The Markham Thunder was a professional women's

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 hock ...

team in the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league ...

(CWHL). From 1998 through 2017, the franchise was known as the Brampton Thunder and Brampton Canadettes-Thunder before relocating from

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

, to

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

, for the 2017–18 season. The CWHL ceased operations in 2019 and no further statements or actions were taken with the franchise.

Team history

The city of Brampton had a long history of women's ice hockey, starting with the creation of the Brampton Canadettes in 1963, whose management created the Dominion Ladies Hockey Tournament in 1967 (operating today as the Canadettes Easter Tournament). In 1998, after local athlete

Cassie Campbell Cassie Dawin Campbell-Pascall (born November 22, 1973) is a former Canadian ice hockey player and a current broadcaster for Sportsnet and ESPN. Born in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Campbell grew up in Brampton, Ontario, playing for the Brampton Canad ...

returned home from her silver-medal victory with Team Canada in the successful introduction of women's ice hockey at the

1998 Nagano Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

, she commiserated with Brampton acting mayor Sue Fennell about the lack of a top level women's team in Brampton. Fennell purchased a franchise, which she named the Brampton Thunder, in the

Central Ontario Women's Hockey League The Central Ontario Women's Hockey League (COWHL) is a defunct hockey league in Ontario, Canada. During the 1998-99 season, the COWHL was renamed the National Women's Hockey League as the teams from the former league began to compete against teams ...

(COWHL), a league which had operated since 1980. From its first 1998–99 COWHL season, the Thunder played its home games in the Brampton Centre for Sports & Entertainment (renamed the Powerade Centre in 2005), which also started operation in 1998. On 15 February 1999, during the 1998–99 COWHL season, Fennell was instrumental in turning the COWHL into the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and ha ...

(NWHL), becoming its first President. The Brampton Thunder won the first NWHL Championship Cup, in 1998–99. The Thunder would also win the final NWHL Championship Cup, in 2006–07. In between, the Thunder appeared in three other NWHL Championship Cup finals, but were defeated by the

Beatrice Aeros The Toronto Aeros, often called Beatrice Aeros after their primary sponsor, the North York Aeros, and the Mississauga Aeros were a semi-professional women's ice hockey team that played in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario. The team played its home ...

in 2002, the

Calgary Oval X-Treme The Calgary Oval X-Treme were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL). The team played its home games at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Oval X-Treme were a member of the National Wome ...

in 2004, and the

Montreal Axion The Montreal Axion were a National Women's Hockey League team (2003 to 2007) located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Axion represented Quebec at the 2005 Esso Women's Nationals. They were previously known as Bonaventure Wingstar (1998–99) and ...

in 2006. They also played in the

Esso Women's Nationals The Esso Women's Nationals was the Canadian women's senior ice hockey championship from 1982 to 2008. The winners of the event received the Abby Hoffman Cup. The second place team was awarded the Fran Rider Cup, while the third place was given t ...

and were victorious in 2006, defeating the Montreal Axion to claim the national title. The Thunder also had the distinction of having their home arena serve as the site of all NWHL Championship Cup games. The Brampton Thunder was a significant contributor to the roster of the Canadian national women's hockey team at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

, with three players (

Vicky Sunohara Vicky Sunohara (born May 18, 1970) is a Canadian ice hockey coach, former ice hockey player, and three-time Olympic medallist. She has been described as "the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey" and is recognized as a trailblazer and pioneer for the ...

Jayna Hefford Jayna Hefford (born May 14, 1977) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player and current chairperson of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association. During her career, she won multiple medals at the Winter Olympics and IIHF World Women's C ...

, and

Gillian Ferrari Gillian Ferrari (born June 23, 1980 in Thornhill, Ontario) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player. She was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Her mother is from Wales and her father was born in Italy. Playing career As a c ...

) contributing to Canada's gold medal win. Brampton Thunder player

Kathleen Kauth Kathleen Anne Kauth (born March 28, 1979 in Saratoga Springs, New York) is an American ice hockey player, formerly playing for the Brampton Thunder, when they were affiliated with the NWHL. Playing career USA Hockey Kauth made the pre-Olympic ...

also participated in the 2006 Winter Olympics, playing for the bronze medal-winning American national women's hockey team. A fifth Brampton Thunder player, goaltender

Cindy Eadie Cindy Eadie (born September 21, 1982 in Brantford, Ontario) is a Canadian former professional softball third baseman and ice hockey goaltender. Eadie began softball at age 5, and has attended Wilfrid Laurier University, where she played three se ...

