Daniel Tetrault

The Wichita Thunder (6-1) defeated the Rapid City Rush (5-2) 5-3 on Wednesday night at Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita. Colin Hemingway scored a hat trick and also earned 1st star for the game.  Wichita has won three straight home games and is set to host Quad City (3-3) this Friday night. Andrew Martens and Daniel Tetrault also scored for Wichita on Wednesday night.  Goalie Adam Russo recorded 34 saves in the win.

The Wichita Thunder acquired goaltender Adam Russo from the Quad City Mallards today in exchange for future considerations. Russo went 15-13-0 with Quad City last season, including one shutout, a 2.88 goals against average and a .919 save percentage.  He had even more impressive numbers two seasons ago, going 23-14-3 with a 2.81 goals against average, playing for the IHL's Port Huron Icehawks, where he was a teammate of Thunder team...

The Wichita Thunder lost 4-1 to the Mississippi RiverKings at the DeSoto Civic Center on Sunday afternoon. R.G Flath and Brennan Sarazin scored 10 seconds apart midway through the third to break a 1-1 tie and open a 3-1 RiverKings' lead. Flath knocked in a rebound near the crease at 9:08, while Sarazin drove to the net on the ensuing faceoff and slipped the puck past the left of Marc-Antoine Gelinas. Daniel Tetrault had tied the game for Wichita at 8:11 with a power play goal from the high slot.

It took Chris Chappell just two minutes in the first overtime period to light the lamp and win the game for the Wichita Thunder.  Chappell's goal at 18:01 gave the Thunder a 2-1 win over the Texas Brahmas and gave Wichita a 3-2 series lead in the conference finals. Wichita opened the scoring in the game with Daniel Tetrault's power play goal in the first period.  It was scoreless until the final 6 minutes of the game when Texas' Brett Findlay snuck one past Adam Russo on the Brahmas' power play to tie the game at 1 and eventually send it into overtime.

Thomas Beauregard's goal with 9:50 remaining in the third period proved to be the game-winner as the Wichita Thunder stay alive in the CHL championships with a 4-3 win over the Fort Wayne Komets. Wichita entered game four down three games to none in the championship series and facing elimination.  The Komets once again got on the board first, this time with a penalty shot, to take a 1-0 lead early.  Coincidentally, Daniel Tetrault scored a power play goal in the first, which seems to be his specialty, to tie the game at one.  Matt Summers' goal in the final seconds of the first period made it a 2-2 game after one. The Thunder was playing catch-up the entire night as Aaron Davis' goal in the second period tied the game at 3 at the end of two periods.  The Thunder did not lead the game until Beauregard's goal in the third period.

The Wichita Thunder made two transactions Thursday morning, signing defenseman Mike Looby and releasing goaltender Ian Keserich. Looby scored nine goals and 38 total points for the Laredo Bucks last season. As a true rookie, the Brampton, Ontario native was also a member of the Bucks' 2006 President's Cup championship team. The 6-foot, 197-pound Looby has 99 points in 258 career games and attended training camp with the ECHL's Gwinnett Gladiators last month.  Looby enters his sixth season of professional hockey and fifth in the CHL. Keserich, one of two remaining players from last year's team, was 0-3-0 with a 4.03 goals against average and an .840 save percentage.

The Wichita Thunder beat the Fort Wayne Komets 5-1 at the INTRUST Bank Arena on Friday night. Bobby Hughes led the offense with two goals and two assists, while Daniel Tetrault scored the 100th goal of his professional career. The Thunder broke the game open with a three-goal second period.  Leading 2-0, Hughes roofed a loose puck under the crossbar from between the hashmarks at 5:32.  Tetrault deliverd a power play goal at 6:56 from the right side of the blue line for the milestone score.

The Wichita Thunder beat the Bloomington Prairie Thunder 5-1 at the INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday night. Wichita scored four times in the first period, while Lance Galbraith earned a Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal, two assists, and a fight against Bloomington's Travis Granbois late in the third period. For a second straight game, the Thunder benefitted from a big period, beginning with Daniel Tetrault's score at 7:32 in the first.  Tetrault walked the puck down the right boards, cut to the net, and backhanded it over the shoulder of Bloomington goaltender Marco Emond.

The Wichita Thunder beat the Quad City Mallards 3-2 at the iWireless Center on Monday night. Lance Galbraith snapped a 2-2 tie with 67 seconds left in regulation to lift Wichita to victory.  Galbraith took a pass from Jesse Bennefield towards the left corner and wristed a shot to the long side of the net past the left pad of Mallards' goaltender Adam Russo.  The Thunder looked to have taken the lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the third when Bennefield slipped a puck past Russo from close range, but the goal was overturned and the game remained tied.

The Wichita Thunder lost 2-1 to the Missouri Mavericks in Game Four of the Opening Round at the INTRUST Bank Arena on Tuesday night. The series is now tied 2-2 heading back to Missouri for a decisive Game Five on Wednesday night. Mavericks' goaltender Rob Nolan stopped 38 of 39, while the Mavericks weathered three Thunder power plays in the third to help Missouri even the series. The teams battled to a scoreless tie after the first period.  Rob Nolan made two key saves to keep Wichita off the board, stopping Daniel Tetrault on a centering pass from Brent Cullaton, and later denying Cullaton from point blank range on a pass from Jesse Bennefield.

