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 2021/2022 season

Netminders
No.	Nat.	Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
29		Matt Friend	L	(1999-01-01) 1 January 1999 (age 25)	Petersfield	2021 from Basingstoke Buffalo
37		James Tipple	L	(1992-10-05) 5 October 1992 (age 32)	Hemel Hempstead	2021 from Free Agent

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	2013 from Peterborough Phantoms
4		Samson James	L	(2000-08-30) 30 August 2000 (age 24)	Coventry	2020 from New Jersey Renegades (USA)
13		Evan Smyth	L	(1988-04-13) 13 April 1988 (age 36)	Toronto, Canada	2021 Free Agent
14		Callum Burr	R	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 21)	England	2021 Bracknell Hornets
44		Antti Kohvakka	L	(1976-01-04) 4 January 1976 (age 48)	Tampere	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
46		Nick Mentiply	R	(1987-06-04) 4 June 1987 (age 37)	Aylesbury	2021 from Blackburn Hawks
72		Dan Angell	R	(1998-01-01) 1 January 1998 (age 26)	England	2022 from Free Agent

Forwards
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
8		Leo Harris	R	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 21)	England	2021 from Nottingham Cougars
12		Oliver Harris	R	(1999-05-05) 5 May 1999 (age 25)	Coventry	2021 from Free Agent
23		Tom Carlton	R	(1987-02-18) 18 February 1987 (age 37)	Telford	2021 from Free Agent
27		Jacob Spurge	R		England	2021 from Nottingham Mavericks University Ice Hockey Club
45		Hayden Hagger	R		Luton	2020 from Free Agent
70		Sam Dean	L	(1999-08-06) 6 August 1999 (age 25)	Peterborough	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
73		Gareth O'Flaherty	R	(1990-01-18) 18 January 1990 (age 34)	Camberley	2020 from Peterborough Phantoms
81		Harrison Goode	L	(1990-12-15) 15 December 1990 (age 34)	Luton	2020 from Free Agent
82		Connor Goode	R	(1993-11-02) 2 November 1993 (age 31)	Luton	2020 from Free Agent
93		Sam Prosser	R	(1993-01-29) 29 January 1993 (age 31)	England	2019 from Coventry Blaze NIHL

2 Way Players
No.	Nat.	Player	Two Way Club	Shoots/Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
4		Daniel Tamasaukas	Lee Valley Lions	R	(1999-07-01) 1 July 1999 (age 25)	Lithuania	2021 from Lee Valley Lions
5		Cole McCluskey	Milton Keynes Storm	R	(2005-01-01) 1 January 2005 (age 19)	England	2021 from Milton Keynes Storm
6		Cassius McCormack	Milton Keynes Storm	R	(2005-01-01) 1 January 2005 (age 19)	England	2021 from Milton Keynes Storm
11		Henri Kohvakka	Milton Keynes Storm	L	(2004-04-09) 9 April 2004 (age 20)	Northampton	2020 from Milton Keynes Storm
22		Harry MacGarvey	Milton Keynes Storm	L	(2004-01-01) 1 January 2004 (age 20)	Milton Keynes	2020 from Milton Keynes Storm
TBA		Oliver Knaggs	Milton Keynes Storm	L	(2005-11-04) 4 November 2005 (age 19)	Watford	2021 from Milton Keynes Storm
TBA		Vincent Graziano	Peterborough Phantoms	R	(2005-08-14) 14 August 2005 (age 19)	England	2021 from Peterborough Phantoms