Milton Keynes Thunder

DFC Milton Keynes Thunder
DFC Milton Keynes Thunder
	File:MK Thunder Logo.jpg
City	Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
League	NIHL South Division 1
Founded	2001
Home arena	The Thunderdome; (capacity: 2200)
Colors	White, blue and silver ;
Head coach	Lewis Clifford
Captain	Jamie Randall
Affiliate	Milton Keynes Lightning
Championships
Regular season titles	N/A
Playoff championships	N/A

The DFC Milton Keynes Thunder are an ice hockey team from Milton Keynes, England and are the second highest performing team in the town behind Milton Keynes Lightning.

They currently play in the NIHL South Division 1.

As well as being the official affiliates to Milton Keynes Lightning, the team is committed to youth development with practically all players coming from the Milton Keynes junior ice hockey system.

Current staff

Milton Keynes Thunder staff
Executive Operations Chairman – Ian Cook Ownership – Dave Fairhurst Official photographer – Claire Stanton Match night announcer – Fiona Heron Match night music – Ben Cook	Hockey Operations General Manager – Dave Fairhurst Head Coach – Lewis Clifford Assistant Coach – Andy Watt Strength & Conditioning Coach – Tom Smith Goaltending Coach – Mark Woolf Player's Assistant – Tom Smith Equipment Manager – Tom Smith Team Trainer – Nefra Germain Dietician/Nutritionist – Tom Smith

2010–11 roster

Goaltenders
Number	Player	Catches	Place of birth
1	Mark Woolf	L	London, England
31	Jake Scriven	L	Luton, England
Defencemen
Number	Player	Shoots	Place of birth
3	Paul Gore	R	Luton, England
9	Matt Roberts	R	England
13	Nidal Phillips	R	Milton Keynes, England
16	Simon Howard	R	London, England
22	Sam Fairhurst	R	England
24	David Coffey	R	Scotland
29	Aidan Mahmud	R	London, England
55	Lee Featherstone	L	England
Forwards
Number	Player	Shoots	Place of birth
2	Aram Todd	R	England
5	Jamie Line	R	Toddington^{[disambiguation needed]}, England
10	Kieron Goody	R	England
12	Lewis Clifford	R	Bletchley, England
14	Paul Jamieson	R	England
19	Jamie Randall	R	England
20	Martin Snape	L	England
28	Tom Mboya	R	England
47	Michael Lucas	R	England
61	Ross Bowers	R	Luton, England
81	Harrison Goode	L	England
82	Connor Goode	L	England
97	Dan Chaplen	R	Luton, England

Overseas players

Thunder have only had three non-EIHA (overseas) players since the team's inception. Slovakian defenceman Ivan Turan become the first import in team history after wishing to remain in the Milton Keynes area following his release the previous season from EPL affiliate Milton Keynes Lightning. Donations from fans enabled Thunder to pay the costly ITC card needed to sign Turan and he made his debut at the beginning of the 2006–07 season. Also signed in 2006–07 was local Canadian Todd Bakergeorge who had spent previous seasons playing with local recreational side Milton Keynes Jesters. For the 2007–08 season Bakergeorge was replaced by Pavol Hudak, who like Turan is of Slovakian origin. Turan and Hudak both departed the club during the summer of 2008, being replaced by sloviakan defenceman Kristian Simo who signed from ENL rivals Peterborough Islanders and Michal Lauko

Jerseys

At the end of the 2005–06 season the club's original jersey's were auctioned off to fund new designs for the 2006–07 season. The jersey features yellow letters and numbers on the rear with the word "thunder" printed across the bottom, with yellow numbers on both sleeves with a small thunder logo shoulder patch. Traditionally the white jersey is worn for home games, the black jersey for road games, however there have been occasions when this jersey has been worn for home fixtures due to colour clashes with visiting teams. For the 2008/9 season the team will sport new uniforms, with the designs similar to previous years with a new secondary colour of sky blue.

History

Season-by-season record

Last 5 seasons, league stats only

Records as of 19 May 2008.

