Wichita Thunder Hockey News

Austin shuts out Thunder

Eagle Staff-  Austin 5, Thunder 0 -- The Ice Bats scored three times on the power play as Thunder goaltender Jon Horrell faced 59 shots.Wichita played without coach Weingartner, who served a one-game suspension stemming from his ejection on Saturday night.Wichita0 0 0 -- 0Austin0 3 2 -- 5First PeriodScoring--None.Penalties--Austin, McArthur… Read More

Love Me, 'Tender

By Kollen Long, The Wichita Eagle- A few leftovers from the Sebastien Laplante saga, which ended, mercifully so, on Monday:• Thunder interim coach Rob Weingartner and Laplante have strangely different versions of the circumstances that led to the all-star goalie's trade to Colorado. Weingartner says Laplante requested a trade; Laplante… Read More

Thunder goalie sent to Colorado

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- The messy, uncomfortable situation involving Wichita Thunder goaltender Sebastien Laplante was finally resolved Monday when he was traded to the Colorado Eagles.The Thunder received goaltender Marco Emond, a 10-year pro who is 13-3-0 this season for the talented Eagles; forward Mike Lukajic and future… Read More

Weingartner gets tossed in latest loss

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- The Wichita Thunder's power play was still struggling, the offense was nonexistent and the team fell behind 3-0, but Rob Weingartner, the team's fiery interim coach, remained calm.Unusually calm.Typically given to demonstrative behavior on the bench, he simply chomped his gum, rested his hand on the glass, shook… Read More

Thunder Valentine

Purchase a Thunder Valentine for your lady! For just $50, she will receive:2 tickets to the game on Feb 15th1 red rosePA Announcement wishing her a Happy Valentine's DayAn autographed programA visit from their favorite Thunder player!A Picture of your player visit Purchase a Thunder Valentine for your man!For just $50 he will receive:2 tickets… Read More

Thunder, Eagles swap goaltenders; Weingartner suspended one game

WICHITA, KS- The Wichita Thunder continued shaking up their roster today, trading goaltender Sebastien Laplante to the Colorado Eagles for goaltender Marco Emond, forward Mike Lukajic and future considerations.Emond, a 10th-year pro out of Valleyfield, Quebec, brings impressive numbers to the Thunder, including a stellar 13-3-0 record this… Read More

Thunder falls at Tulsa

Eagle Staff- Tulsa 4, Thunder 2 -- For the second straight game the Thunder wasn't able to hold on to an early lead.Todd Paul and Travis Clayton put the Thunder up 2-0 with 5:12 remaining in the second. Three third-period goals, led by a pair of Brendon Hodge power play scores, put the Oilers up.Jon Horrell made 45 saves in a losing effort for… Read More

Coach: No Thunder player immune

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- Goaltender Sebastien Laplante, the Thunder's MVP the previous two seasons, said after Friday's game that he has heard the team is trying to trade him.Well, yeah, an incredulous Rob Weingartner said on Saturday."They're all up for trade -- why wouldn't he be?" the team's interim coach said of his players.… Read More

Thunder lets early lead slip away

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- One by one, the wounded players made their way to the tunnel near the Wichita Thunder's locker room after the game.Mike Batovanja arrived first, optimistic that his broken wrist will be healed in a couple weeks. Chris Greene, who has a broken hand, came next, followed by Tyler Hanchuck, who is out with a… Read More

Thunder President leans toward Weingartner

Interim coach will learn if he's Chris Presson's long-term choice by March 1. BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- Thunder general manager Chris Presson said Thursday he is leaning heavily toward removing the interim label from Rob Weingartner's title and committing to the coach for the remainder of the current hockey season and next year,… Read More

Thunder deals Wiebe, beats Tulsa

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- Interim coach Rob Weingartner continued to revamp the Thunder roster, trading forward Kris Wiebe to division opponent Colorado for future considerations on Tuesday.Wiebe, who started his pro career in Wichita in 2005, had eight goals and 19 points in 33 games this season. He led the Thunder with three power-play… Read More

