 By January 1981, Thomas was third on the Rangers' goalie depth chart behind John Davidson and Doug Soetaert, and was seen by coach and general manager Craig Patrick to be more useful to the team as a coach; Thomas was announced to be coaching the team's goalies on January 28.He remained in that position until the end of the 1984-85 season.In 1985 Thomas became the head coach of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the International Hockey League (IHL), a Rangers affiliate.