Thunder set for season opener
New head coach Alex Loh ready for 2018-19 season
GLENSFALLS, N.Y. >> Alex Loh, the Adirondack Thunder’s new coach, values camaraderie, character and team unity more than individual talent.
Those are the traits he looked for when signing players to this year’s club whose 2018-19 season gets under way Saturday at Maine, followed by back-to-back games next Tuesday and Wednesday at Newfoundland.
The Thunder, after winning their second straight North Division title last year, advanced all the way to the ECHL’s Eastern Conference Finals before losing a hard-fought series to Florida.
“We’ve got a great group of guys,” Loh said. “That carries you further than just pure talent. If guys are willing to play with and for each other, they’ll get farther than just a bunch of talented guys that don’t really care a whole lot.”
“I’m not going to totally redo everything because at the end of the day we were one of the final four teams,” he said. “So you don’t want to change too much.”
The Thunder’s home opener is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20 against Brampton.
Loh, in his first year as a pro head coach, succeeds Brad Tapper, now an assistant coach at Grand Rapids in the AHL.
Loh paid his dues during three years at Adirondack, the first two under former head coach Cail MacLean.
“Cail and Brad really created a winning program, which has made it a destination for players to want to come here,” he said. “Cail’s practice plans were so detailed. We kept a running diary every day of what we did, so we knew in case we needed to go back and reference it.”
“Brad followed up on that and added passion,” Loh said. “He was a bit
more emotional than Cail and myself. I think you need that, especially at this level, as it can be a bit of a grind with the schedule. So you need to bring that passion and energy every day.”
Now Loh wants to build on those successes by adding his own in- depth knowledge and experience to the team.
His path to becoming a head coach is somewhat unique in that he never played at the pro level. He developed a love for the game while growing up in Morrisville, Vt., and playing high school hockey in nearby Stowe.
Loh earned a degree in bio- organic chemistry from McGill University in Montreal, with plans of entering the pharmaceutical field. But he graduated in 2008, just when the economy was headed for a major downturn, and there weren’t many good job offerings available.
So Loh returned home and followed his passion as a Stowe High School hockey coach. “I was assistant for two years and head coach for two years,”
he said. “Then I went to Colby College in Maine for a year as an assistant.”
His entry to the pro ranks came at Portland, Me., in the AHL, where he was the team’s video coach for three years. When an opportunity opened at Adirondack, he quickly jumped at it.
“I love the game, I love being able to work with players and being able to teach and coach,” Loh said. “That passion, plus support from a lot of people have gotten me where I am right now.”
About one-third of the roster is comprised of returning players such as veterans James Henry, Brian Ward and Peter MacArthur, of Clifton Park, who was Adirondack’s captain two years ago. He comes back to the Thunder after spending last year with the Allen Americans.
Adirondack is the Double-A affiliate of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and their AHL team, the Binghamton Devils. On Tuesday, goaltender Colton Phinney was sent to the Thunder from Bingham-
ton. The 25-year- old netminder spent most of last year with the ECHL’s Jacksonville IceMen. He also appeared in one game each for the Indy Fuel and the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
To start the season, Phinney is sharing goaltending duties with Alex Sakellaropoulos, a freshman member of Union College’s 2014 NCAA national championship team. As a senior, two years ago, he posted a stellar 22- 6-2 record and 2.60 goals against average.
The Thunder’s first two opponents, Maine and Newfoundland, are both new to the ECHL’s North Division, which also includes Brampton, Reading, Manchester and Worcester.
Loh isn’t worried about opening the season with a long road trip, which quite often is a good way for players to start gelling as a team
“That will be a good way to get all the boys together,” he said. “It’s a really good group of team players. I think they’re going to come together really well.”