(I was) being told, 'You should go to school, you’re not going to play pro,'" Thompson recalled. "There were times where I wanted to quit."
Fast forward to this weekend, and he's in Milan, fresh off his first-ever Olympic win for Team Canada where he had 24 saves on 25 shots against Switzerland.
For Thompson, it's a testament to the work he's put in on what's been a rocky road to the top. And, at the same time, it's an important message for the sports world to hear: "Never give up."
Thompson, about to be a free agent following four years with the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings, elected to follow McCrimmon's advice and go to college. He attended Brock University, where his goaltending coach, Marty Williamson, served as a mentor always in his corner.
Still, it wasn't easy for Thompson.
"It was definitely upsetting," Thompson said. "I just thought I was right there. I just never seemed to get any attention. No one really seemed to believe in me, whether that was my play style or, I don't know."
As he looked for Uber Eats gigs to make some extra bucks on the side, and while he considered going into sports marketing just to stay attached to hockey in some way, something in him drove him to keep going and to stick with it.
His standout play with Brock led him to landing an ECHL deal, and from there, he was able to impress and rise to prominence before he ended up forcing McCrimmon's hand — of all people — and signing his first NHL contract.
"His exact quote was, 'LT, if you ever sign an NHL contract, I'll be the first one that'll buy a case of beer and congratulate you,'" Thompson recalled, adding, "He still owes me."
Thompson's since established himself as a full-time NHL starter and one of the league's top netminders, having shined over the last year and change following a trade to the Washington Capitals.
His next objective is to take home a gold medal, but at the same time, he wants to prove he's not just a top player, but a "game-changer." To this day, he continues to push himself to the next level, knowing there's more.
"I wanted to be known as a big-game player... You talk about a lot of goalies like Hellebuyck, Shesterkin, Vasilevskiy, Bobrovsky," Thompson listed. "I wanted to push myself and I wanted to be in the conversation with those guys. That’s the standard I hold myself to."
While it's cliché, it's stories like Thompson's that can lead the next rising talent to stick with the sport, no matter how unlikely the chances seem or how difficult the going gets.
And ultimately, his motivation also serves as a reminder that passion also fuels success.
Canada closes out group play on Sunday against France.
Read the full 1-on-1 with Logan Thompson on The Hockey News' main site.