Season	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
2003–04	16	9	5	2	20	62	42	3rd, ENL South	1st Round
2004–05	18	7	7	4	18	51	66	5th, ENL South	Did not qualify
2005–06	20	8	8	4	20	84	74	6th, ENL South	Did not qualify
2006–07	22	5	13	4	14	79	99	9th, ENL South	Did not qualify
2007–08	16	9	5	2	20	67	50	4th, ENL South A	Did not qualify
2008–09	28	7	16	5	19	73	114	7th, ENL South 1	Did not qualify – defeated Vectis Tigers 12–7 on aggregate in Promotion/Relegation playoff
2009–10	36	6	27	3	15	107	228	8th, ENL South 1	Did not qualify

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

Team captains

Paul Gore, 2001–2004
Michael Knights, 2004–2007
James Roberts, 2007–08
Jamie Randall, 2008–present

Coaching staff

Head coaches

2001–2003 – Mark Johnson
2003–2008 – Michael Knights
2008–2009 – Paul Gore
2009–present – Lewis Clifford

Assistant coaches

2001–2004 – Chris Anderson
2001–2004 – Jimmy Ryan
2004–2008 – Paul Gore
2008–present – Lewis Clifford

Bench coaches

2001–2004 – Davey Phillips
2004–2005 – Andy Linton
2005–2006 – Dave Fairhurst
2006–2007 – Phil Wooderson
2007–2009 – Matt Roberts
2009–present – Andy Watt

Scoring leaders

These are the end of season scoring leaders for the past 4 seasons, including league, cup and playoff games. Previous season scoring records are unknown.

Points
Season	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
2004–05	Michael Knights	D	19	7	14	21	1.10
2005–06	Michael Knights	D	20	15	18	33	1.65
2006–07	Tom Hurley	LW	13	16	8	24	1.85
2007–08	Dan Chaplen*	RW	13	9	12	21	1.61
2008–09	Michal Lauko	RW	19	11	13	24	1.26
2009–10	Michael Knights	D	22	10	15	25	1.14

Goals
Player	Pos	GP	G	G/G
Ben White	C	21	9	0.42
Michael Knights	D	20	15	0.75
Tom Hurley	LW	13	16	1.23
Tom Roles	RW	23	14	0.60
Michal Lauko	RW	19	11	0.58
Jamie Holland	C	23	17	0.74

Assists
Player	Pos	GP	A	A/G
James Roberts	RW	18	15	0.83
Michael Knights	D	20	18	0.90
Mark Krater	RW	21	11	0.52
Keiron Goody*	C	24	14	0.58
Tom Roles	RW	26	14	0.54
Michael Knights	D	22	15	0.68

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; G/G = Goals per game; A/G = Assists per game; * = current Thunder player

Link with MK Lightning

Since the club's inception in 2001, MK Thunder have looked to allow players the opportunity to play at a higher level. In 2002 the city was to be the birthplace of a new English Premier League team named the Milton Keynes Lightning. A partnership was formed whereby players from the Thunder would be given the opportunity to progress onto training and playing for the higher league club to further their careers. To date this partnership has seen many players play on a 2 way contract (playing for both clubs when there are not fixture clashes) along with several progressing into earning full time contracts with the Lightning. The link has worked in the other direction also, with players from the higher team icing for the Thunder on rehab assignments or to play full time with the Thunder when the demands of EPL ice hockey were no longer possible alongside their other commitments. To date the following players have benefited from this link up and have progressed from the ENL with Thunder to playing, part or full time, with the EPL Lightning.

Allen Sutton
Paul Jamieson
Leigh Jamieson
Mark Conway
Mark Krater
Lee Featherstone
Ross Bowers
Aram Todd
Keiron Goody
Paul Gore
Ivan Turan
Michael Knights
Lewis Clifford
Iain McGill
Alexander Parris
Tom Ledgard
Carl Stevenson
Mark Woolf
Tom Hurley
Jacob Heron
Ross Green
David Coffey
Andy Moore
Aidan Mahmud
Jamie Line
Bari McKenzie
Tom Roles
Kim Taylor

External links