Bloomington Thunder Weekly
December 23, 2013 - SPHL (SPHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release
The Bloomington Thunder celebrate Christmas with a solid win going into the short break and prepare for holiday travel to North Carolina.
Breaking the streak: The Thunder lost 6-2 on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday to the Peoria Rivermen but rebounded on Sunday for a solid 4-1 win over their rivals at Carver Arena. Kevin Walrod recorded a trio of three-goal games on the weekend. Max Strang stopped 30 shots for Sunday's win. The Thunder captured their first win over the Rivermen in seven tries and broke a six-game winning streak and an eight-game point streak for Peoria.
Receiving the call: The Thunder have recorded their sixth call-up of the season as leading scorer Kevin Walrod has been loaned to the Evansville IceMen of the ECHL. Walrod leads the Thunder with 22 points (13 goals, 9 assists). The rookie from Westside, British Columbia played four seasons at Michigan State University followed by a brief four-game stint with the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL late last season.
Scoring for your Thunder: Leading the Thunder in scoring on the current roster is Tyler Noseworthy with 19 points (7g, 12a) followed by captain Travis Granbois with 18 points (4g, 14a). Ron Cramer leads in penalty minutes with 107.
I'm going to Carolina: The Thunder (6-15-0, 12 points, 10th) make their second and final trip of the season to Fayetteville, N.C. for Friday and Saturday games with the FireAntz (10-5-2, 22 points, T-5th). Face-offs are at 6:30 p.m. Central both nights. The Thunder split games with the FireAntz in their last visit to Crown Coliseum in November. After this weekend, the teams will meet three more times, all in Bloomington. The FireAntz are led in scoring by Matt Smyth with 14 points (5g, 9a), followed by Brett Liscomb with 13 (5g, 8a) and Bobby Reed with 12 points (5g, 7a). Peter Skoggard has been stellar in goal with a 4-0-2 record on a 1.79 goals against average and a .943 save percentage.
Pop the cork with the Thunder: The Thunder will celebrate New Year's Eve with a 7:05 face-off against Peoria with special New Year jerseys worn by the team and auctioned after the game. The teams will ring in 2014 at Carver Arena with a 5:15 face-off on New Year's Day.
Junior Blaze roll: The Bloomington Junior Blaze swept the Berkley Bruins in their weekend Midwest Junior Hockey League series at U.S. Cellular Coliseum, winning 7-2 on Saturday, 2-1 on Sunday and 9-7 on Monday. Micah Young recorded five goals and two assists while John Urmetz registered one goal and eight assists. The juniors return to action January 10 to begin a three-game home weekend series with the Soo Firehawks.
Following the Thunder: Fans are invited to watch all road games at Six Strings, 524 N. Center St. in downtown Bloomington. Links to the WJBC.com and America One Sports broadcasts are on the home page of www.bloomingtonthunder.com. Fans can also listen to the games inside U.S. Cellular Coliseum on 93.7 FM. More information on promotions, tickets and group and multi-game discounts are found at www.bloomingtonthunder.com, Facebook and Twitter (BLMThunder) and by calling the Thunder at 309-434-2980.
• Discuss this story on the SPHL message board...
SPHL Stories from December 23, 2013
- RiverKings to "Pack the House" for St. Jude - Mississippi RiverKings
- Bloomington Thunder Weekly - Bloomington Thunder
- Vermeersch Named Easton Player of the Week - Peoria Rivermen
- Peoria's Garrett Vermeersch Named Easton Player of the Week - SPHL
- Havoc Sweep League Leading Ice Gators - Huntsville Havoc
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
