Dunedin Thunder

Dunedin Thunder
CityDunedin
LeagueNew Zealand Ice Hockey League
Founded2008
Operated2008–present
Home arenaDunedin Ice Stadium
ColoursGreen, yellow, white, black
       
General managerRichard Audas
Head coachJeff Avery
CaptainGints Leitis
Websitewww.dunedinthunder.co.nz
Championships
Regular season titles1 (2013)
NZIHL Champion0

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 playing against the West Auckland Admirals, July 2021

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.[2] The team repeated their last place finish in the 2009 season, again finishing the season with only a single win.[3] The Thunder improved from 2010 to 2012, finishing the regular season in fourth on two occasions and third in the 2012 season.[4][5][6] 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.[7] The team advanced to the final against the Red Devils however lost the game 3–7.[7] The following season the Thunder returned to the finals after finishing the regular season in second place.[8] The team however went on to lose for the second year in a row to the Red Devils.[8] In the 2015 season the Thunder finished the regular season in fourth place and failed to qualify for the playoffs.[9]

Season by season results

Season GP W OTW T OTL L GF GA PTS Finish Playoff Ref
2008 12 1 – 0 – 11 30 91 4 5th Did not qualify [2]
2009 16 1 – 0 – 15 42 142 2 5th Did not qualify [3]
2010 16 3 4 – 1 8 71 84 18 4th Did not qualify [4]
2011 16 3 2 – 0 11 78 108 13 4th Did not qualify [5]
2012 16 8 1 – 2 5 77 65 28 3rd Did not qualify [6]
2013 16 8 4 – 0 4 87 66 32 1st Lost final (Canterbury Red Devils) [7]
2014 16 10 0 – 1 5 72 67 31 2nd Lost final (Canterbury Red Devils) [8]
2015 16 5 0 – 0 11 66 108 15 4th Did not qualify [9]
2016 16 2 0 – 0 14 44 94 6 5th Did not qualify [10]
2017 16 6 3 – 0 7 73 60 24 3rd Did not qualify [11]
2018 16 6 1 – 1 8 72 73 21 3rd Did not qualify [12]
2019 16 4 2 – 0 10 45 75 16 4th Did not qualify [13]
2020 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]

# Nat Name Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
New Zealand Felipe Aguirre F R 26 2016
88 New Zealand Jonas Barakauskas G L 29 2015
6 New Zealand Matas Barakauskas D L 33 2015
New Zealand Monty Brown F R 27 2016
New Zealand Tom Carson-Pratt F L 26 2016
United States Brandon Contratto F R 34 2016 West Bloomfield, Michigan, United States
12 New Zealand Dylan Devlin D R 28 2014 Dunedin, New Zealand
60 New Zealand Kane Easterbrook G R 36 2016
Australia David Ferrari D R 40 2016
New Zealand Lachlan Frear F R 28 2016
Canada Ryan Gruszka F R 28 2016 Belle River, Ontario, Canada
New Zealand Connor Harrison F R 31 2013 Arrowtown, New Zealand
22 New Zealand Shaun Harrison F R 30 2013 Auckland, New Zealand
New Zealand George Hopkins D L 26 2016
New Zealand Liam Kinney F R 27 2015
35 New Zealand Noah Leahy D L 27 2013 Dunedin, New Zealand
New Zealand Seamus Leahy F L 25 2015
25 France Guillaume Leclancher D L 35 2013 Maisons-Alfort, France
New Zealand Daniel Lee G L 27 2016
Latvia Gints Leitis F L 32 2016 Riga, Latvia
New Zealand Gareth Lloyd F R 32 2016
New Zealand Jaime Meeuws F L 2016
New Zealand Joe Orr F L 28 2012 Dunedin, New Zealand
New Zealand Joel Scott F L 28 2015
Finland Otto Sillanpää F L 30 2016 Säkylä, Finland
New Zealand Jaan Turia F 2016
29 New Zealand Hunter Waugh G L 28 2016 Dunedin, New Zealand
19 New Zealand Regan Wilson D R 31 2009 Dunedin, New Zealand

Team captains

Further information on team captains in ice hockey: Captain (ice hockey)
  • 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

References

  1. ^ Zielger, Claire (23 August 2012). "Distinction for all seasons". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b "NZIHL Team Standings 2007 - 2008". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b "NZIHL Team Standings 2008 - 2009". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b "NZIHL Team Standings 2009 - 2010". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b "NZIHL Team Standings 2010 - 2011". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  6. ^ a b "NZIHL Team Standings 2011 - 2012". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "2013 New Zealand Ice Hockey League". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "NZIHL Team Standings 2013 - 2014". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  9. ^ a b "NZIHL Team Standings 2014 - 2015". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  10. ^ "New Zealand Ice Hockey League Final Ranking" (PDF). IIHF. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  11. ^ "New Zealand Ice Hockey League Round Robin" (PDF). IIHF. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  12. ^ "New Zealand Ice Hockey League Round Robin" (PDF). IIHF. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  13. ^ "New Zealand Ice Hockey League Round Robin" (PDF). IIHF. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  14. ^ "New Zealand Ice Hockey League Round Robin" (PDF). IIHF. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  15. ^ "2021 New Zealand Ice Hockey League Div I". stats.iihf.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Dunedin Thunder". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  17. ^ "Andre Robichaud". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Gino Heyd". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  19. ^ "James van Leeuwen". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  20. ^ "János Kaszala". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  21. ^ a b "Team Roster" (PDF). New Zealand Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  22. ^ "Drew McMillian". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  23. ^ "Pete Hurring". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  24. ^ "Guillaume Leclancher". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.