Bloomington Thunder Weekly

January 28, 2014 - SPHL (SPHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


The Bloomington Thunder try to move up in the jam-packed Southern Professional Hockey League standings as they travel to the Florida panhandle this weekend to take on the circuit's leader.

Excuse me...pardon me: It's crowded in the SPHL as only three points separate sixth through tenth place. The Thunder (14-19-1, 29 points, 10th) are only one point behind ninth-place Knoxville, two points behind Fayetteville and the Mississippi Surge in the seventh position and three points behind sixth-place Columbus. The Thunder have four points available but have to earn them against the Pensacola Ice Flyers (21-13-2, 44 points), who are tied for the top spot with the Huntsville Havoc. The Thunder travel to Huntsville for games next Friday and Saturday after a Tuesday home game against the Peoria Rivermen.

Get here, stat: Travis Granbois paces the Thunder with 25 points (7 goals, 18 assists). He also leads the team in assists. Tyler Noseworthy has collected 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) and Kyle Watson leads the Thunder with 11 goals, registering his team-best third game-winning goal in Friday's home overtime win over Fayetteville.

A-OK in the FLA: The Thunder make their first trip to Pensacola for games on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Central at the Pensacola Bay Center. The teams have not met. The games can be heard on WJBC.com and viewed via subscription on America One Sports with links to the online broadcasts found at www.bloomingtonthunder.com. Fans are also invited to watch all road games at Six Strings, 524 N. Center St. in downtown Bloomington. The Ice Flyers lead the SPHL in attendance with an average of 3,756. The Ice Flyers have won their last two games, a 6-1 Friday home win over the Mississippi Surge and an 8-4 triumph on Sunday over the Mississippi RiverKings. Former Bloomington goalie Ross MacKinnon took Sunday's win in net. Joe Caveney (18 goals, 16 assists, 34 points) is the team's leading scorer followed closely by Joshua Turnbull (11g, 22a, 33 points). The Flyers are second in goals (125) and third in goals against (98) while the Thunder are tenth in goals (86) and eighth in goals against (111).

Roster-faria: The Thunder traded forward Ron Cramer to the Louisiana Ice Gators for forward Reid MacLeod on Friday. Cramer scored five goals with nine assists for 14 points and a league-leading 160 penalty minutes in 30 games, while MacLeod registered two goals and six assists for eight points and 13 penalty minutes in 17 games with the Gators. The Thunder also waived forward Patrick Schafer, who collected two goals and six assists for eight points with 24 PIMs in 18 games. Also waived was defenseman Kory Helowka, who collected one goal and one assist with 32 PIMs in 23 games. The Thunder also welcomed back forward Nic Polaski from his call-up to the Denver Cutthroats of the Central Hockey League, where played 11 games but did not register a point. Polaski recorded his first goal of the season on Friday.

Penalty box turnstile: The Thunder's only Friday penalty placed them over the 900-minute mark for the season, far and away the most in the SPHL with 911. Columbus is a distant second with 855 PIMs, 56 behind the Thunder. Bloomington also leads the SPHL with 243 minor penalties, 13 10-minute misconducts and 13 game misconducts, and has registered the league's only match penalty of the season. The 42 power play goals surrendered by the Thunder is also a league high.

I'll second that: The second intermission score has been nearly a fool-proof indication of the final result in all 34 Thunder games this season. The Thunder have never suffered a regulation loss (10-0-1) when leading after two periods, but have never won in the 18 games they have trailed after 40 minutes. When tied at the end of the second period, the Thunder are 4-1-0.

Two-dollar game-long: The Tuesday, February 4 game with Peoria is Pack the House Night sponsored by Easton Sports featuring several $2 specials, including tickets. Hot dogs, popcorn, soda and drafts are only $2, and tickets are only $2 when presenting a voucher from the Thunder's Facebook page or Twitter feed to the U.S. Cellular Coliseumm box office.

The Thunder also have group and multi-game discounts, including the Easton Sports Push to the Playoffs Plan including all 13 remaining regular season home games for only $99 which includes first right of refusal for 2014-15 season tickets. For more information, call the Thunder office at 309-434-2980. Gameday and single-game tickets are available through the U.S. Cellular Coliseum box office. The latest Thunder information can be found at www.bloomingtonthunder.com, Facebook and Twitter (BLMThunder).



SPHL Stories from January 28, 2014


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