It’s impossible to do it all — but Taze Thompson comes pretty close. In her final year on the ice at Mathews Arena, the women’s ice hockey senior forward and captain has melded her strength in academics to her dominance in hockey, becoming both a beloved captain and a vicious player.

Hockey has been a consistent piece of Thompson’s life from an early age.

“I feel like I was kind of born into the sport. I grew up watching my dad play and chasing around my older brothers, who always had skates on too,” Thompson said. “I was always rollerblading around the house and wearing gear that was way too big for me, but I loved putting it on.” 

Her father, Rocky Thompson, a former NHL skater and the current assistant coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, needed their family to move around often for his career. 

“Growing up, everything was always changing but the one thing that stayed the same was hockey,” Thompson said.

Thompson began her collegiate career at Harvard. After her freshman year in Cambridge, where she won Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Thompson entered the transfer portal. “When we found out she was going to the portal, we watched some film and jumped on her really quick,” associate head coach Nick Carpenito said. “Her tenacity, her physicality, her compete level — those are her big three [strengths].”

Her first year at Northeastern, Thompson logged 20 points, including three in the Hockey East Tournament where the Huskies secured their sixth straight Hockey East Championship. The next season she scored a career high of 12 goals in a season with 8 assists. 

“I can’t imagine being anywhere other than Northeastern. It’s my home now.” Thompson said.

Senior goaltender Paige Taborski sings Thompson’s praises on the ice. 

“Her ability to read the plays is phenomenal,” Taborski said. “She’s always in the right spot, battling hard to get that puck, putting herself in good spaces in general.” 

Over her last three years at Northeastern, Thompson has been perfecting her body positioning and stick handling. “She’s come a really long way and it’s made her very, very effective all over the ice defensively, offensively. She creates a lot of opportunities for herself and her teammates just from those two little skills right there,” Carpenito said.

A play on the second day of a dominant weekend against Holy Cross was named Hockey East’s number one play of the week. In the 4-2 game against Holy Cross Oct. 19, Thompson sent an assist from a meter off the face-off circle towards junior forward Lily Shannon by the net, who lodged it in.

Happy Plays of the Week Day! 🥳#HockeyEast Women’s Plays of the Week ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xmX3UWezm6

— Hockey East (@hockey_east) October 22, 2024

“I think all of the Holy Cross players were watching me, but I saw Lily sneaking in back and she made herself available to get that shot off and score,” Thompson said. “It was an incredible shot.” 

Thompson lights up describing the third period energy of the Oct. 19 game. “That was probably one of my favorite moments of the season so far,” she said.

The senior notched a five point performance that weekend, tying her career-high with one goal and two assists at Holy Cross. Following the stellar showcase, Thompson received recognition as Hockey East’s “Player of the Week” for the first time in her career. 

“It’s always an honor to be recognized by Hockey East where there’s so many incredible players,” Thompson said. “It always comes from the help of my teammates, who truly just lift me up in every aspect and make me so much better on and off the ice.”

Not only does Thompson execute on the ice for her teammates, but she has formed friendships that extend beyond hockey. Taborski and Thompson formed a close bond after being stuck in the airport on their way to the Frozen Four tournament their sophomore year, and they’ve been roommates ever since. 

“When Taze first came in, you could automatically see this energy that she had about her,” Taborski said. “She’s probably the nicest person I’ve ever met right off the bat. She always cares about how other people are doing, how they’re feeling. She always just wants to make sure that everyone’s okay.”  

Now as team captain, Taborski emphasized how well Thompson has come into the role. “Any time she speaks, all eyes and ears are on her, intently listening, just wanting to hear what she has to say,” she said.

Carpenito echoed this sentiment.

“I don’t think she had to do too much growing from the last two years to this year,” Carpenito said. “She’s very willing to hold people accountable, but she does it the right way where it’s not personal. She can be tough. She can be empathetic and compassionate. She’s the perfect mix of different traits in order to be a really effective leader and it’s paid off big time for us this year.”

Although the captain title comes with making tough calls, Thompson and assistant captains junior forward Molly Griffin and junior defender Kristina Allard have prioritized creating an uplifting space in the midst of an oftentimes cutthroat sport.

“I’m always everyone’s friend first and that’s something that I never wanted to change with the letter on my chest,” Thompson said. “Our number one focus was just having an environment where everyone feels that they are seen and recognized and welcomed for who they are.”

Despite the added responsibility of captaincy, Thompson doesn’t slow down when she walks out of Mathews. Last year she was named an AHCA/Krampade All-American Scholar and, for the second year, was placed on the Hockey East All-Academic Team. Thompson uses her psychology major and nutrition minor to further excel as an athlete and leader. 

“[Collegiate hockey] is all psychological, I think like 90% of it is a mental battle,” she said. “Learning about leadership psychology and organizational psychology and how to really merge groups together has been really helpful.”

As a hopeful soon-to-be registered dietician, Thompson wants to stay involved in the sports community. “[I want to] talk with female athletes about how they can fuel themselves and use food as a tool and as a medicine to make us the best athletes and competitors we can be.”

And her work doesn’t stop there. This past summer, Thompson competed in her first Indigenous hockey tournament and plans to help run hockey schools on British Columbia reservations. Thompson’s father is of status with the Okanagan Indian Band, so giving back to Indigenous communities at home is personal. 

“My Indigenous background and heritage is really important to me and [also] to keep speaking up for Indigenous recognition,” she said. “That part of my life is so profound and back home it’s something that I want to keep working with and hopefully after I’m done here give back.”

Thompson is one to watch everywhere she goes, and Northeastern students shouldn’t miss an opportunity to catch her last year on the ice. 

“You never want your time in a good place to come to an end because it’s been that incredible of an experience, but at the same time you’re excited for what the future holds and I’m so excited for what’s to come,” Thompson said. “[It’s] bittersweet for sure.”