Springfield Thunderbirds

The Springfield Thunderbirds are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that began play for the 2016–17 season. They are the affiliate of the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues. Based in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Thunderbirds play their home games at the MassMutual Center.

History

In May 2016, following the relocation of the Springfield Falcons to Tucson, Arizona, after the team was sold to the Arizona Coyotes, the AHL's Portland Pirates were sold to a Springfield-based group who relocated the franchise to Springfield for the 2016–17 season.

The new owners were a consortium of local business interests seeking to keep hockey in Springfield, and included Paul Picknelly, owner of the Springfield Marriott and member of the family-owning Peter Pan Bus Lines, as well as several local hotel owners. A team from Springfield has taken the ice in the AHL and its predecessors for all but seven years since 1926, and in every season since 1954.

The Thunderbirds inherited the Florida Panthers' affiliation with the Pirates. The Panthers assigned their assistant general manager, Eric Joyce, to be Springfield's general manager and named Geordie Kinnear as the new head coach. The Thunderbirds also named Bruce Landon, the Falcons' and Indians' longtime president and general manager, as a consultant, while hiring AHL executive Nathan Costa as their executive vice-president in charge of business operations. The team's new name was announced at a press conference on June 15, 2016. Team management explained that Thunderbirds invokes both the mythological Thunderbird and the United States Air Force presence in the region, such as the Barnes and Westover Air Reserve Bases.

The Thunderbirds played their first game on October 15, 2016, a 4–2 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Anthony Greco scored the first goal in team history. On October 22, 2016, the Thunderbirds played their home opener, a 5–4 win, against the St. John's IceCaps. Dryden Hunt scored the first goal on home ice, and MacKenzie Weegar scored the game-winning goal in overtime in front of a sellout crowd of 6,793. While the inaugural season did not result in a playoff berth, average attendance rose from 3,108 in the Falcons' last season to 4,618 and including three sellouts.

On February 17, 2018, it was announced that the Springfield Thunderbirds and the MassMutual Center would host the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic and Skills contest, to take place on January 27–28, 2019. This marked the first AHL All-Star Game in Springfield since 1959. MGM Springfield served as the host of the event. The Western Conference was victorious in the skills competition, while the Central Division defeated the Atlantic Division in the championship game of the round-robin event. Both events were sold out.

On March 6, 2020, the Springfield Thunderbirds announced a five-year affiliation deal with the St. Louis Blues of the NHL starting from the 2020–21 season. The affiliation with Florida did not yield any playoff appearances, but saw a number of players recalled to the NHL. The team had seen attendance rise in each of its four seasons. Drew Bannister was announced as the second head coach in team history coming from the Blues' previous affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. However, due to the ongoing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Thunderbirds were one of three teams that opted out of the 2020–21 AHL season.

In the 2021-22 AHL season, with COVID restrictions lifted and the Thunderbirds having by far their best season, they led the Atlantic Division with a 43-26-4-3 record, with a team record average attendance of 5,375. They made the playoffs for the first time, sweeping the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Charlotte Checkers in the first two rounds before winning the third against the Laval Rocket in seven games. In the Thunderbirds' first Calder Cup Finals, they were defeated by the Chicago Wolves in five games.

The market was previously home to:

• Springfield Indians (1926–1994)
• Springfield Falcons (1994–2016)

Season-by-season results

Regular Season											Playoffs
Season	Games	Won	Lost	OTL	SOL	Points	PCT	Goals for	Goals against	Standing	Year	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	4th round	Finals
2016–17	76	32	33	9	2	75	.493	197	206	6th, Atlantic	2017	Did not qualify
2017–18	76	32	37	5	2	71	.467	210	233	7th, Atlantic	2018	Did not qualify
2018–19	76	33	29	9	5	80	.526	250	241	7th, Atlantic	2019	Did not qualify
2019–20	61	31	27	3	0	65	.533	190	186	5th, Atlantic	2020	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	Did not participate due to the COVID-19 pandemic										2021	Did not participate
2021–22	76	43	24	6	3	95	.625	233	221	2nd, Atlantic	2022	BYE	W, 3–0, WBS	W, 3–0, CHA	W, 4–3, LAV	L 1-4, CHI

