First-place Thunder host Manchester
By Paul Post GLENS FALLS, N.Y. >> Naysayers said the ECHL wouldn’t catch on in Glens Falls, that fans wouldn’t turn out for “Double A” hockey after having AHL teams, one step below the NHL, for so many years.
They should have been there Saturday, with 5,028 people on hand, as the Thunder moved one step closer to clinching a North Division championship.
It was the second 5,000plus crowd the Civic Center has seen the past couple weeks. Winning will do that. So does effort, heart and refusing to quit regardless of the score. The Thunder have staged a series of dramatic comebacks during their second-half move up the standings.
Aside from the sheer entertainment value, there’s something about the team’s spirit its followers have embraced, and vice versa.
Tonight the Thunder can put an iron-clad grip on first place with a victory, at home, against Manchester, which might turn out to be a preview of the first round of playoff action. Face-off is at 7 p.m. Adirondack’s long-suffering fans haven’t celebrated a championship of any kind since 2001, when the IceHawks captured a United Hockey League division title. There hasn’t been a league championship in 25 years — 1992 is the last time the Red Wings won a Calder Cup.
When the UHL’s Frostbite ceased play, Glens Falls was without hockey for three long winters and many thought it would never return.
Then the AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms came to Adirondack for what was supposed to be two or three years, until their new arena in Allentown was built. It ended up being five miserable seasons of mediocrity. The Phantoms never reached the postseason and played an uninspiring brand of hockey without much talent on the ice.
Next came the AHL’s Flames (2014-15), affiliated with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
They, too, missed the playoffs, but the organization was much better run. When the season ended, they moved to Stockton, Ca., trading cities with Calgary’s ECHL team there, which came to Glens Falls.
The Thunder have reached the postseason both years they’ve been at Adirondack.
Last year, they made it to the second round and saw their season end in a double-overtime Game 7 loss.
They’re currently riding a 7-0-1 hot streak, which they hope will carry them much farther into the playoffs this year.
There are three games left in the regular season, one tonight and two on the road this weekend at Elmira, which has the league’s worst record.
If Adirondack wins tonight, a division title isn’t secured, but just about.
For the Thunder not to finish first, second-place Brampton would have to win all three of its remaining games and the Thunder would have to lose both of theirs. Unlikely, but possible. First place would give Adirondack home-ice advantage in the first round, and second if they advance.
Plus, it would give fans more opportunities to enjoy something they deserve — a team to cheer for.