Tri-City Storm

Tri-City Storm
File:Tricitylogo.png
City	Kearney, Nebraska
League	USHL
Division	West
Founded	1979
Home arena	Viaero Event Center
Colors	Purple, Black and Silver
Owner(s)	Kirk W. Brooks
Head coach	Bill Muckalt
Media	Grand Island Independent , KHGI-TV, KSNB-TV, Kearney Hub
Franchise history
1979–1984	Bloomington Jr. Stars
1985–1986	Minneapolis Stars
1986–1995	St. Paul Vulcans
1995–2000	Twin Cities Vulcans
2000–present	Tri-City Storm
Championships
Regular season titles	1
Division titles	1
Playoff championships	1

The Tri-City Storm is a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team playing in the West Division of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

History

The Storm have been Kearney, Nebraska's franchise in the USHL since 2000. The 2003-04 regular season was the best in the team's 13-year history, as Tri-City went 43-12-5, finishing in first place and winning the Anderson Cup with 91 points.

1999

May 15, 1999 - The USHL voted 100 percent to allow then Omaha Lancers' owner, Ted Baer, to place a new team in Kearney. In June, Jim Hillman was named the team's first head coach.

2000-01

Sept. 30, 2000 - The Tri-City Storm win their first game in franchise history.

Nov. 18, 2000 - Following eight months of construction, the $10.5 million, 5,000-seat Tri-City Arena opens when the Tri-City Storm plays its first home game against Des Moines.

The Storm were named USHL Organization of the Year in their first year of operation.

2001-02

The Storm narrowly missed the playoffs. Konrad Reeder and Patrick Borgestad represented the team in the USHL All-Star game.

2002-03

Dec. 20, 2002 - In the midst of a 10-game losing streak, Storm coach and GM Jim Hillman steps down.

Jan. 19, 2003 - Former Topeka coach Bliss Littler becomes the teams' new head coach and GM.

The Storm rallied to make the playoffs with a seven-game win streak down the stretch.

2003-04

The team won the league's Anderson Cup, finishing with a record of 43-12-5 and 91 points.

The USHL named Tri-City Organization of the Year for the second time.

2004-05

The Storm celebrated their fifth-year anniversary, making a deep run in the playoffs and reaching the Clark Cup semifinals for the second consecutive season.

2005-06

Tri-City beat out Sioux City for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, finishing with a 28-23-9 record. However, they dropped their opening round playoff series three games to two.

2006-07

May 3, 2006 - Ted Baer sells the Tri-City Storm to Joel Wiens, ending seven years of ownership.

The Storm finished the regular season with 78 points, good for second place in the Western Conference. They then won an exciting seven-game series against conference foe Sioux City, but were knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual Clark Cup champions, the Sioux Falls Stampede.

2007-08

Tri-City misses the playoffs for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

After the season, head coach and GM Bliss Littler resigns to accept the head coaching position with the Omaha Lancers.

2008-09

Owner Joel Wiens promotes assistant coach Tom Rudrud to head coach.

The Storm suffered a major setback on the ice, winning just 11 out of 60 games.

In April 2009, Wiens sold the arena and team to Las Vegas businessman Kirk Brooks.

Brooks later announced that Drew Schoneck would replace Tom Rudrud as head coach.

2009-10

Led by standout forward Jaden Schwartz, the Storm finished in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 29-25-6 record.

2010-11

Things took a turn for the worse as the Storm dropped to the basement of the Western Conference standings.

2011-12

After a slow start, owner Kirk Brooks relieved head coach Drew Schoneck of his duties and promoted assistant coach Josh Hauge.

Hauge's group rallied late in the season and despite the poor start, the Storm were able to clinch a playoff spot, finishing in sixth in the Western Conference. Tri-City was defeated by the Waterloo Black Hawks in the first round of the postseason.

2012-13

In Hauge's first full season behind the bench, injuries plagued Tri-City and the team was unable to reach their high expectations. Captain Brian Ward had a strong season offensively, scoring 54 points in just 42 games. Michael Vecchione led the team with 26 goals.

2013-14

Owner Kirk Brooks relieved Josh Hauge of his duties and hired Jim Hulton.

