Thunder

Brett Hemingway's goal in the sixth round of the shootout gave the Thunder a 3-2 win over the Rapid City Rush on Friday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. The Thunder jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, thanks to goals by Brett Hemingway and a beautiful shorthanded tally by Matt Robinson. Rapid City tied things up in the second on power play goals by Shawn Limpright and Les Reaney. The teams played scoreless hockey through the third period and overtime, setting up the shootout. In the shootout the Thunder led 1-0 on a goal by Robinson, before Collin Circelli tied it up again on Rapid City's last attempt.

The Wichita Thunder has officially clinched a berth in the 2011 Central Hockey League playoffs. By virtue of the Evansville IceMen's 5-1 loss to the Fort Wayne Komets earlier this afternoon, the Thunder has guaranteed at least an eighth place finish in the Turner Conference. It is the Thunder's first playoff berth since the 2006-07 season, and 10th overall in franchise history.  With 11 games remaining on their regular season schedule, Wichita will now focus on earning its highest possible seed for the tournament.

The Wichita Thunder won 3-0 over the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs at the Century Tel Center on Tuesday night. Marc-Antoine Gelinas set a new Thunder single-season record with his fourth shutout of the year.  Gelinas stopped all 36 Mudbugs' shots, including a staggering 21 in the final period. Gelinas made several brilliant saves from close range throughout the game, and was helped by a number of defensive plays in a third period that saw Wichita get outshot 21-0. Aaron Davis put Wichita in front 1-0 with a shorthanded goal at the 5:14 mark in the first.

The Wichita Thunder signed goaltender Peter Delmas to a five-game contract on Tuesday. Delmas (pronounced DELL-mah) appeared in two AHL games this season with the Hamilton Bulldogs, saving 56 of a combined 60 shots (.933).  On October 29th, the Bedford, Nova Scotia native earned his first professional victory, saving 32 of 33 versus Toronto.  Delmas also appeared in two games at the Major Junior level this season for the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads. Delmas is a former second round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2008.

The Wichita Thunder lost 4-1 to the Allen Americans at the Allen Event Center on Saturday night. Allen cracked a scoreless tie at 18:23 in the first on the power play.  Colton Yellow Horn carried the puck in front of the crease and made a backdoor pass that deflected off of Nino Musitelli's skate and into the net.  After the officials reviewed the call, the goal was allowed to stand. After Brian McMillan's goal at 4:35 in the second gave Allen a 2-0 lead, Bobby Hughes responded 32 seconds later to bring the Thunder back within one.  Hughes led a two-on-one rush into the slot and scored on a snapshot past the right of Americans' goaltender Chris Whitley.

The Wichita Thunder added muscle to their lineup on Thursday, signing defensemen Ryan Hand and Peter Stevens, as well as right wing Adam Knight. Hand split time in the ECHL last season with Utah and Reading, totaling 80 PIM in only 26 games played.  The 25-year old spent 2008-09 in the CHL with Laredo and Rapid City, posting 125 PIM in 38 contests.  A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Hand played four years in the Major Juniors with the QMJHL's Baie-Comeau Drakkar from 2002-2006.  The six-foot one scrapper collected 642 PIM in 152 career games at the junior level.

The Wichita Thunder lost 6-2 to the Odessa Jackalopes at the Ector County Coliseum on Thursday night. Leading 3-2, Odessa scored three times in the third period to take control of the game.  Mike Ramsay scored twice in the period, including a goal 11 seconds into the frame to give Odessa a 4-2 advantage.  After Sebastien Thinel scored his second of the night at 12:07, Ramsay found the back of the net again at 13:25 for the game's final goal. The teams traded goals during a fast-paced second.

The Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League announced Friday the signing of defenseman Francis Trudel. The Drummondville, PQ native is a former teammate of Alex Bourret and will be in the line-up this weekend. Trudel (5'11", 195-lbs) began the season with the Sheffield Steelers of the British Elite League. The 29-year old is in his fourth season as a professional, having played two years in Norway and a season in Italy. Prior to turning pro, he spent four seasons of college hockey at the University of Moncton from 2004-08 and recording 64 points in 122 games.

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.

Matt Summers scored a goal in each period and Thomas Beauregard tallied the game winner with three minutes left to give Wichita (20-8-1) a 7-5 win against the Evansville IceMen (15-9-2)at the Ford Center Saturday night. Nick Schneider scored the first goal at 9:46 to give Evansville a 1-0 lead. Matt Summers (10) answered for the Thunder to tie the game at one just 30 seconds later. The Icemen regained the lead with a pair of power play goals, the first coming from Brian Bicek at 11:26 to make it 2-1. Todd Robinson added another one for Evansville on the man advantage two minutes later to make it 3-1. Thomas Beauregard (14)

In one of the most exciting CHL Finals in recent history, Wichita (11-4) fell at the hands of the Allen Americans (12-7) in Game 7 by the final of 3-2 in overtime. Todd Robinson's goal just under three minutes into the extra session ended the game, giving the Americans their first CHL Title. RG Flath recorded a pair of goals in the loss for the Thunder. Allen takes the series four games to three and improves to 4-0 in Game 7's. The game began with a fever pitch as the two teams battled hard through the first five minutes.

