- Milton Keynes Thunder
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DFC Milton Keynes Thunder League English National Ice Hockey League Conference South Division One Founded 2001 History Milton Keynes Thunder
2001–PresentArena Planet Ice Milton Keynes
"The Thunderdome"Capacity 2,200 City Milton Keynes, United Kingdom Team Colours White, Black, Blue & Silver Head coach Lewis Clifford Website mkthunder.com The DFC Milton Keynes Thunder are an ice hockey team from Milton Keynes, England and are the second team in the city behind Milton Keynes Lightning. They currently play in the English National Ice Hockey League (ENIHL) South Division One league. The team is committed to youth development with practically all players coming from the Milton Keynes junior ice hockey system.
Contents
Current staff
Milton Keynes Thunder staff2010/11 Roster
Goaltenders Number Player Catches Place of Birth 1 Mark Woolf L London, England 31 Jake Scriven L Luton, England Defencemen Number Player Shoots Place of Birth 3 Paul Gore R Luton, England 9 Matt Roberts R England 13 Nigel Phillips R Milton Keynes, England 16 Simon Howard R London, England 22 Sam Fairhurst R England 24 David Coffey R Scotland 29 Aidan Mahmud R London, England 55 Lee Featherstone L England Forwards Number Player Shoots Place of Birth 2 Aram Todd R England 5 Jamie Line R Toddington, England 10 Kieron Goody R England 12 Lewis Clifford R Bletchley, England 14 Paul Jamieson R England 19 Jamie Randall R England 20 Martin Snape L England 28 Tom Mboya R England 47 Michael Lucas R England 61 Ross Bowers R Luton, England 81 Harrison Goode L England 82 Connor Goode L England 97 Dan Chaplen R Luton, England Overseas players
Thunder have only had three non-EIHA (overseas) players since the team's inception. Slovakian defenceman Ivan Turan become the first import in team history after wishing to remain in the Milton Keynes area following his release the previous season from EPL affiliate MK Lightning. Donations from fans enabled Thunder to pay the costly ITC card needed in order to sign Turan and he made his debut at the beginning of the 2006/2007 sseason. Also signed in 2006/2007 was local Canadian Todd Bakergeorge who had spent previous seasons playing with local recreational side MK Jesters. For the 2007/2008 season Bakergeorge was replaced by Pavol Hudak, who like Turan is of Slovakian origin. Turan and Hudak both departed the club during the summer of 2008, being replaced by sloviakan defenceman Kristian Simo who signed from ENL rivals Peterborough Islanders and Michal Lauko
Jerseys
At the end of the 2005–06 season the club's original jersey's were auctioned off to fund new designs for the 2006–07 season. The jersey features yellow letters and numbers on the rear with the word "thunder" printed across the bottom, with yellow numbers on both sleeves with a small thunder logo shoulder patch. Traditionally the white jersey is worn for home games, the black jersey for road games, however there have been occasions when this jersey has been worn for home fixtures due to colour clashes with visiting teams. For the 2008/9 season the team will sport new uniforms, with the designs similar to previous years with a new secondary colour of sky blue.
History
Season-by-season record
Last 5 seasons, league stats only
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Records as of May 19 2008.
Season GP W L T Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs 2003-04 16 9 5 2 20 62 42 3rd, ENL South 1st Round 2004-05 18 7 7 4 18 51 66 5th, ENL South Did not qualify 2005-06 20 8 8 4 20 84 74 6th, ENL South Did not qualify 2006-07 22 5 13 4 14 79 99 9th, ENL South Did not qualify 2007-08 16 9 5 2 20 67 50 4th, ENL South A Did not qualify 2008-09 28 7 16 5 19 73 114 7th, ENL South 1 Did not qualify - Defeated Vectis Tigers 12-7 on aggregate in Promotion/Relegation playoff 2009-10 36 6 27 3 15 107 228 8th, ENL South 1 Did not qualify Team Captains
* Paul Gore, 2001-2004
- Michael Knights, 2004-2007
- James Roberts, 2007/2008
- Jamie Randall, 2008-present
Coaching Staff
Head Coaches - 2001-2003 – Mark Johnson
- 2003-2008 – Michael Knights
- 2008-2009 – Paul Gore
- 2009-Present – Lewis Clifford
Assistant Coaches
- 2001-2004 – Chris Anderson
- 2001-2004 – Jimmy Ryan
- 2004-2008 – Paul Gore
- 2008-Present – Lewis Clifford
Bench Coaches
- 2001-2004 - Davey Phillips
- 2004-2005 – Andy Linton
- 2005-2006 – Dave Fairhurst
- 2006-2007 – Phil Wooderson
- 2007-2009 – Matt Roberts
- 2009-Present – Andy Watt
Scoring Leaders
These are the end of season scorering leaders for the past 4 seasons, including league, cup & playoff games. Previous season scoring records are unknown.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; G/G = Goals per game; A/G = Assists per game; * = current Thunder player
Points Goals Assists Season Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G 2004/2005 Michael Knights D 19 7 14 21 1.10 2005/2006 Michael Knights D 20 15 18 33 1.65 2006/2007 Tom Hurley LW 13 16 8 24 1.85 2007/2008 Dan Chaplen* RW 13 9 12 21 1.61 2008/2009 Michal Lauko RW 19 11 13 24 1.26 2009/2010 Michael Knights D 22 10 15 25 1.14 Player Pos GP G G/G Ben White C 21 9 0.42 Michael Knights D 20 15 0.75 Tom Hurley LW 13 16 1.23 Tom Roles RW 23 14 0.60 Michal Lauko RW 19 11 0.58 Jamie Holland C 23 17 0.74 Player Pos GP A A/G James Roberts RW 18 15 0.83 Michael Knights D 20 18 0.90 Mark Krater RW 21 11 0.52 Keiron Goody* C 24 14 0.58 Tom Roles RW 26 14 0.54 Michael Knights D 22 15 0.68 Link with MK Lightning
Since the club's inception in 2001, MK Thunder have looked to allow players the opportunity to play at a higher level. In 2002 the city was to be the birthplace of a new English Premier League team named the Milton Keynes Lightning. A partnership was formed whereby players from the Thunder would be given the opportunity to progress onto training and playing for the higher league club to further their careers. To date this partnership has seen many players play on a 2 way contract (playing for both clubs when there are not fixture clashes) along with several progressing into earning full time contracts with the Lightning. The link has worked in the other direction also, with players from the higher team icing for the Thunder on rehab assignments or to play full time with the Thunder when the demands of EPL ice hockey were no longer possible alongside their other commitments. To date the following players have benefited from this link up and have progressed from the ENL with Thunder to playing, part or full time, with the EPL Lightning.
- Allen Sutton
- Paul Jamieson
- Leigh Jamieson
- Mark Conway
- Mark Krater
- Lee Featherstone
- Ross Bowers
- Aram Todd
- Keiron Goody
- Paul Gore
- Ivan Turan
- Michael Knights
- Lewis Clifford
- Iain McGill
- Alexander Parris
- Tom Ledgard
- Carl Stevenson
- Mark Woolf
- Tom Hurley
- Jacob Heron
- Ross Green
- David Coffey
- Andy Moore
- Aidan Mahmud
- Jamie Line
- Bari McKenzie
- Tom Roles
- Kim Taylor
External links
Categories:- Ice hockey teams in England
- Sport in Milton Keynes
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