Airdrie Thunder

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Airdrie Thunder

City:	Airdrie, Alberta
League:	Heritage Junior B Hockey League
Division:	Central

The Airdrie Thunder are a Junior "B" ice hockey team in the Heritage Junior B Hockey League. They are based in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada.

Division titles won: 2005

League Championships won: 1997, 2000

Alberta Provincial entries: 1997, 2000, 2005

Alberta Provincial titles: none (best finish: Silver in 2000)

Keystone Cup titles: none

Playing out of one of the HJHL's larger markets, the Thunder are perennially one of the top teams in the league. They have developed an intense rivalry with their divisional counterparts, the Okotoks Bisons. The Thunder handed the Bisons their only two losses in the 2005-06 season, while the four victories for Okotoks were the only four games the Thunder lost. The Bisons eliminated the Thunder in the league semi-finals.

The two rivals also met in the 2005 HJHL finals, with Okotoks again coming out the victors in a tough five game series. Despite losing the championship, the Thunder qualified for the Alberta Provincials, held in Calgary but failed to advance to the medal round.

Airdrie's best season to date was 1999-2000, when they captured their second league title in four years before going on to win the silver medal at the Alberta Provincial Junior B Hockey Championship, which was also hosted by the Thunder.

The Thunder are expected to once again be a top contender in 2006-07.

[edit] Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
2000-01	38	28	5	2	3	61	218	113	1st North	---
2002-03	36	27	8	0	1	55	181	100	2nd South	Lost South Division final
2004-05	40	28	11	0	1	57	238	125	3rd North	Lost final
2005-06	38	34	4	0	0	68	310	93	2nd South	Lost South Division final