Wichita Thunder
The Wichita Thunder are a minor league hockey team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team plays in the Central Hockey League. From 1992 until January 2010 the Thunder played in the Britt Brown Arena located in the northern Wichita suburb of Park City. In January 2010 (the second half of the 2009-10 season) the team began playing its home games at the newly built Intrust Bank Arena.
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Franchise history
Early history (1992-95)
The Thunder were one of the first six original teams of the new Central Hockey League, along with the Oklahoma City Blazers, Tulsa Oilers, Memphis RiverKings, Dallas Freeze and the Fort Worth Fire.
Wichita played their first home game at Britt Brown Arena on November 4, 1992 in front of a crowd of 5,486. In the same season the Thunder had their first sellout in team history, the crowd of 9,686 fans watched the Thunder defeat Oklahoma City 4-3.
The Thunder were originally coached by Gary Fay, but after a 6-20 start he was replace by Doug Shedden. Although they started out with a 6-20 record the season was quickly turned around by Shedden and they finished their first season with a 25-32-2 record. On April 5, 1993 Thunder goaltender Robert Desjardins was named the first CHL Rookie of the Year.
In the following two seasons the Thunder were the Regular Season Champions (Adams Cup) and Playoff Champions (William Levins Memorial Cup) for both seasons. Ron Handy was the Playoff Most Valuable Player for both seasons, he is the only player in Central Hockey League history to win the award on multiple occasions. In the 1993-1994 season Doug Shedden won the Coach of the Year award, Robert Desjardins won the Regular Season Most Valuable Player award and Paul Jackson won the Scoring Champion award.
On May 14, 1995, Head Coach Doug Shedden resigned to become coach of the Louisiana IceGators of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).
Don Jackson (1995-96)
Don Jackson was hired as the new head coach on July 21, 1995. He lead the Thunder to a 22-39-3 record and missed the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.
On July 19, 1996, Don Jackson resigned to become head coach of the Kansas City Blades of the International Hockey League (IHL).
Players
Current roster
viewUpdated June 23, 2010
| # | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada ! | Martens, AndrewAndrew Martens | 2.0 !D | L | 29 | 2010 | Calgary, Alberta | |
| Canada ! | Scoran, KoryKory Scoran | 2.0 !D | L | 28 | 2010 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | |
| 53 | United States ! | Keserich, IanIan Keserich | 1.0 !G | L | 24 | 2009 | Parma, Ohio |
| 13 | Canada ! | Hughes, BobbyBobby Hughes | 4.0 !C | L | 22 | 2010 | Richmond Hill, Ontario |
| 14 | United States ! | Reese, JasonJason Reese | 4.0 !C | L | 22 | 2010 | Gresham, Oregon |
| 61 | United States ! | Foster, ShaneShane Foster | 7.0 !RW | R | 25 | 2010 | Madison, Wisconsin |
| 40 | United States ! | Woll, JasonJason Woll | 2.0 !D | R | 25 | 2009 | Portland, Oregon |
| 16 | Slovakia ! | Klempa, TomasTomas Klempa | 6.0 !LW | R | 26 | 2010 | Piešťany, Slovakia |
| 27 | Canada ! | Makway, SteveSteve Makway | 2.0 !D | L | 27 | 2009 | Trail, British Columbia |
| 32 | Canada ! | Campbell, RyanRyan Campbell | 4.0 !C | L | 31 | 2010 | Edmonton, Alberta |
Retired numbers
- 9 - Ron Handy
- 35 - Robert Desjardins
- 15 - Rob Weingartner
Head coaches
| Name | Year(s) Coached | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Gary Fay | 1992 | 6 - 20 |
| Doug Shedden | 1992 - 1995 | 103 - 49 - 12 |
| Don Jackson | 1995 - 1996 | 22 - 50 - 29 |
| Bryan Wells | 1996 - 2001 | 161 - 146 - 39 |
| James Latos | 2001 - 2003 | 32 - 53 - 13 |
| Sean O'Reilly | Interim Coach | 1 - 0 - 0 |
| Derek Laxdal | 2003 - 2005 | 87 - 58 - 8 |
| Mark French | 2005 - 2007 | 70 - 56 - 16 |
| Rob Weingartner | 2007 - 2008 | 16 - 29 - 2 |
| Brent Bilodeau | 2008 - 2009 | 22 - 52 |
| Jason Duda | Interim Coach | 7 - 40 - 4 |
| Kevin McClelland | 2010 - Present | 0 - 0 - 0 |
CHL awards and trophies
The following lists the league awards which have been won by the Thunder team and its players:[1]
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Adams Cup Coach of the Year Joe Burton Award |
Most Outstanding Defenseman
Rick Kozuback Award Rookie of the Year
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References
- ^ "CHL Award Winners". http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/awardwinners/. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
External links
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Categories: Wichita Thunder | Sports clubs established in 1992 | Ice hockey teams in Kansas
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