2014-15

Tri-City's Chris Wilkie scores 35 goals, tying Rastislav Spirko (2003-04) for the Storm's single-season record. The Storm finishes second in the Western Conference and sweeps the Omaha Lancers, 3-games-to-0, in the first round. Sioux Falls, led by USHL Rookie of the Year Kieffer Bellows, beats the Storm, 3-games-to-1, in the Western Conference Finals. The Herd wins games 2, 3, 4 and goes on to defeat the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the Clark Cup Finals. Some Storm fans allege the series turns before Game 2 is even played. With the Storm leading the best-of-five, 1-game-to-0, an ice maintenance worker accidentally drills a hole in a pipe on the day of game 2, causing water to burst on the ice. Game 2 is postponed from Saturday, April 25, 2015 to Wednesday, April 29, 2015. The five-day break allows Sioux Falls to recover from a loss the night before (Friday, April 24). Before its series against the Storm, Sioux Falls had just completed a grueling, five-game series against the Sioux City Musketeers on Tuesday, April 21, while the Storm had off since Saturday, April 18 after sweeping Omaha.

2015-16

Head coach and general manager Jim Hulton is relieved of his duties in the 2015 offseason. Bill Muckalt is hired as the team's new Head Coach following a four-year stint as Assistant Coach at Michigan Tech. The team starts 3-0-0-0, its best start since 2003-04, when the Storm won its first four games. The Storm goes on a team-record 13-game point streak from February 6 - March 19. Tri-City wins the Western Conference for the first time since 2003-04. The Storm finishes with 73 points, 28-15-10-7. Twenty of the Storm's 60 games go to overtime, and the Storm loses 17 of them (10 in overtime), the Tier I USHL record for most losses past regulation. The Storm takes just 726 penalty minutes, fewest in the USHL and Storm history. Goaltender Jake Kielly sets the Storm's single-season record for best save percentage (.919) and goes on a 19-game point streak during the middle of the season. Mattias Goransson finishes regular season with 34 assists, the Storm defensemen record. Carson Meyer finishes with 32 goals, the fifth-best Storm single season. Third-year defenseman Tory Dello is Captain. Mattias Goransson, Jake Wahlin and Dan Labosky are assistants. The Storm win the Clark Cup for the first time in franchise history.

Alumni

Notable former players who have continue to play professionally include Jaden Schwartz, Jarod Palmer, Scott Parse, Christian Hanson, Jack Hillen and Bill Thomas.

Thomas and Konrad Reeder are tied for the most goals in team history, each scoring 60 during their careers in Kearney. Mario Lamoureux, who played four seasons for the Storm, has the all-time assists record with 85.

Schwartz, who played for the Storm during the 2009-10 season, owns most of the team's single season records including assists (50), points (83), power play goals (16), power play assists (22), power play points (38), shorthanded points (8), multi-point games (24), consecutive multi-point games (6) and total shots on goal (242).

Season-by-season record

United States Hockey League

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	GF	Finish
2000–01	56	27	21	8	62	191	5th – West
2001–02	61	27	30	4	58	182	9th – Overall
2002–03	60	27	28	5	59	183	5th – West
2003–04	60	43	12	5	91	225	1st – West
2004–05	60	33	21	6	72	189	4th – West
2005–06	60	28	23	9	65	166	4th – West
2006–07	60	36	18	6	78	203	2nd – West
2007–08	60	24	34	2	50	153	5th – West
2008–09	60	11	48	1	23	140	6th – West
2009–10	60	29	25	6	64	172	4th – West
2010–11	60	19	30	11	49	137	8th – West
2011–12	56	25	31	0	50	157	6th – West
2012-13	64	22	35	7	51	189	8th of 8, West 14th of 16 league	did not qualify for playoffs
2013-14	60	21	35	4	46	153	7th of 8, West 14th of 16 league	did not qualify for playoffs

Roster

As of April 10, 2016.

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Coaches

• Head Coach: Bill Muckalt
• Assistant Coaches: Taylor Nelson, Ben Gordon
• President of Hockey Operations: Steve Lowe
  • Athletic Trainer: Colt Graf
• Equipment Manager: Dan Bouska

External links

• Tri-City Storm
• United States Hockey League
• Unofficial Tri-City Storm message board