Milton Keynes Thunder

Milton Keynes Thunder
Milton Keynes Thunder
City	Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
League	NIHL
Division	Division One South
Founded	2001
Home arena	Planet Ice Arena Milton Keynes; (capacity: 2,500)
Colors	White, Black & Teal ;
General manager	Lauren Cox
Head coach	Eliott Moran
Affiliates	Milton Keynes Lightning, Milton Keynes Storm
Website	www.mkthunder.com
Championships
NIHL South BBO Cup	1 (2016–17)

The Milton Keynes Thunder are an ice hockey team from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, they are known stylistically as the Milton Keynes Rightmove Thunder for sponsorship purposes, and the team currently competes in the Britton Conference, of the National Ice Hockey League Division 1 South (the third tier of English National Ice Hockey). The team was founded in 2001 predominantly to provide competitive hockey and further development opportunities for players leaving the Milton Keynes Junior Ice Hockey system. Their home rink is the refurbished and renamed Planet Ice Arena, known locally as the Thunderdome. It has a capacity of circa 2,500.

Club history

Foundation

Founded in 2001, MK Thunder originally shared their home rink with the Milton Keynes Kings. However, the MK Kings were involved in a dispute with rink operators Planet Ice, which led to their relocation to Solihull in May 2002.^[1] The space left by the MK Kings was eventually taken by the Milton Keynes Lightning which was formed in 2002.

Position in the Milton Keynes Ice Hockey structure

As the second most senior ice hockey club in Milton Keynes, the MK Thunder have always played in the National Ice Hockey League South Division 1 or its former incarnations (English National League South, English National League South A and English National League South 1). It has been used as a vehicle to further develop Milton Keynes based players and has been a 'feeder' club for the senior hockey club Milton Keynes Lightning. The teams iced by the club have been dominated by local players, supplemented by the occasional import (league rules restrict the use of import players to just two, compared to five in the defunct old second tier EPIHL and eleven in the first tier EIHL). The club also has links with the junior system and provides development opportunities for junior players at the Milton Keynes Storm Club.

Arena redevelopment

In March 2013, Milton Keynes Council approved plans to redevelop the Leisure Plaza after failed attempts in 2006 and 2011. The development of the arena was funded by Morrisons Supermarkets and took 17 months to complete. This forced Thunder to play their home games at a temporary rink sited within the Milton Keynes City Centre in a building vacated by the Supermarket Waitrose. The rink and the MK ICE charity established to operate it was organised by the team's owner and the then general manager, David Fairhurst. The team returned to the redeveloped rink which had been renamed the "MK Arena" in October 2014.

Club honours

NIHL League: 0
NIHL Playoffs: 0
NIHL BBO Cup: 1 2016-17

The Milton Keynes Thunder lifted their first silverware when they secured the NIHL South BBO Cup in the 2016-17 season.

Club roster 2022-23

Netminders
No.	Nat.	Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
31		Craig Bradfield			England	2021 from Free Agent
34		Vincent Bennett-Graziano	R	(2005-08-14) 14 August 2005	England	2021 from Peterborough Phantoms

Defencemen
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
2		Alex Whyte	L	(1996-07-23) 23 July 1996	Peterborough, England	2014 from Peterborough Phantoms
4		Samson James	L	(2000-08-30) 30 August 2000	Coventry, England	2021 from New Jersey Renegades (USA)
5		Oliver Knaggs	L	(2005-11-04) 4 November 2005	Watford, England	2021 from Milton Keynes Storm
13		Evan Smyth		(1988-08-13) 13 August 1988	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	2021 from Free Agent
14		Callum Burr	R	2003 (age 19)	England	2021 from Free Agent
36		Daniel Tamasauskas	L	(1999-07-01) 1 July 1999	Lithuania	2021 from Lee Valley Lions
59		Charlie Ottowell		2003 (age 19)	England	2022 from Free Agent
72		Daniel Angell		1998 (age 24)	England	2021 from Free Agent

Forwards
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired
6		Cole McCluskey	R	{2005 (age 17)	England	2021 from Milton Keynes Storm
9		Nathan Darmanin	R	(1993-03-06) 6 March 1993	Slough, England	2021 from Chelmsford Chieftains
10		Cassius McCormack	R	2005 (age 17)	England	2021 from Milton Keynes Storm
12		Oliver Harris	R	(1999-05-05) 5 May 1999	Coventry, England	2021 from Free Agent
15		Iain Peters	L	(2000-11-21) 21 November 2000	Charleston, South Carolina, USA	2022 from Coventry Blaze NIHL
18		Aidan McGurk		(2004-02-14) 14 February 2004	England	2022 from Oxford City Stars
23		Tom Carlon	R	(1987-02-18) 18 February 1987	Telford, England	2021 from Milton Keynes Lightning
45		Hayden Hagger	R		Luton, England	2021 from Free Agent
73		Gareth O’Flaherty	R	(1990-01-18) 18 January 1990	Camberley, England	2021 from Peterborough Phantoms
81		Harrison Goode	L	(1990-12-15) 15 December 1990	Luton, England	2019 from Free Agent
82		Connor Goode	R	(1993-11-02) 2 November 1993	Luton, England	2021 from Free Agent
96		Alastair Barrow	R	(1991-12-23) 23 December 1991	England	2022 from Free Agent