Thomas Beauregard's goal with 9:50 remaining in the third period proved to be the game-winner as the Wichita Thunder stay alive in the CHL championships with a 4-3 win over the Fort Wayne Komets. Wichita entered game four down three games to none in the championship series and facing elimination.  The Komets once again got on the board first, this time with a penalty shot, to take a 1-0 lead early.  Coincidentally, Daniel Tetrault scored a power play goal in the first, which seems to be his specialty, to tie the game at one.  Matt Summers' goal in the final seconds of the first period made it a 2-2 game after one. The Thunder was playing catch-up the entire night as Aaron Davis' goal in the second period tied the game at 3 at the end of two periods.  The Thunder did not lead the game until Beauregard's goal in the third period.

It took Chris Chappell just two minutes in the first overtime period to light the lamp and win the game for the Wichita Thunder.  Chappell's goal at 18:01 gave the Thunder a 2-1 win over the Texas Brahmas and gave Wichita a 3-2 series lead in the conference finals. Wichita opened the scoring in the game with Daniel Tetrault's power play goal in the first period.  It was scoreless until the final 6 minutes of the game when Texas' Brett Findlay snuck one past Adam Russo on the Brahmas' power play to tie the game at 1 and eventually send it into overtime.

Wichita dropped its second game in a row on Friday night, losing 2-1 to the Texas Brahmas at the NYTEX Sports Centre. With the win, the Brahmas pull even in the series as both teams have won in their own buildings. Texas took advantage of a five-minute power play and scored the first goal of the game eight minutes in. After Chris Greene was called for charging Brahmas starter Brad Fogal, Erik Spady scored from the right face-off circle and gave Texas a 1-0 lead. With 4:30 remaining in the first, Daniel Tetrault made a nice move around a defender and found Thomas Beauregard (4)

The Wichita Thunder defeated Rio Grande Valley 6-2 on Saturday night at Intrust Bank Arena to win the opening round of the CHL playoffs and advance to the conference finals.  This is the first playoff series win for Wichita since the 2004-05 season. It was a physical matchup early in this game as there were 11 total penalties called in the first period alone.  Wichita trailed 1-0 early when captain Daniel Tetrault connected on a slap-shot to tied the game at 1.  That was the first power-play goal scored by Wichita in the playoffs making them just 1-17 on power plays in the post-season.

Wichita held onto home-ice advantage, coming back to defeat the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 2-1 and now lead the best-of-seven series two games to none. Chris Greene and Chris Chappell each had two points and Dustin Donaghy scored his first playoff goal of his career. Wichita had trouble staying out of the penalty box in the first period, giving Rio Grande Valley three chances with the man advantage. Tomas Klempa cashed in with 2:37 left, scoring in close and gave the Killer Bees a 1-0 lead for the second-straight game in the series.

RG Flath recorded his first post-season hat trick and Thomas Beauregard added three assists to pace Wichita past Rio Grande Valley, 4-2. Wichita leads the best-of-seven-series 1-0 with Game two taking place on Sunday afternoon. Rio Grande Valley struck first with a power play goal at 13:45 of the first period. Chris Greene was called for tripping and the Bees capitalized as Mike Wilson's blast was tipped by Brandon Campos past Adam Russo to make it 1-0. Wichita seemed to have the upper-hand, outshooting the Bees 10-1 at one point and delivered a multitude of hits along the boards.

Wichita (44-18-3) closed out its regular season home schedule Saturday night, losing 3-1 to the Evansville IceMen (40-21-4) at INTRUST Bank Arena. Evansville won both games in Wichita and tied the season-series at three games a piece. Matt Robinson (34) scored the lone-goal in the first period. Chris Chappell got to a loose puck on a dump-in and found Robinson on the near post to make it 1-0 at 9:16. In the second period, the IceMen scored twice to take its first lead of the game.

The Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League announced Thursday they have made several roster moves in preparation for an important weekend. Defenseman Andrew Martens has been returned to Wichita after playing in 12 games for Oklahoma City of the AHL. Wichita has also made a trade with the Dayton Gems, receiving goaltender Bryan Hogan for future considerations. To make room for Hogan, Wichita has released goaltender Scott Darling. Martens was called-up to Oklahoma City of the AHL on December 28th, the same day he was named as a starter to the 2012 CHL All-Star Game.

Texas (18-14-7) jumped out to a two-goal lead and never trailed, beating Wichita (24-10-2) 5-2 at the NYTEX Sports Centre Saturday night. Wichita cut the lead twice to one, but was unable to get the equalizer and Texas stopped its four-game losing skid to Wichita. Texas scored twice in the first six minutes of the game, getting the first one at 3:57 from Calin Wild to make it 1-0. Ross Rouleau made it 2-0 with a wrist shot over Thunder goaltender Scott Darling at 6:27. Wichita was limited to just two shots on net. Beauregard (19)

Dustin Donaghy scored twice and Chris Chappell added his third of the season, but Wichita (22-9-2) was unable to overcome Rapid City (19-12-2) as the Rush won 5-3 on Saturday night at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Wichita is 3-1-0 against the Rush this season and remains in first place by one point in the Berry Conference. Dustin Donaghy (1) got things going for Wichita at the 5:46 of the first period when he tipped home a Daniel Tetrault feed. Rapid City tied the game at one when they broke in on an odd-man rush and Scott Wray tied it at 10:11.