Bloomington PrairieThunder

Bloomington PrairieThunder
City Bloomington, Illinois, United States
League UHL/IHL (2006–2010)
CHL (2010–2011)
Conference Turner
Founded 2006
Home arena U.S. Cellular Coliseum
Colors Blue, gold, silver, white
                   
Owner(s) Tim Leighton
General manager Jim Riggs
Head coach Jason Christie
Captain Jon Booras
Media WJBC-FM (93.7 FM)
Franchise history
2006–2011 Bloomington PrairieThunder
Inaugural home opener (10/14/2006)

The Bloomington PrairieThunder was a minor league professional ice hockey team based in Bloomington, Illinois. They were a member of the Central Hockey League in the Turner Conference. The team was originally a member of the United Hockey League (later known as the International Hockey League) prior to its merger into the CHL in 2010. They played their home games at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

History

On September 12, 1999, John Butler and Mike Nelson, both of Bloomington, began formulating a plan to bring a minor league hockey team to Central Illinois.[1] On August 18, 2004, ground was broken for the $37-million U.S. Cellular Coliseum, the arena that would become the home of the PrairieThunder. On September 20, 2005, the United Hockey League awarded John Butler and Mike Nelson a membership to obtain a franchise.[1]

On February 1, 2006, a contest was announced to name the new hockey franchise and on February 23, 2006, the official name was announced. "PrairieThunder" refers to a train called "The Prairie Thunder" that passed through Bloomington in its early history.[1] On July 20, 2006 the PrairieThunder unveiled their new team logo which features a charging bison smashing its hooves into a sheet of ice. The team's colors are navy, silver, old gold, and white.

Season by season records

SeasonGamesWonLostOTLSOLPointsGoals
for		Goals
against		PIMStandingPlayoffs
2006-07762545— 65620128513925th, WestOut of Playoffs
2007-08763138346921025817116thOut of Playoffs
2008-09762940256523529114185thOut of Playoffs
2009-10763134567324127318645thOut of Playoffs
2010-116637227-8118818912123rd,Turner ConferenceLost in 1st Round

Accomplishments

The Bloomington PrairieThunder were featured in the April 21, 2008 edition of Sports Illustrated. This was because they set a pro hockey record for the fastest four goal spurt. It took them just 35 seconds to score 4 goals against the Flint Generals on April 5, 2008. This is faster than any level of pro hockey.

Mascot

The team held a Name the Mascot Contest, sponsored by the Bloomington Pantagraph, to find a name for the mascot. Megan Fish, a 12-year-old sixth-grader at Chiddix Junior High School, was the first of 12 individuals to submit the name Chip. The next most popular entry was “Boomer” which had seven submissions.

Chip the Buffalo made his first public appearance at the Open House and Public Scrimmage held by the PrairieThunder on Wednesday October 4, 2006, interacting with fans and signing autographs.

Chip the Buffalo at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum (10-4-2006)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "PrairieThunder team history". Bloomington PrairieThunder. Archived from the original on December 13, 2009.
  2. ↑ Bill, Shaun (December 27, 2008). "Don Parsons - 678". prohockeynews.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  3. ↑ Staff reports (January 6, 2009). "Parsons waived by PrairieThunder". prohockeynews.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Liambas joins IHL following OHL ban for injuring player". The Sports Network. December 3, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ Egenes, Mike (June 1, 2010). "Thunder in new league as IHL, CHL merge". pantagraph.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
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