Dunedin Thunder Explained
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Team: | Dunedin Thunder |
Logosize: | 225px |
City: | Dunedin |
League: | New Zealand Ice Hockey League |
Founded: | 2008 |
Operated: | 2008–present |
Arena: | Dunedin Ice Stadium |
Colours: | Green, yellow, white, black |
Gm: | Richard Audas |
Coach: | Jeff Avery |
Captain: | Gints Leitis |
Championships1 Type: | NZIHL Champion |
Championships1: | 0 |
Reg Season Titles: | 1 (2013) |
The Dunedin Thunder, currently the Phoenix Thunder for sponsorship reasons, is a men's ice hockey team based in Dunedin, New Zealand and are members of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League. The club plays their home games at the Dunedin Ice Stadium. The Thunder were founded in 2008 and joined the league as an expansion team. The clubs won their first regular season title in 2013 and have finished as runner-up in the playoffs in 2013 and 2014, losing on both occasions to the Canterbury Red Devils.
History
The Dunedin Thunder were founded in 2008 and joined the New Zealand Ice Hockey League, expanding the league to five teams.[1] In their debut season the Thunder finished the regular season in last place, managing only one win from their 12 games. The team repeated their last place finish in the 2009 season, again finishing the season with only a single win. The Thunder improved from 2010 to 2012, finishing the regular season in fourth on two occasions and third in the 2012 season. In 2013 the Thunder claimed their first regular season title after finishing on 32 points and edging out the Canterbury Red Devils only on win percentage. The team advanced to the final against the Red Devils however lost the game 3–7. The following season the Thunder returned to the finals after finishing the regular season in second place. The team however went on to lose for the second year in a row to the Red Devils. In the 2015 season the Thunder finished the regular season in fourth place and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Season by season results
width=60 | Season | width=30 | | width=30 | | width=30 | | width=30 | | width=30 | | width=30 | | width=30 | | width=30 | | width=30 | | width=100 | Finish | width=300 | Playoff | width=30 | |
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| 12 | 1 | – | 0 | – | 11 | 30 | 91 | 4 | 5th | Did not qualify | [2] |
| 16 | 1 | – | 0 | – | 15 | 42 | 142 | 2 | 5th | Did not qualify | [3] |
| 16 | 3 | 4 | – | 1 | 8 | 71 | 84 | 18 | 4th | Did not qualify | [4] |
| 16 | 3 | 2 | – | 0 | 11 | 78 | 108 | 13 | 4th | Did not qualify | [5] |
| 16 | 8 | 1 | – | 2 | 5 | 77 | 65 | 28 | 3rd | Did not qualify | [6] |
| 16 | 8 | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | 87 | 66 | 32 | 1st | Lost final (Canterbury Red Devils) | [7] |
| 16 | 10 | 0 | – | 1 | 5 | 72 | 67 | 31 | 2nd | Lost final (Canterbury Red Devils) | [8] |
| 16 | 5 | 0 | – | 0 | 11 | 66 | 108 | 15 | 4th | Did not qualify | [9] |
| 16 | 2 | 0 | – | 0 | 14 | 44 | 94 | 6 | 5th | Did not qualify | [10] |
| 16 | 6 | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | 73 | 60 | 24 | 3rd | Did not qualify | [11] |
| 16 | 6 | 1 | – | 1 | 8 | 72 | 73 | 21 | 3rd | Did not qualify | [12] |
| 16 | 4 | 2 | – | 0 | 10 | 45 | 75 | 16 | 4th | Did not qualify | [13] |
| 8 | 3 | 0 | – | 0 | 5 | 35 | 50 | 9 | 2nd | Playoffs not held | [14] |
2021 | 14 | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | 8 | 50 | 71 | 13 | – | Playoffs cancelled | [15] | |
Players and personnel
Current roster
Team roster for the 2016 NZIHL season[16]
| | Name | | | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
---|
| | | | R | | 2016 | |
88 | | | | L | | 2015 | |
6 | | | | L | | 2015 | |
| | | | R | | 2016 | |
| | | | L | | 2016 | |
| | | | R | | 2016 | West Bloomfield, Michigan, United States |
12 | | | | R | | 2014 | Dunedin, New Zealand |
60 | | | | R | | 2016 | |
| | | | R | | 2016 | |
| | | | R | | 2016 | |
| | | | R | | 2016 | Belle River, Ontario, Canada |
| | | | R | | 2013 | Arrowtown, New Zealand |
22 | | | | R | | 2013 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| | | | L | | 2016 | |
| | | | R | | 2015 | |
35 | | | | L | | 2013 | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| | | | L | | 2015 | |
25 | | | | L | | 2013 | Maisons-Alfort, France |
| | | | L | | 2016 | |
| | | | L | | 2016 | Riga, Latvia |
| | | | R | | 2016 | |
| | | | L | | 2016 | |
| | | | L | | 2012 | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| | | | L | | 2015 | |
| | | | L | | 2016 | Säkylä, Finland |
| | | | | | 2016 | |
29 | | | | L | | 2016 | Dunedin, New Zealand |
19 | | | | R | | 2009 | Dunedin, New Zealand | |
Team captains
- Andre Robichaud, 2013–2014[17]
- Gino Heyd, 2015[18]
- Gints Leitis, Ryan Gruszka, Connor Harrison, Regan Wilson 2016
Head coaches
- James van Leeuwen, 2010–2011[19]
- János Kaszala, 2012–2016[20]
- Matt Hladun, 2017–present[21]
General managers
- Drew McMillian, 2014[22]
- Pete Hurring, 2015[23]
- Guillaume Leclancher, 2016[24]
- Alexis Robin, 2017–present[21]
Richard Audas
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Distinction for all seasons . Hewitt Sports Network . Claire . Zielger . 2012-08-23 . 2016-06-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160606070829/http://hewittsports.com/distinction-seasons/ . 2016-06-06 . live.
