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Wichita Thunder

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Wichita Thunder
File:WichitaThunder.JPG
CityWichita, Kansas
LeagueCentral Hockey League
ConferenceNorthern Conference
DivisionNorthwest Division
Founded1992
Home arenaIntrust Bank Arena
ColorsBlue & Black
   
Owner(s)Horn Chen
General managerJoel T. Lomurno
Franchise history
1992 to PresentWichita Thunder
Championships
Regular season titles2 1993-94, 1994-95
Conference titles1 1997-98
Ray Miron President's Cup2 1993-94, 1994-95

The Wichita Thunder are a minor league hockey team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team plays in the Central Hockey League. From 1992 until January 2010 the Thunder played in the Britt Brown Arena located in the northern Wichita suburb of Park City. In January 2010 (the second half of the 2009-10 season) the team began playing its home games at the newly built Intrust Bank Arena.

Franchise history

Early history (1992-95)

The Thunder were one of the first six original teams of the new Central Hockey League, along with the Oklahoma City Blazers, Tulsa Oilers, Memphis RiverKings, Dallas Freeze and the Fort Worth Fire.

Wichita played their first home game at Britt Brown Arena on November 4, 1992 in front of a crowd of 5,486. In the same season the Thunder had their first sellout in team history, the crowd of 9,686 fans watched the Thunder defeat Oklahoma City 4-3.

The Thunder were originally coached by Gary Fay, but after a 6-20 start he was replace by Doug Shedden. Although they started out with a 6-20 record the season was quickly turned around by Shedden and they finished their first season with a 25-32-2 record. On April 5, 1993 Thunder goaltender Bobby Desjardins was named the first CHL Rookie of the Year.

In the following two seasons the Thunder were the Regular Season Champions (Adams Cup) and Playoff Champions (William Levins Memorial Cup) for both seasons. Ron Handy was the Playoff Most Valuable Player for both seasons, he is the only player in Central Hockey League history to win the award on multiple occasions. In the 1993-1994 season Doug Shedden won the Coach of the Year award, Robert Desjardins won the Regular Season Most Valuable Player award and Paul Jackson won the Scoring Champion award.

On May 14, 1995, Head Coach Doug Shedden resigns to become coach of the Louisiana IceGators of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).

Thunder Head Coaches

Name Year(s) Coached Record
Gary Fay 1992 6 - 20
Doug Shedden 1992 - 1995 103 - 49 - 12
Don Jackson 1995 - 1996 22 - 50 - 29
Bryan Wells 1996 - 2001 161 - 146 - 39
Jim Latos 2001 - 2003 32 - 53 - 13
Sean O'Reilly Interim Coach 1 - 0 - 0
Derek Laxdal 2003 - 2005 87 - 58 - 8
Mark French 2005 - 2007 70 - 56 - 16
Rob Weingartner 2007 - 2008 16 - 29 - 2
Brent Bilodeau 2008 - 2009 22 - 52
Jason Duda Interim Coach 7 - 40 - 4

Championships

Year League Trophy
1993-1994 CHL William “Bill” Levins Memorial Cup
1994-1995 CHL William “Bill” Levins Memorial Cup

Retired numbers

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