, also participated in the Olympics, in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, with the Canadian

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

team. In 2007, the NWHL suspended operations. Players from the seven disbanded NWHL teams joined seven corresponding teams in the new

(CWHL). Players from the NWHL Brampton Thunder joined the new CWHL franchise Brampton Canadettes-Thunder (generally called the Brampton Thunder), continuing the legacy of Brampton's women's ice hockey teams, starting with the 1963 Canadettes team and the 1998 Thunders team. On January 18, 2011, the Thunder competed against the Montreal Stars at the Invista Centre in Kingston, Ontario - team captain

’s hometown. Her number 15 was raised to the rafters of the Invista Centre on behalf of the Kingston Area Minor Hockey Association. As of 2012, no sweaters bearing Hefford’s number will be used in Kingston Minor Hockey. On November 2, 2011,

Jesse Scanzano Jesse Scanzano (born October 15, 1988) is a Canadian retired ice hockey forward. She was selected fifth overall in the 2011 CWHL Draft. Mercyhurst's Jesse Scanzano was a three-time All-College Hockey America selection (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 ...

appeared in one game for the Brampton Thunder, on loan from the

Toronto Aeros The Toronto Aeros, often called Beatrice Aeros after their primary sponsor, the North York Aeros, and the Mississauga Aeros were a semi-professional women's ice hockey team that played in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario. The team played its home ...

. The game was an exhibition contest versus her alma mater, the Mercyhurst Lakers. In the second period of said contest, Scanzano scored the game-winning goal as the Thunder defeated the Lakers 3–1. In the CWHL championship game of the

2012 Clarkson Cup The 2012 Clarkson Cup is a women's ice hockey tournament that was contested in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Niagara Falls, Ontario to determine the champion of the Canadian Women's Hockey League from March 22, 2012 to March 25, 2012. The Montreal Stars d ...

, Brampton fell to the

Montreal Stars Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

4–2. Two Thunder players earned awards for their play in the 2012 Clarkson Cup, with the Outstanding Defender award going to

Molly Engstrom Molly Marie Engstrom (born March 1, 1983) is an American retired ice hockey player and the cuurent head coach of the Maine Black Bears women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. During her playing care ...

, while netminder

Liz Knox Elizabeth "Liz" Knox (born June 9, 1988) is a Canadian retired ice hockey goaltender. She ranks second all-time among Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) goaltenders for games played and won the Clarkson Cup in 2017–18 CWHL season, 2018. An ...

earned the Outstanding Goaltender award. At the

3rd CWHL All-Star Game The 3rd Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game took place on February 12, 2017, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event featured three 20-minute periods, and 34 players were named as participants Jess Jones and Jillian Sa ...

Jess Jones Jessica "Jess" Jones (born August 30, 1990) is a Canadian ice hockey player, affiliated with the Toronto chapter of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). Jones was a member of the Canadian national under-18 team that comp ...

of the Thunder, along with

Jillian Saulnier Jillian Pauline Saulnier (born March 7, 1992) grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She was the first female ice hockey player to represent Nova Scotia at the IIHF Women’s World Championship in 2015. She is a two-timOlympianfoTeam Canada w ...

both scored a hat trick, becoming the first competitors in CWHL All-Star Game history to achieve the feat. Before the start of the

2017–18 CWHL season The 2017–18 CWHL season is the 11th season of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. This is also the first season in which the teams pay their players a salary. It would also prove to be the final full season in which Brenda Andress served as comm ...

, the Brampton Thunder relocated east, to

, with home games at the Thornhill Community Centre, in Markham's Thornhill neighbourhood. The renamed Markham Thunder won the

2018 Clarkson Cup The 2018 Clarkson Cup was held at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto on 25 March 2018 with the Markham Thunder defeating the Kunlun Red Star by a score of 2–1. Laura Stacey scored the game-winning goal with 2 minutes 11 seconds remaining in the overtim ...

as CWHL Playoffs Champions. Against the

Kunlun Red Star HC Kunlun Red Star () is a Chinese ice hockey club that joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) prior to the 2016–17 season. History Preparation of the team In March 2016, representatives of Kunlun Red Star and the KHL signed a protocol o ...

for the Clarkson Cup championship game, Markham's Laura Stacey scored with 2:11 left in the 4-on-4 overtime for a 2–1 victory and its first Cup win.