- Web site: NZIHL Team Standings 2007 - 2008 . Elite Prospects . 2016-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160328233640/http://www.eliteprospects.com/standings.php?league=NZIHL&startdate=2007 . 2016-03-28 . live .
- Web site: NZIHL Team Standings 2008 - 2009 . Elite Prospects . 2016-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160328232706/http://www.eliteprospects.com/standings.php?league=NZIHL&startdate=2008 . 2016-03-28 . live .
- Web site: NZIHL Team Standings 2009 - 2010 . Elite Prospects . 2016-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160331124823/http://www.eliteprospects.com/standings.php?league=NZIHL&startdate=2009 . 2016-03-31 . live .
- Web site: NZIHL Team Standings 2010 - 2011 . Elite Prospects . 2016-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160920103048/http://www.eliteprospects.com/standings.php?league=NZIHL&startdate=2010 . 2016-09-20 . live .
- Web site: NZIHL Team Standings 2011 - 2012 . Elite Prospects . 2016-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160920105939/http://www.eliteprospects.com/standings.php?league=NZIHL&startdate=2011 . 2016-09-20 . live .
- Web site: 2013 New Zealand Ice Hockey League . New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation . 2016-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160509095446/http://stats.iihf.com/NZIHF/20/index.html . 2016-05-09 . live .
- Web site: NZIHL Team Standings 2013 - 2014 . Elite Prospects . 2016-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160920095802/http://www.eliteprospects.com/standings.php?league=NZIHL&startdate=2013 . 2016-09-20 . live .
- Web site: NZIHL Team Standings 2014 - 2015 . Elite Prospects . 2016-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160329023455/http://www.eliteprospects.com/standings.php?league=NZIHL&startdate=2014 . 2016-03-29 . live .
- Web site: New Zealand Ice Hockey League Final Ranking . IIHF . 14 August 2016 . 2021-06-15 .
- Web site: New Zealand Ice Hockey League Round Robin . IIHF . 13 August 2017 . 2021-06-15 .
- Web site: New Zealand Ice Hockey League Round Robin . IIHF . 5 August 2018 . 2021-06-15 .
- Web site: New Zealand Ice Hockey League Round Robin . IIHF . 28 July 2019 . 2021-06-15 .
- Web site: New Zealand Ice Hockey League Round Robin . IIHF . 17 October 2020 . 2021-06-15 .
- Web site: 2021 New Zealand Ice Hockey League Div I . 2022-04-01 . stats.iihf.com.
- Web site: Dunedin Thunder . Elite Prospects . 2016-06-06 .
- Web site: Andre Robichaud . Elite Prospects . 2016-06-06 .
- Web site: Gino Heyd . Elite Prospects . 2016-06-06 .
- Web site: James van Leeuwen . Elite Prospects . 2016-06-06 .
- Web site: János Kaszala . Elite Prospects . 2016-06-06 .
- Web site: Team Roster . New Zealand Ice Hockey League . 2017-06-19 .
- Web site: Drew McMillian . Elite Prospects . 2016-06-06 .
- Web site: Pete Hurring . Elite Prospects . 2016-06-06 .
- Web site: Guillaume Leclancher . Elite Prospects . 2016-06-06 .