from Harvey Fialkov of the SunSentinel,

Thomas was the backup to starting U.S. Olympic goalie Ryan Miller in 2010 when America reached the gold-medal game only to lose 3-2 in overtime to Canada. Although Thomas only played briefly against Finland, he said Monday that returning to the Olympics in Sochi, Russia this February was one of the main reasons he decided to end his one-year hiatus.

"Absolutely, absolutely,'' Thomas said emphatically when asked about his Olympics hopes. "Yeah, it's one of the major factors. I only got to play [part of one period] against Finland. But the whole experience was awesome. It doesn't matter if you're playing or not in the Olympics you want to be a part of it, and I'd love to be a part of it again.''

Predators General Manager David Piole, who's also the GM of the U.S. Naional team, told the Sun Sentinel last month in Nashville that although Thomas wasn't invited to the tryouts last summer because he was still retired, he's in the picture.

"We have a lot of good options,'' Poile said. "We didn't know Timmy's situation then but he's in the program and if he's one of the best three goalies, he's going to Sochi.''

Miller is 4-11 and in the midst of a dreadful season in Buffalo, and other potential U.S. goalies such as Ottawa's Craig Anderson (5-6-2 with a 3.26 goals-against-average) and Detroit's Jimmy Howard (5-5-6 with a 2.68 GAA) are struggling.

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