Milton Keynes Thunder

Milton Keynes Thunder
Milton Keynes Thunder
	File:Milton Keynes Thunder Logo.png
City	Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
League	NIHL South Division 1
Founded	2001
Home arena	Planet Ice Arena Milton Keynes; (capacity: 2,500)
Colors	White, Black & Red ;
General manager	Lauren Cox
Head coach	Antti Kohvakka
Captain	Alex Whyte
Affiliates	Milton Keynes Lightning ; Milton Keynes Storm ;
Website	Milton Keynes Thunder
Franchise history
2001 – Present	Milton Keynes Thunder
Championships
Regular season titles	0
Playoff championships	0

Milton Keynes Thunder are an ice hockey team from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, they are known stylistically as the Milton Keynes Rightmove Thunder for sponsorship purposes, and the team currently competes in the Britton Conference, of the National Ice Hockey League Division 1 South (the third tier of English National Ice Hockey). The team was founded in 2001 predominantly to provide competitive hockey and further development opportunities for players leaving the Milton Keynes Junior Ice Hockey system. Their home rink is the refurbished and renamed Planet Ice Arena, known locally as the Thunderdome. It has a capacity of circa 2,500.

Club history

Foundation

Founded in 2001, MK Thunder originally shared their home rink with the Milton Keynes Kings. However, the MK Kings were involved in a dispute with rink operators Planet Ice, which led to their relocation to Solihull in May 2002.^[1] The space left by the MK Kings was eventually taken by the Milton Keynes Lightning which was formed in 2002.

Position in the Milton Keynes Ice Hockey structure

As the second most senior ice hockey club in Milton Keynes, the MK Thunder have always played in the National Ice Hockey League South Division 1 or its former incarnations (English National League South, English National League South A and English National League South 1). It has been used as a vehicle to further develop Milton Keynes based players and has been a 'feeder' club for the senior hockey club Milton Keynes Lightning. The teams iced by the club have been dominated by local players, supplemented by the occasional import (league rules restrict the use of import players to just two, compared to five in the defunct old second tier EPIHL and eleven in the first tier EIHL). The club also has links with the junior system and provides development opportunities for junior players at the Milton Keynes Storm Club.

Arena redevelopment

In March 2013, Milton Keynes Council approved plans to redevelop the Leisure Plaza after failed attempts in 2006 and 2011. The development of the arena was funded by Morrisons Supermarkets and took 17 months to complete. This forced Thunder to play their home games at a temporary rink sited within the Milton Keynes City Centre in a building vacated by the Supermarket Waitrose. The rink and the MK ICE charity established to operate it was organised by the team's owner and the then general manager, David Fairhurst. The team returned to the redeveloped rink which had been renamed the "MK Arena" in October 2014.

Club honours

NIHL League: 0
NIHL Playoffs: 0
NIHL BBO Cup: 1 2016-17

The Milton Keynes Thunder lifted their first silverware when they secured the NIHL South BBO Cup in the 2016-17 season.

Club roster 2020/2021 season

Netminders
No.	Nat.	Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
23		Darragh Wren	R	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 22)	England	2019 from Milton Keynes Storm
34		Hayden Laverick	R	(1988-11-21) 21 November 1988 (age 36)	Nuneaton, England	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
35		Graham Laverick	L	(1994-12-27) 27 December 1994 (age 30)	Nuneaton, England	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL

Defencemen
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
2		Alex Whyte	L	(1996-07-23) 23 July 1996 (age 28)	Peterborough, England	2013 from Peterborough Phantoms
4		Samson James	L	(2000-08-30) 30 August 2000 (age 24)	Coventry, England	2020 from New Jersey Renegades (USA)
39		Niall Simpson	R	(1995-01-16) 16 January 1995 (age 29)	The North, England	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
24		Sam Richardson	R	(2002-01-01) 1 January 2002 (age 23)	England	2020 from Milton Keynes Storm
44		Antti Kohvakka	L	(1976-01-04) 4 January 1976 (age 49)	Tampere, Finland	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL

Forwards
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
13		Lewis Blore	L	(2001-10-20) 20 October 2001 (age 23)	Cardiff, Wales	2020 from Lee Valley Lions
15		Iain Peters	L	(2000-11-21) 21 November 2000 (age 24)	Charleston, USA	2019 from Mannheimer ERC (Germany)
22		Reece Wickens	R	(2003-08-01) 1 August 2003 (age 21)	England	2019 from Milton Keynes Storm
37		Connor Mellett	R	(1998-06-21) 21 June 1998 (age 26)	England	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
8		Ryan James	R	(1993-09-05) 5 September 1993 (age 31)	Solihull, England	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
45		Hayden Hagger	R	TBC	Luton, England	2020 from Free Agent
68		Julien Baeumlin	L	(1992-12-13) 13 December 1992 (age 32)	Mulhouse, France	2019 from Strasbourg II (France)
70		Sam Dean	L	(1999-08-06) 6 August 1999 (age 25)	Peterborough, England	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
73		Gareth O'Flaherty	R	(1990-01-18) 18 January 1990 (age 34)	Camberley, England	2020 from Peterborough Phantoms
90		Caden Harrington-Hughes	R	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 22)	England	2019 from Milton Keynes Storm
93		Sam Prosser	R	(1993-01-29) 29 January 1993 (age 31)	England	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
81		Harrison Goode	L	(1990-12-15) 15 December 1990 (age 34)	Luton, England	2020 from Free Agent

2 Way Players
No.	Nat.	Player	Two Way Club	Shoots/Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
11		Henri Kohvakka	Milton Keynes Storm	L	(2004-04-09) 9 April 2004 (age 20)	Northampton, England	2020 from Milton Keynes Storm
16		Harry MacGarvey	Milton Keynes Storm	L	(2004-01-01) 1 January 2004 (age 21)	Milton Keynes, England	2020 from Milton Keynes Storm
19		Tom Stephens	Okanagan Hockey Academy	L	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 22)	Milton Keynes, England	2019 from Milton Keynes Storm
38		Solomon Smith	Haringey Huskies	R	(1998-01-21) 21 January 1998 (age 26)	England	2020 from Blackburn Hawks
43		Bailey Hind-Pitcher	Okanagan Hockey Academy	R	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 22)	England	2020 from Bracknell Hornets