The 2013 Ray Miron Presidents' Cup could fall into the hands of the Allen Americans tonight. Allen is coming off a dominant 5-1 win in Game 5 and could earn its first CHL title with a win in Wichita tonight. Wichita is coming off back-to-back losses and in both games they had the lead after one period with 1-0 leads. This match up is the Thunder's first elimination game of the post-season. Tonight marks the 10th Game 6 in CHL Finals history and in those games, the home team is 7-2.  Four times the team up 3-2 won the game thus winning the Cup. Wichita's Chad Painchaud has a goal and two assists during his current three-game point streak and has four goals and seven assists in the post-season.

With their backs against the wall, Wichita (11-3) responded with a Game 6 victory at INTRUST Bank Arena Saturday night, defeating the Allen Americans (11-7) by the final of 3-2 and forcing a decisive Game 7 tomorrow night in Allen. Three different Thunder players found the back of the net in the first period and Torrie Jung won his 11th game of the post-season. Wichita will play in just its fourth Game 7 all-time and its first since the 2004-05 Northern Conference Semifinals against Bossier-Shreveport.

Who was the New York home who voted for the Knicks Carmelo Anthony as the NBA's Most Valuable Player? Anthony would have voted for LeBron making him the first unanimous MVP in National Basketball League history. The guy helped spur his team to a 27 game winning streak and the best record in the NBA for goodness sakes - I can't stand guys who are contrarian just for the sake of being contrary. Thunder rolls--- Memphis only turned it over 11 times, but they coughed it up twice in the final 0:45 to fall to Oklahoma City by two points.

Brian McMillin broke a tie game three minutes into the third period to help pull the Allen Americans (10-6) even in the CHL Finals, winning Game 4 on Sunday afternoon over Wichita (10-2) by the final of 2-1 at INTRUST Bank Arena. Matt Summers scored the lone Thunder goal, his first since Game 2 of the Fort Worth series. The Finals will shift to Allen on Tuesday night tied at two games apiece.  There was a feeling out process at the start of Game 4 as both teams were a little bit more defensive-minded.

Greger Hanson and RG Flath paced Wichita (10-1), recording points on the first three Thunder goals en route to a 5-2 victory in Game 3 of the CHL Finals on Saturday night over the Allen Americans (9-6) at INTRUST Bank Arena. Hanson and Flath had three points each while Torrie Jung earned his 10th win of the post-season. Wichita takes a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 tomorrow afternoon in Wichita. For the second time in the series, Wichita jumped out to a 2-0 lead, scoring twice in the opening period.

Wichita (9-1) dropped its first game of the post-season on Thursday night, losing Game 2 of the CHL Finals 5-2 at the hands of the Allen Americans (9-5) at the Allen Event Center. The series is even at one as the two teams will head to Wichita for the next two. RG Flath and Nathan Lutz scored for the Thunder while Torrie Jung suffered his first loss of the post-season. The two teams combined for 164 minutes in penalties and 52 infractions. Game 3 will take place on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. at INTRUST Bank Arena.  The intensity didn't let up at the start of the first period as both teams came out at a frantic pace.

The Wichita Thunder beat the Allen Americans 4-1 on Tuesday night, taking a 1-0 series advantage in the CHL Finals.  Todd Griffith, active for just his third playoff game for Wichita, scored the first two goals of the game as Wichita went up 2-0 after two periods. Allen scored in the third to cut the Thunder lead to 1, but just a few seconds later R.G. Flath connected on a slap-shot to the top shelf to give Wichita a 3-1 advantage.  Chad Painchaud went top shelf himself a few minutes later to give Wichita the commanding 4-1 advantage.

Please excuse my inconsistency in blogging last week -- I was moving, which on the scale of desirablitiy falls a couple of spots behind a colonoscopy. Non-sports observation--- Is it just me or did the Boston Marathon bombing story almost completely block out the tragic events in West, Texas? Both of them were shockingly dramatic and profoundly sad, you wish neither had happened - but it was interesting to see how the national media prioritized the stories. Mixed reviews--- The steeper banked track at Kansas Motor Speedway didn't seem to impress the field yesterday, many of them saying that a second groove for racing didn't start to develop until late in the race.

During this post-season run, Wichita (8-0) has been dominant in the third period and that played out in Game 4. Ian Lowe broke a tie game in the final frame with a power play goal and Chad Painchaud iced it with an empty-netter to give the Thunder a 3-1 win and sweep of the Fort Worth Brahmas (4-5) on Saturday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre. The Thunder ties a league-high eight-straight wins, earning sweeps in both of its playoff series and advances to its second-straight CHL Finals.