Thunder loses Greene to injury

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- The fight between Wichita's Chris Greene and Arizona's Tyler Liebel would have simply been an interesting side note had it not been so costly for the Thunder.Greene and Liebel were traded for each other on Jan. 2 and, in the first game involving the teams following the deal, the forwards squared off to fight on… Read More

Sundogs welcome Greene with win

By Brad Fuqua, The Daily Courier- PRESCOTT VALLEY - For a while there, it looked like some sort of all-star jinx had kicked in for the Sundogs.Now, maybe an exceptional showing in the Central Hockey League's midseason classic will spark Arizona to second-half success. Playing host to Wichita on Friday night, the Sundogs never trailed in a 4-2… Read More

Thunder, Sundogs Game Notes

By Brad Fuqua, The Daily Courier- Former fan favorite Chris Greene skated onto the ice Friday night high-fiving a young fan. And after the Sundogs' 4-2 victory, he skated off with a stick salute to his faithful followers who were cheering for him.But he wasn't in an Arizona uniform. Greene was traded to Wichita on Jan. 2 and in a scheduling quirk,… Read More

Thunder, Sundogs game photos

The Arizona Sundogs faced off against former players Chris Greene and Cedric Bernier and the Wichita Thunder Friday night. The Sundogs won a hard fought match by a score of 4-2. See some of the action from Photo Editor Les Stukenberg in this gallery:

 http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=99&SubSectionID=564&l=2

Matt tries hockey with the Wichita Thunder

BY MATT MAURO, The CW-  I love to try new things.  And I love the sports in Wichita.  WSU is great, so is the Wichita Wild indoor football team and the soon-to-be Wichita Wingnuts. Right now it's hockey season though, and the Wichita Thunder is turning the season around.  I've been to a number of their games and love them. … Read More

Clayton's milestone voted performance of the week

The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced today that Wichita Thunder forward Travis Clayton has been voted as week 12’s Performance of the Week for reaching the historic milestone of 800 points.  The accomplishment came with an assist in the Thunder’s 4-1 win versus Texas on January 4th.  The 11th-year Thunder veteran is… Read More

Weingartner to watch his comments

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- During pre-game intros, interim Thunder coach Rob Weingartner receives louder cheers than most of the team's players.Clearly, fans are enamored with the fiery Weingartner, who has quickly turned the Thunder into a competitive, more-entertaining team. The Thunder is 7-7 under his direction after going 4-13 with… Read More

Goupil, Laplante lead Thunder to win

Eagle staff- The players didn't waste any time in Sunday's game between the Wichita Thunder and Oklahoma City Blazers.Two players sent off for fighting after five seconds. Two more fights in the first 3 minutes, 15 seconds. Five goals in the first 21:59.And then, order was restored. No more fights, no more goals, and a 3-2 road win for the… Read More

Thunder loses on the road

Eagle staff- With three power-play goals on Friday night, the Thunder finally overcame its struggles with the man advantage.It wasn't enough, however, as the Rocky Mountain Rage defeated the Thunder 7-5 at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colo.The Rage jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Thunder scored three of the next four goals to draw… Read More

Duda Does It

Check out KAKE TV-10's latest video of Thunder Team Captain Jason Duda practicing with the Lampton Welding Supply Lightning - Thunder Dance Team.

The video can be viewed here:

http://www.kake.com/sports

Thunder win streak ends at 3

Eagle staff- The Thunder's longest winning streak in nearly two years ended at three games after the Colorado Eagles defeated Wichita 5-2 Wednesday night in Loveland, Colo.Scott Polaski scored the first of his two goals 6 minutes, 10 seconds into the game to give the Eagles a lead they would never relinquish.Kyle Bruce and Bruce Richardson scored… Read More

Thunder wins third straight game

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- The smart money had new Thunder coach Rob Weingartner, as intense and fiery as they come, getting tossed from a game someday for a dramatic protest, like tossing water bottles and sticks onto the ice.Instead, when the ejection finally came, it was for... covering his eyes.That was Weingartner's explanation for why… Read More