Season-by-season

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.

NCAA exhibitions

CWHL draft picks

*The following is a listing of their top draft picks. For full draft information, please see the respective draft pages.

Team captains

Scoring leaders

Year-by-year

All-time leaders

Awards and honours

* Brampton Canadettes Thunder won the first CWHL championship on 22 March 2008, winning 4–3 over the

Mississauga Chiefs The Mississauga Chiefs were a professional women's ice hockey team that played in the Canadian National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) and the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). They played in Mississauga, Ontario at the Hershey Centre and the ...

in the final. * Markham Thunder won their first Clarkson Cup as CWHL Champions on 25 March 2018. The 2–1 win in overtime featured goals from Nicole Brown, and Laura Stacey. *

Lori Dupuis Lori Dupuis (born November 14, 1972) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player. Playing career Dupuis was born and raised just outside Cornwall, Ontario. She is a former member of the Cornwall Wolverines of the OWHA. She started with the Wolverine ...

, Top forward in the

2010 Clarkson Cup The 2010 Clarkson Cup was contested at the Elgin Barrow Arena in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. The four competing teams included the Brampton Thunder, Minnesota Whitecaps, Mississauga Chiefs, and Montreal Stars. Quali ...

, Top defender in the

*Bobbi-Jo Slusar, Player of the Game, 2010 Clarkson Cup Final *Courtney Birchard, Outstanding Rookie of the Year, 2011 * Liz Knox, Top Goaltender of the Clarkson Cup, 2012 *Laura Fortino, Defensemen of the Year, 2015–16 *Tyler Fines, Coach of the Year, 2015–16 *

, Co-winner, 2017 Angela James Bowl *Laura Stacey, Rookie of the Year, 2016–17 *

Jamie Lee Rattray Jamie Lee Rattray (born September 30, 1992) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player for the Markham Thunder. Life As a member of the gold medal-winning squad at the 2010 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, a hockey card of her was featured i ...

, 2018 Jayna Hefford Trophy *

Erica Howe Erica Howe (born July 17, 1992) is an ice hockey goaltender, currently with the PWHPA. As a member of the gold medal winning squad at the 2010 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, a hockey card of her was featured in the Upper Deck 2010 World of S ...

, Most Valuable Player,

* Victoria Bach, Rookie of the Year, 2018–19 * Jim Jackson, Coach of the Year, 2018–19

Notable players

Gillian Apps Gillian Mary Apps (born November 2, 1983) is a women's ice hockey player. Apps was a member of the Canadian National Hockey Team that won back to back Gold Medals in three consecutive Olympic Games. As a psychology major at Dartmouth College in ...

Victoria Bach Victoria Bach (born July 12, 1996) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player with PWHL Toronto of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and the Canadian national team. A graduate of Boston University, she was the first player in Boston Univ ...

Megan Bozek Megan Bozek (born March 27, 1991) is an American ice hockey player and member of the United States national team. She most recently played with the KRS Vanke Rays of the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) during the 2020–21 season. Bozek played ...

Delaney Collins Delaney Collins (born May 2, 1977) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player and coach. She announced her retirement from international play on August 23, 2011. Playing career Collins was a member of the Calgary Oval X-Treme in 2007 and 2008, as ...

Laura Fortino Laura Michele Fortino (born January 30, 1991) is a Canadian ice hockey player for Markham Thunder. On October 3, 2011, she was named to the Team Canada roster that participated in the 2011 4 Nations Cup. Of note, she was the first overall selec ...

Jocelyne Larocque Jocelyne Dawn Marie Larocque (born May 19, 1988) is a Canadian ice hockey player and current independent member of the PWHPA. She previously played with the Calgary Inferno and Markham Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), the C ...

Cherie Piper Cherie Piper (born June 29, 1981) is a Canadian former ice hockey player residing in Markham, Ontario. She was a member of the Canadian national women's hockey team and played for the Brampton Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) ...

Laura Stacey Laura Rachel Stacey (born May 5, 1994) is a Canadian ice hockey player, currently affiliated with the Montreal chapter of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) and a member of the Canadian women's national ice hockey team. ...

References

External links

* {{Markham, Ontario, state=collapsed Brampton Thunder

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

Sport in Markham, Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 1999 Women's ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey teams in Ontario Canadian Women's Hockey League teams National Women's Hockey League (1999–2007) teams 1999 establishments in Ontario Women in Ontario