Las Vegas Thunder

Las Vegas Thunder
City	Las Vegas, Nevada
League	IHL
Conference	Western
Division	Pacific; Southwest
Founded	1993
Folded	1999
Home arena	Thomas & Mack Center
Colors	Teal, black, silver, white
Owner(s)	Hank and Ken Stickney
Media	Las Vegas Review-Journal
Affiliates	Phoenix Coyotes (NHL), Knoxville Cherokees and Mississippi Sea Wolves (ECHL), and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RSL)
Franchise history
1993–1999	Las Vegas Thunder
Championships
Regular season titles	1993–94, 1995–96
Division titles	1993–94, 1995–96

The Las Vegas Thunder were a professional ice hockey team competing in the International Hockey League. The team's home rink was at the Thomas & Mack Center. They began play in the 1993–1994 season, folding on April 18, 1999. The demise of the franchise was precipitated by the refusal of UNLV officials to negotiate with team owners regarding a new agreement to continue playing at the Thomas & Mack Center after the 1998–1999 season. Without a facility that was suitable even for temporary use, the Thunder were forced to shut down.

History

The Thunder made a strong showing in their first season, finishing with the best record in the league: 115 points and a 52–18–11 record. They topped that performance in 1995–1996 when they again finished with the league's best record (122 points, 57–17–8). The Thunder lost in the conference finals that season.

Throughout the team's history they garnered player development deals with the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL, the ECHL's Knoxville Cherokees and Mississippi Sea Wolves and Russian side Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

The Thunder's main rivals included the Denver/Utah Grizzlies, Los Angeles/Long Beach Ice Dogs, San Diego Gulls, and Phoenix Roadrunners. These rivalries later saw a rebirth in the ECHL with the Las Vegas Wranglers.

The team's mascot was "Boom-Boom", a polar bear.

The franchise was replaced by:

• Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL (2003–2015)
• Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL (2017–present)

The Golden Knights later acknowledged their Thunder predecessors by basing their 2020–21 Reverse Retro jerseys off of the Thunder's "V-stripe" pattern.

Notable alumni

• Brent Ashton
• Radek Bonk
• Ilya Byakin
• Pavol Demitra
• / Paul DiPietro
• Bryan Fogarty
• Brent Gretzky
• Glen Gulutzan
• Alex Hicks
• Greg Hawgood
• Peter Ing
• Curtis Joseph
• / Andre Sioui
• Jim Kyte
• / Patrice Lefebvre
• Clint Malarchuk
• Wes McCauley
• / Petr Nedved
• Michel Petit
• Manon Rhéaume
• Pokey Reddick
• Ruslan Salei
• Alexei Yashin
• Sergei Zholtok

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, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Turner Cup Champions

Huber Trophy Champions

Division Champions

Season	Conference	Division	Regular Season								Post Season
			Finish	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	GP	W	L	GF	GA	Result
1993-94	Western	Pacific	1st	81	52	18	11	115	319	282	5	1	4	14	20	Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-4 (San Diego)
1994-95	Western	Southwest	2nd	81	46	30	5	97	328	278	10	4	6	27	35	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-1 (Atlanta) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4-1 (Milwaukee) Lost in Conference Finals 0-4 (Denver Grizzlies)
1995-96	Western	Southwest	1st	82	57	17	8	122	380	249	15	9	6	59	53	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–1 (Phoenix) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4–1 (Chicago) Lost in Conference Finals, 2-4 (Utah)
1996-97	Western	Southwest	4th	82	41	34	7	89	287	299	3	0	3	4	9	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0-3 (Houston)
1997-98	Western	Southwest	4th	82	33	39	10	76	260	305	4	1	3	9	16	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-3 (Long Beach)
1998-99	Western	Southwest	4th	82	35	39	8	78	247	307	did not qualify
Totals				490	264	177	49	.589%	1821	1720	37	15	22	113	133

Head coaches

• Butch Goring 1993–94
• Bob Strumm 1994–95
• Chris McSorley 1995–98
• Clint Malarchuk 1998–99

Honors

Division titles : 2 – 1994, 1996

Turner Cups : 0

Regular Season Titles : 2 – 1994, 1996

External links

• The Internet Hockey Database - Las Vegas Thunder