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Bates Named Finalist for Wichita Pro Athlete of the Year Award

Tuesday, June 10th
Bates Named Finalist for Wichita Pro Athlete of the Year Award

WICHITA, Kan. (June 10) – The Wichita Thunder, ECHL affiliate of the NHL's San Jose Sharks, AHL's San Jose Barracuda and powered by Toyota, announced today that Peter Bates was selected as a finalist for the Wichita Professional Athlete of the Year Award. 

The award will be presented at the 27th Annual Greater Wichita Area Sports Banquet on Thursday, June 26 at INTRUST Bank Arena. This award is in conjunction with the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year, which honors the nation's top NCAA D-I collegiate catcher. 

Bates is coming off the best season of his career. The Evanston, Illinois native set new career highs in goals (28), assists (50), points (78) and plus/minus (+32). He was named team MVP after finishing fourth in the league in points, sixth in assists and tied for sixth in plus/minus. 

For his efforts, Bates was selected to the 2024-25 All-ECHL First Team along with Michal Stinil. He was also named as the ECHL Sportsmanship Award winner, making him the first Thunder player to claim the award in team history. 

The fourth year forward has piled up 173 points (76g, 97a) in 198 career ECHL games. In 2023-24, Bates was selected to the Warrior ECHL All-Star Classic.

Prior to turning pro, he attended St. Norbert College. Bates led all of NCAA Division III in scoring, racking up 58 points (28g-30a) in 31 games and was named the 2021-22 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year.

He was also named as the Sid Watson Award winner, which is presented to the best player at the men’s NCAA Division III level by the American Hockey Coaches Association.

In 2019-20, Bates earned the NCHA Player of the Year, AHCA First Team All-American, All-USCHO Second Team and named to the NCHA All-Conference Team.

Opening Night is set and on the calendar! Mark it down, we open our 2025-26 campaign against the Allen Americans on Saturday, October 18. Click HERE to read more and bring out a group.

Season tickets are now on sale for the 2025-26 season. Lock in your seats and catch all the high paced, hard-hitting action at INTRUST Bank Arena. Click HERE now to learn how you can get your seats reserved and start paying now.

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