Players

Current roster

Updated June 12, 2022.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Contract
17		Nikita Alexandrov	C	L	24	2021	Burgwedel, Germany	Blues
7		Sam Anas	RW	R	31	2021	Potomac, Maryland	Blues
41		Will Bitten	RW	R	26	2022	Ottawa, Ontario	Blues
77		Drew Callin	C	R	30	2021	Middleton, Wisconsin	Thunderbirds
21		Peter Crinella	F	L	28	2021	East Longmeadow, Massachusetts	Thunderbirds
4		Tommy Cross (C)	D	L	35	2021	Simsbury, Connecticut	Blues
31		Colten Ellis	G	L	24	2021	River Denys, Nova Scotia	Blues
33		Brayden Guy	LW	L	24	2022	Brampton, Ontario	Thunderbirds
30		Joel Hofer	G	L	25	2021	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Blues
16		Dakota Joshua	C	L	28	2021	Dearborn, Michigan	Blues
28		Tanner Kaspick	C	L	27	2021	Brandon, Manitoba	Blues
82		Matt Kessel	D	R	24	2022	Scottsdale, Arizona	Thunderbirds
24		Klim Kostin	C	L	26	2022	Penza, Russia	Blues
18		Mathias Laferriere	RW	R	24	2021	Montreal, Quebec	Blues
39		Charlie Lindgren	G	R	31	2021	Lakeville, Minnesota	Blues
25		Griffin Luce	D	L	27	2021	Williamsville, New York	Thunderbirds
37		Brady Lyle	D	R	25	2022	North Bay, Ontario	Blues
19		Mackenzie MacEachern	LW	L	31	2021	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan	Blues
11		Hugh McGing	C	L	26	2021	Chicago, Illinois	Blues
81		James Neal	LW	L	37	2022	Whitby, Ontario	Blues
63		Matthew Peca	C	L	32	2021	Petawawa, Ontario	Blues
48		Calle Rosen	D	L	31	2021	Växjö, Sweden	Blues
14		Steven Santini (A)	D	R	30	2021	Mahopac, New York	Blues
29		Nathan Todd	C	R	29	2021	Kemptville, Ontario	Blues
5		Tyler Tucker	D	L	25	2021	Longlac, Ontario	Blues
27		Keean Washkurak	C	L	23	2021	Kitchener, Ontario	Blues
22		Josh Wesley	D	R	29	2021	Hartford, Connecticut	Thunderbirds
21		Luke Witkowski	D	R	35	2022	Holland, Michigan	Blues

Team captains

• Brent Regner: 2016–2017
• Paul Thompson: 2018–2020
• Tommy Cross: 2021–present

Retired numbers

• #2: Eddie Shore
• #23: Rob Murray

Note: Shore's number was retired by the Springfield Indians, and Murray's by the Springfield Falcons; the Thunderbirds continue to honor both numbers. Former AHL president Jack Butterfield and vice president Gordie Anziano, longtime Springfield residents, as well as former Indians' general manager and Falcons founder Bruce Landon, and Willie O'Ree, the first African American to play in the AHL, have been honored with banners raised with the retired numbers.

Notable alumni

Players playing at least 100 games in Springfield and 100 games in major leagues.

• Josh Brown
• Bobby Farnham
• Juho Lammikko

Team records

As of 2021–22 season.

Single season

Goals: Anthony Greco, 30 (2018–19)

Goals by a Rookie: Owen Tippett, 19 (2019-20)

Power Play Goals: Nathan Walker, 10 (2021–22)

Short Handed Goals: Anthony Greco, 6 (2017–18)

Assists: Sam Anas, 44 (2021–22)

Points: Sam Anas, 64 (2021–22)

Penalty Minutes: Sena Acolatse, 147 (2016–17)

Appearances by a Goalie: Samuel Montembeault, 41 (2017–18)

GAA: Charlie Lindgren 2.21 (2021–22)

SV%: Charlie Lindgren .925 (2021-22)

Shutouts: Harri Sateri, 4 (2017–18)

Career

Games: 261, Anthony Greco

Penalty Minutes: 238, Paul Thompson

Goaltending Wins: 31, Samuel Montembeault

Shutouts: 4 Harri Sateri & Sam Montembeault

Goals: 85, Anthony Greco

Assists: 78, Dryden Hunt

Points: 157, Anthony Greco

Power Play Goals: 20, Dryden Hunt

Short Handed Goals: 16, Anthony Greco

External links

• Springfield Thunderbirds Official Website