The Evansville Thunderbolts are a minor league

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

Southern Professional Hockey League The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the mid ...

. The team plays at the Ford Center in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. The team replaced the

Evansville IceMen The Evansville IceMen were a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Evansville, Indiana. The franchise was originally a member of the United Hockey League before it merged into the Central Hockey League in 2010. The franchise has won four po ...

of 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 E ...

History

During the 2015–16 season, the City of Evansville and the owner of the

, Ron Geary, were unable to agree to a new lease for the IceMen to continue to operate out of the Ford Center. On January 19, 2016, Geary announced that he had agreed to terms with the nearby city of

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

to relocate the team to the

Owensboro Sports Center The Owensboro Sportscenter is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Owensboro, Kentucky. It is the home of the basketball teams of Kentucky Wesleyan College and Owensboro Catholic High School. It has been the home to three minor-pro basketball teams ...

. On February 8, 2016, Evansville mayor,

Lloyd Winnecke Lloyd Winnecke (born June 6, 1960) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 34th mayor of Evansville, Indiana. He was elected in November 2011 and his four-year term began January 1, 2012. In November 2015, Winnecke was re-elec ...

, announced that local businessman and IceMen season ticket holder, Mike Hall, had secured an expansion team in the

to play at the Ford Center beginning in the 2016–17 season, thus displacing the IceMen franchise from Evansville. On March 1, the City of Evansville and the new team signed a five-year lease agreement to play at the Ford Center. Hall would act as general manager while the majority owner was VW Sports, LLC., a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc., the arena management company. On March 22, 2016, former IceMen head coach Jeff Pyle was announced as the head coach for its inaugural season. The new team name was announced on April 15, 2016, taken from the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft which was manufactured in Evansville during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Near the end of the first season, Mike Hall sold his portion of the team to VW Sports, LLC. and Pete Xander was named the new general manager for the 2017–18 season. After two seasons, head coach Pyle left for the head coaching position with the

Atlanta Gladiators The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Gas South Arena, approximately northeast of ...

of the

. Pyle was replaced by former NHL player Ian Moran as head coach and Adam Stio was named general manager for the 2018–19 season. The team finished in last place and general manager Stio was fired at the end of the season and Moran resigned. Longtime SPHL head coach

Jeff Bes Jeff Bes (born July 31, 1973) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played several seasons with the Laredo Bucks. Bes has played for many minor league teams such as the Dayton Bombers, Chicago Wolves, Mississippi Sea Wolves, Orl ...

was hired as the head coach for the 2019–20 season, while Patrick Kelly was hired as the new general manager. The

2019–20 SPHL season The 2019–20 SPHL season was the 16th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Like most other events at the time, the season was cancelled before its conclusion in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. League business Team ...

was curtailed by the onset of 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 identif ...

while the Thunderbolts were in a position to qualify for the playoffs. Due to the ongoing effects and restrictions during the pandemic, the Thunderbolts were one of five SPHL teams to not participate in the 2020–21 season. Before returning for the 2021–22 season, the Thunderbolts hired Bob McNamara as the general manager.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

Evansville Thunderbolts websiteSPHL website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evansville Icemen Southern Professional Hockey League teams Sports in Evansville, Indiana Ice hockey clubs established in 2016 Ice hockey teams in Indiana 2016 establishments in Indiana

History

Season-by-season records

See also

References

External links