Adirondack Thunder
| Adirondack Thunder | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| City | Glens Falls, New York |
| League | ECHL |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | North |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Home arena | Cool Insuring Arena |
| Colors | |
| Owner(s) | Adirondack Civic Center Coalition |
| General manager | Jeff Mead |
| Head coach | Alex Loh |
| Captain | Mike Bergin |
| Media | The Post-Star |
| Affiliates |
New Jersey Devils (NHL) Binghamton Devils (AHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1990–1992 | Cincinnati Cyclones |
| 1992–2001 | Birmingham Bulls |
| 2001–2005 | Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies |
| 2005–2015 | Stockton Thunder |
| 2015–present | Adirondack Thunder |
| Championships | |
| Division Championships | 2 (2016–17, 2017–18) |
The Adirondack Thunder are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2015–16 season. The team is based in Glens Falls, New York, and affiliated with the NHL's New Jersey Devils. The Thunder play their home games at the Cool Insuring Arena.
The Thunder replaced the AHL's Adirondack Flames after it was relocated to Stockton, California, to become the Stockton Heat.
History
On January 29, 2015, the Calgary Flames announced that they would be moving their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Flames, to Stockton as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division.[1] The next day, the Flames announced that the ECHL's Stockton Thunder (who they had purchased the day before) would move to Glens Falls in what was essentially a "market swap".
The Thunder name, logo and colors were unveiled on February 11, 2015.[2] Cail MacLean was announced the team's first head coach on July 23, 2015.[3]
The Thunder made the playoffs during their first season and were the first Adirondack hockey team to make the playoffs in ten years. They defeated the favored Manchester Monarchs four-games-to-one in the first round, becoming the first team in Glens Falls to win a playoff series since the Adirondack Red Wings in 1994. They faced the South Carolina Stingrays in the second round, which they lost in seven games.
During their second season, the league announced the sale of the Thunder from Calgary Sports and Entertainment to a local ownership group called Adirondack Civic Center Coalition on February 28, 2017.[4] The Thunder were the third of the three displaced franchises from the 2015 creation of the AHL Pacific Division to be sold by their NHL owners after relocating. However, in order for the new ownership group to complete the purchase of the team, they needed to raise $500,000 by a June 30, 2017, deadline and have since been asking for donations and hosting fundraisers.[5] The new ownership group completed the purchase on time but were in debt. They were able to sell the naming rights of the Glens Falls Civic Center to become the Cool Insuring Arena to cover some of the operating costs.[6]
With the Flames no longer operating the team, the Flames and Thunder ended their affiliation following the 2016–17 season.[7] Head coach MacLean would also leave to join the Flames' AHL affiliate in Stockton as an assistant coach.[8] The Thunder would then officially become the ECHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils for the 2017–18 season,[9] and later extended the affiliation agreement for the 2018–19 season.[10] For the Thunder's first two seasons, the Devils' organization had been sending players to Glens Falls due to the proximity of their previous AHL affiliate, the Albany Devils. The Thunder also hired Brad Tapper as its next head coach.
Under Tapper, the Thunder finished the 2017–18 season first in their division and advanced to the conference finals before losing to the Florida Everblades four games to one. The Devils and the Thunder renewed their affiliation for another season. Tapper was then hired by the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL as an assistant coach[11] and was replaced by Alex Loh as head coach for the 2018–19 ECHL season.[12]
Rivals
The Manchester Monarchs are the Thunder's main rival. As of the 2016–17 season, the Thunder and the Monarchs have met in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs for two straight years with Adirondack winning the 2016 series in five games. The Thunder also have rivalries with the Reading Royals, Brampton Beast, and Worcester Railers.
Season-by-season records
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | GF | GA | Standing | Year | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Kelly Cup |
| 2015–16 | 72 | 38 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 82 | 197 | 189 | 2nd, East Div. | 2016 | W, 4–1, MAN | L, 3–4, SC | — | — |
| 2016–17 | 72 | 41 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 93 | 266 | 218 | 1st, North Div. | 2017 | L, 2–4, MAN | — | — | — |
| 2017–18 | 72 | 41 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 89 | 233 | 221 | 1st, North Div. | 2018 | W, 4–2, WOR | W, 4–2, MAN | L, 1–4, FLA | — |
Players
Current roster
| # | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – |  |
Cullen Bradshaw | C | L | 28 | 2018 | Medicine Hat, Alberta | Thunder |
| 23 | |
Shane Conacher | RW | R | 24 | 2017 | Burlington, Ontario | Thunder |
| 15 | |
James Henry (A) | LW | L | 27 | 2015 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Thunder |
| – |  |
Jake Linhart | D | R | 22 | 2018 | Brookfield, Wisconsin | Thunder |
| – | |
Pete MacArthur | C | L | 33 | 2018 | Clifton Park, New York | Thunder |
| – | |
Jordan McNaughton | D | L | 24 | 2018 | Komoka, Ontario | Thunder |
| – | |
Nikolas Olsson | RW | L | 24 | 2018 | Escondido, California | Thunder |
| – | |
Daniel Perigo | F | L | 24 | 2018 | Truro, Nova Scotia | Thunder |
| – | |
Jakob Reichert | RW | R | 25 | 2018 | Langley, British Columbia | Thunder |
| 44 | |
Conor Riley | D | L | 26 | 2016 | Massena, New York | Thunder |
| – | |
Matt Salhany | RW | R | 25 | 2018 | Warwick, Rhode Island | Thunder |
| – | |
Michael Sdao | D | L | 29 | 2018 | Bloomington, Minnesota | Thunder |
| 4 | |
Blake Thompson | D | L | 25 | 2017 | Listowel, Ontario | Thunder |
Team captains
- Rob Bordson, 2015
- Pete MacArthur, 2016–2017
- Mike Bergin, 2017–present
Head coaches
- Cail MacLean, 2015–2017
- Brad Tapper, 2017–18
- Alex Loh, 2018–present
References
- ↑ "Flames AHL affiliate to join new Pacific Division". Calgary Flames. January 29, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
- ↑ "Calgary named Adirondack Thunder". The Post-Star. February 11, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
- ↑ "ADIRONDACK NAMES CAIL MACLEAN AS HEAD COACH". ECHL. July 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Civic Center Coalition to buy hockey team". The Post-Star. February 28, 2017.
- ↑ "Effort to 'keep hockey here' struggling". The Post-Star. April 27, 2017.
- ↑ "Cool Insuring buys naming rights to Civic Center". The Post-Star. July 11, 2017.
- ↑ "MAVERICKS BECOME ECHL AFFILIATE OF CALGARY, STOCKTON". ECHL. June 8, 2017.
- ↑ "Stockton announces Cail MacLean will be assistant coach". The Post-Star. August 3, 2017.
- ↑ "Adirondack Thunder enter affiliation agreement with New Jersey Devils". NHL.com. August 8, 2017.
- ↑ "Thunder, Devils extend agreement". The Post-Star. May 24, 2018.
- ↑ "CYCLONES' MACDONALD, THUNDER'S TAPPER NAMED ASSISTANT COACHES IN GRAND RAPIDS". ECHL. July 2, 2018.
- ↑ "Alex Loh Named Adirondack Thunder Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations". OurSportsCentral.com. July 18, 2018.
- ↑ "Adirondack Thunder Roster". Adirondack Thunder. 2016-07-19. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
- ↑ "Adirondack Thunder Elite Prospects". EliteProspects.com. 2016-07-19. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
