The Adirondack Thunder are a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
team in the
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
The ...
that began play in the
2015–16 season. The team is based in
Glens Falls, New York
Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls ref ...
, and affiliated with the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's
New Jersey Devils. The Thunder play their home games at the
Cool Insuring Arena.
The Thunder replaced the
AHL's
Adirondack Flames after they were relocated to
Stockton, California, to become the
Stockton Heat.
History
On January 29, 2015, the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
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.
The next day, the Flames announced that the ECHL's
Stockton Thunder
The Stockton Thunder were a minor league professional ice hockey team that was based in Stockton, California, and a member of the ECHL. The Stockton Arena was their home ice, with a capacity of 9,737. The team was an affiliate team of the New Yo ...
(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.
Cail MacLean
Cail MacLean (born September 30, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and is an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League.
Playing career
MacLean was born in Middleton, Nova Scotia. He played his ...
was announced the team's first head coach on July 23, 2015.
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
The Adirondack Red Wings were a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Glens Falls, New York, United States at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The team was affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the Nation ...
in 1994. They faced the
South Carolina Stingrays
The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston Co ...
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
The Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) is a privately owned professional sports and entertainment company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada formed in 2012 and owned by N. Murray Edwards, Alvin Libin, Allan Markin, Jeffrey McCaig, ...
to a local ownership group called Adirondack Civic Center Coalition on February 28, 2017. 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. 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.
With the Flames no longer operating the team, the Flames and Thunder ended their affiliation following the 2016–17 season. Head coach MacLean would also leave to join the Flames' AHL affiliate in Stockton as an assistant coach. The Thunder would then officially become the ECHL affiliate of the
New Jersey Devils for the 2017–18 season, and later extended the affiliation agreement for the 2018–19 season. 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 Albany Devils were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The top affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the A-Devils played their home games at the Times Union Center in Albany, ...
. The Thunder also hired
Brad Tapper
Brad Tapper (born April 28, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Thrashers over parts of three seasons. After retiring from playing, he remained active in ho ...
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
The Florida Everblades are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. They play in the ECHL and are affiliated with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (N ...
four games to one. The Devils and the Thunder renewed their affiliation for another season. Tapper was then hired by the
Grand Rapids Griffins
The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey Leag ...
of the AHL as an assistant coach and was replaced by Alex Loh as head coach for the
2018–19 ECHL season
The 2018–19 ECHL season was the 31st season of the ECHL. The regular season was scheduled to run from October 12, 2018, to April 7, 2019, with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-seven teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces each pla ...
.
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the Thunder voluntarily suspended operations for the
2020–21 ECHL season
The 2020–21 ECHL season was the 33rd season of the ECHL. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season was pushed back to December 11, 2020.
The Fort Wayne Komets were the Kelly Cup champions, defea ...
.
On May 11, 2022, the Thunder would announce that the organization would be parting ways with Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Alex Loh. This coming after finishing the 2021-2022 season with a record of 27-40-4-0, a league worst .408 winning percentage and missing the playoffs for the first time since the team relocated to Glens Falls.
Subsequently after the teams parting with Alex Loh, the organization would announce on June 21, 2022, that
Pete MacArthur would be named the 4th head coach in team history.
Rivals
The
Manchester Monarchs were the Thunder's main rival. Following both franchises relocating from California, the two teams met for four straight seasons in the
Kelly Cup playoffs. The teams each won two series, alternating years, before the Monarchs ceased operations in 2019. The Thunder also have rivalries with the
Reading Royals
The Reading Royals are a professional ice hockey team that currently plays in the ECHL. The team participates in the North Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Royals play their home games at the Santander Arena located in downtown R ...
,
Maine Mariners,
Worcester Railers
The Worcester Railers (also called Worcester Railers HC) are a professional ice hockey team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. The team began play in the 2017–18 ECHL season, and is a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of t ...
, and
Brampton Beast
The Brampton Beast were a professional ice hockey team based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The team originally played in the Central Hockey League for one year during the 2013–14 season prior to the league's folding before joining the ECHL f ...
before the Beast ceased operations in 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. But with the additions of the
Newfoundland Growlers
The Newfoundland Growlers are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The team began play in the 2018–19 ECHL season and have home games at Mary Brown's Centre. They are member ...
,
Trois-Rivières Lions
The Trois-Rivières Lions are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The team began play in the 2021–22 ECHL season, with home games at Colisée Vidéotron. They are affiliated with t ...
and
Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises:
* Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015
*Norfolk Admirals (ECHL)
The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hock ...
to the ECHL's North Division, the Thunder could have new rivalries develop in the future.
Season-by-season records
Players and personnel
Current roster
Updated December 11, 2022.
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Team captains
*
Rob Bordson, 2015
*
Pete MacArthur, 2016–2017, 2021–2022
*Mike Bergin, 2017–2018
*
James Henry James Henry may refer to:
In government and military
*James Henry (Continental Congress) (1731–1804), American lawyer, Continental Congressman for Virginia
*James Buchanan Henry (1833–1915), lawyer, writer, secretary to the President, nephew an ...
, 2018–2020
*
Shane Harper
Shane Steven Harper (born February 14, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He is known for playing Spencer on ''Good Luck Charlie'' as well as Josh Wheaton in the independent Christian film '' God's Not Dead''. His self-titled d ...
, 2022–
Head coaches
*
Cail MacLean
Cail MacLean (born September 30, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and is an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League.
Playing career
MacLean was born in Middleton, Nova Scotia. He played his ...
, 2015–2017
*
Brad Tapper
Brad Tapper (born April 28, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Thrashers over parts of three seasons. After retiring from playing, he remained active in ho ...
, 2017–2018
*
Alex Loh, 2018–2022
*
Pete MacArthur, 2022–
References
External links
Adirondack Thunder Website
{{New York Sports
ECHL teams
Calgary Flames minor league affiliates
New Jersey Devils minor league affiliates
Ice hockey teams in New York (state)
Ice hockey clubs established in 2015
2015 establishments in New York (state)
Sports in Glens Falls, New York