Dunedin Thunder

Ice hockey team in Dunedin, New Zealand

Dunedin Thunder

City| Dunedin
League| New Zealand Ice Hockey League
Founded| 2008
Operated| 2008–present
Home arena| Dunedin Ice Stadium
Colours| Green, yellow, white, black

General manager| Dave Richards
Head coach| Guillaume Leclancher
Captain| Matt Enright
Website| www.dunedinthunder.co.nz
Championships
Regular season titles| 1 (2013)
NZIHL Champion| 0

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Season  | GP | W | OTW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | PTS | Finish  | Playoff  | Ref

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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  | 4th  | Playoffs not held  | [15]
2022  | 16  | 2  | 0  | \-  | 1  | 13  | 43  | 78  | 7  | 5th  | Did not qualify  | [16]
2023  | 16  | 2  | 2  | \-  | 1  | 11  | 49  | 94  | 11  | 5th  | Did not qualify  | [17]
2024  | 16  | 1  | 1  |  | 3  | 11  | 58  | 100  | 8  | 5th  | Did not qualify  | [18]

## Players and personnel

[edit]

### Current roster

[edit]

Team roster for the 2016 NZIHL season[19]

# | Nat | Name | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace

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|  | Felipe Aguirre | F | R | 27 | 2016 |
88 |  | Jonas Barakauskas | G | L | 30 | 2015 |
6 |  | Matas Barakauskas | D | L | 34 | 2015 |
|  | Monty Brown | F | R | 28 | 2016 |
|  | Tom Carson-Pratt | F | L | 27 | 2016 |
|  | Brandon Contratto | F | R | 35 | 2016 | West Bloomfield, Michigan, United States
12 |  | Dylan Devlin | D | R | 29 | 2014 | Dunedin, New Zealand
60 |  | Kane Easterbrook | G | R | 37 | 2016 |
|  | David Ferrari | D | R | 41 | 2016 |
|  | Lachlan Frear | F | R | 28 | 2016 |
|  | Ryan Gruszka | F | R | 29 | 2016 | Belle River, Ontario, Canada
|  | Connor Harrison | F | R | 32 | 2013 | Arrowtown, New Zealand
22 |  | Shaun Harrison | F | R | 31 | 2013 | Auckland, New Zealand
|  | George Hopkins | D | L | 27 | 2016 |
|  | Liam Kinney | F | R | 27 | 2015 |
35 |  | Noah Leahy | D | L | 28 | 2013 | Dunedin, New Zealand
|  | Seamus Leahy | F | L | 26 | 2015 |
25 |  | Guillaume Leclancher | D | L | 36 | 2013 | Maisons-Alfort, France
|  | Daniel Lee | G | L | 28 | 2016 |
|  | Gints Leitis | F | L | 33 | 2016 | Riga, Latvia
|  | Gareth Lloyd | F | R | 33 | 2016 |
|  | Jaime Meeuws | F | L |  | 2016 |
|  | Joe Orr | F | L | 29 | 2012 | Dunedin, New Zealand
|  | Joel Scott | F | L | 29 | 2015 |
|  | Otto Sillanpää | F | L | 30 | 2016 | Säkylä, Finland
|  | Jaan Turia | F |  |  | 2016 |
29 |  | Hunter Waugh | G | L | 29 | 2016 | Dunedin, New Zealand
19 |  | Regan Wilson | D | R | 32 | 2009 | Dunedin, New Zealand

### Team captains

[edit]

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

* Andre Robichaud, 2013–2014[20]
* Gino Heyd, 2015[21]
* Gints Leitis, 2016

### Head coaches

[edit]

* James van Leeuwen, 2010–2011[22]
* János Kaszala, 2012–2016[23]
* Matt Hladun, 2017–present[24]

### General managers

[edit]

* Drew McMillian, 2014 [25]
* Pete Hurring, 2015 [26]
* Guillaume Leclancher, 2016 [27]
* Alexis Robin, 2017 [24]
* Dave Richards, 2023–present

## References

[edit]

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. ^ "2022 New Zealand Ice Hockey League Div I".
17. ^ "2023 New Zealand Ice Hockey League Div I".
18. ^ "2024 New Zealand Ice Hockey League Div I".
19. ^ "Dunedin Thunder". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
20. ^ "Andre Robichaud". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
21. ^ "Gino Heyd". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
22. ^ "James van Leeuwen". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
23. ^ "János Kaszala". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
24. ^ a b "Team Roster" (PDF). New Zealand Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
25. ^ "Drew McMillian". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
26. ^ "Pete Hurring". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
27. ^ "Guillaume Leclancher". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 June 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* Dunedin Thunder

* v
* t
* e

New Zealand Ice Hockey League

* Founded in 2005 (20 years ago) (2005)
* Country:  New Zealand (top tier)
* Website: NZIHL.com

Seasons|

* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Teams|

* Auckland Mako
* Botany Swarm
* Canterbury Red Devils
* Dunedin Thunder
* Southern Stampede
* West Auckland Admirals

Arenas|

* Alpine Ice Centre
* Dunedin Ice Stadium
* Paradice Avondale
* Paradice Botany Downs
* Queenstown Ice Arena

* Related articles: IIHF
* NZIHF
* New Zealand Ice Blacks
* NZWIHL
* Trans-Tasman Champions League

* v
* t
* e

Ice hockey in New Zealand

National teams|

* Men's (Ice Blacks)
* Women's (Ice Fernz)
* Men's under-20
* Men's under-18
* Women's under-18

National leagues|

* New Zealand Ice Hockey League‎ (NZIHL)
* New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League (NZWIHL)

Governing bodies|

* New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (NZIHF)
* Auckland Ice Hockey Association (AIHA)
* Canterbury Ice Hockey Association (CIHA)
* Southern Ice Hockey Association (SIHA)
* Wellington Ice Hockey Association (WIHA)

Awards and trophies|

| Current|

* Birgel Cup
* Toa Kauhanga Riri Tio
* Erewhon Cup

|

Former|

* NZIHL Trophy
* Glass Family Shield

Ice skating venues|

* Alpine Ice Sports Centre
* Dunedin Ice Stadium
* Gore Multisports Complex
* Paradice Avondale
* Paradice Botany Downs
* Queenstown Ice Arena

Other articles|

* Trans-Tasman Champions League

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