Weingartner brings third-period progress

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- In a recent game against Oklahoma City, Thunder defenseman Daniel Tetrault delivered a huge open ice hit -- a crunching blow that awed the crowd and contributed to a game-winning goal.Long-time Thunder observers described the hit as one of the biggest in team history, and it certainly symbolized the team's style… Read More

Thunder grabs OT win

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- Thunder goaltender Sebastien Laplante chose an appropriate word to describe his night."Busy."Coach Rob Weingartner summed up his goalie's play almost as simply."He was an All-Star tonight."While Laplante has endured an inconsistent season, he returned to form with an impressive 41-save effort… Read More

Thunder wins, but loses D'Amour

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- The Wichita Thunder's first Awful Night -- an interesting promotion, to be sure -- produced one piece of truly awful news for the team.On the ice, the result was worth celebrating as the Thunder used Travis Clayton's 800th point and a big third period to beat the Texas Brahmas 4-1 on Friday in the Kansas… Read More

Wichitan to make Thunder debut tonight

WICHITA, KS- The Wichita Thunder today, shorthanded three players, signed local native Sean Roulston to the roster.The son of former Wichita Wind and Thunder star Tom Roulston, Sean will make his pro debut tonight, when the Thunder hosts the Rocky Mountain Rage at 7:05 p.m. at the Kansas Coliseum.  A 6-2, 215-pound forward, Sean attended… Read More

Thunder will mix in newcomers

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- There has been no dramatic makeover yet - although more moves are presumably on the way - but the Wichita Thunder will take on a different look for tonight's game.Two new forwards, both of whom bring the additional size that new coach Rob Weingartner craves, are expected to make their debuts when the Thunder… Read More

Thunder trades 'point-a-game guy'

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- Coach Rob Weingartner thinks he made the last-place Wichita Thunder better and sent his hockey players a message by trading forward Tyler Liebel on Wednesday.Liebel, considered one of the Thunder's biggest offseason acquisitions, was dealt to Arizona for forward Chris Greene.Liebel was described by former Thunder… Read More

Awful night, guranteed win night this weekend

WICHITA, KS- The Wichita Thunder returns to action this weekend with a pair of home games and a couple of interesting promotions.Friday is the first ever “Awful Night” when the Thunder plays host to the Texas Brahmas.  The first 2,461 fans in attendance will win a truly awful prize, including fish flavored gum, black tube socks and… Read More

It's tough to see 'Greener' move on

By Brad Fuqua, The Daily Courier- As the news spread on Wednesday, local hockey fans couldn't believe that No. 19 had been traded.Disbelief and even anger were among the emotions fans experienced upon word of Chris Greene's trade to the Wichita Thunder. Greene himself still couldn't believe that he was leaving the Sundogs organization."It's… Read More

Thunder trades Liebel to Sundogs

WICHITA, KS- Thunder head coach Rob Weingartner made his first trade today, dealing forward Tyler Liebel to the Arizona Sundogs in exchange for forward Chris Greene.A third-year pro out of Massena, New York, Greene notched three goals and 21 points in 28 games with Arizona this season.  He also chipped in six multiple-point games and 27… Read More

Sundogs deal Chris Greene to Wichita

 By Brad Fuqua, The Daily Courier- Slamming opposing players into the boards with authority, Chris Greene didn't suit up for the Arizona Sundogs for too long before fans started to chant his name in unison.One of the most popular players in the franchise's short history, Greene will now play the role of adversary. The Sundogs traded Greene to… Read More

Powerless Thunder falls again

BY KOLLEN LONG, The Wichita Eagle- It would turn out to be the Thunder's last gasp -- a power play with 4 minutes, 55 seconds left in the game and Colorado up 2-1.Based on recent history, the result was fairly predictable: Just a single shot, one more failed effort with the man advantage, and another disappointing loss.The Thunder regained its… Read More