Thunder Introduces New Coach

Just in case you hadn't heard already?


http://www.wichitathunder.com/news/Press_Releases/article368.html


WICHITA, KS- The Wichita Thunder at a press conference today, introduced Brent Bilodeau as the ninth head coach in franchise history.

A former first round draft choice (17th overall) of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1991 NHL Draft, Bilodeau (pronounced BILL-uh-doh) enjoyed a 12-year pro playing career, the last six of which he spent as a player/assistant with the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs. Upon his retirement in 2005, Bilodeau was named assistant coach for the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers, where he has spent the past three seasons.

“While this will be Brent’s first head coaching job, he is by no means inexperienced”, said Thunder general manager Joel T. Lomurno. “Las Vegas, year after year, is one of the most successful teams in minor league hockey - a great deal of that success is owed to Brent.”

During Brent’s three seasons in Las Vegas - where he also served as assistant general manager - the Wranglers compiled an amazing record of 146-38-32 (.750), including a 26-20 post season mark. In his first two seasons, the Wranglers piled up 53 and 46 wins respectively, advancing to the conference finals each season.

This past season, Las Vegas went 47-13-12 and came within two wins of the ECHL Title. During his tenure, Las Vegas won two division titles, two regular season conference titles, one post season conference championship, one Brabham Cup and made one Kelly Cup Finals appearance. In each of those three seasons, the Wranglers averaged less than 2.60 goals against.

A native of Clyde, Alberta, Brent and his wife Cass, a former WNBA player, have twin sons Tyler and Jacob and are expecting a new baby daughter in August.

“My family and I are thrilled to be coming to such a great organization”, said Bilodeau. “The Wichita Thunder has a long-standing hockey tradition with tremendous fan support and I look forward to putting an equally good and exciting product on the ice.”

“The Wichita Thunder has a long-standing hockey tradition with tremendous fan support and I look forward to putting an equally good and exciting product on the ice.”

I like the statement..... just hope the results are to follow.

gametime wrote:

“The Wichita Thunder has a long-standing hockey tradition with tremendous fan support and I look forward to putting an equally good and exciting product on the ice.” I like the statement..... just hope the results are to follow.

I'm pretty sure every new Thunder coach since Jim Latos has said these exact words.

Yeah....I'm sure Wichita will be an easy sell for new recruits.....Pee Wee Herman could have recruited hockey players in Lost Wages....

Wichita always rocks but if it dont you can fake it and say it did

It;s called the River Fest

Voth wrote:

Yeah....I'm sure Wichita will be an easy sell for new recruits.....Pee Wee Herman could have recruited hockey players in Lost Wages....

thats one of worst i've read
...dumbass

so the coach now has the bunny list and says to recruits...."hey look at the lengthy list of women to bang if you play in ICT?"

I would not think Wichita would be as hard of a sale to bring players here compared to some CHL cities. Laredo Constantly recruits a good team and that city is a hell hole. Same with Bossier Shreveport.

Those two teams are winners year in and year out....Not to mention the fact they have affiliations with the AHL......

Voth wrote:

Those two teams are winners year in and year out....Not to mention the fact they have affiliations with the AHL......

and bossier is a pretty cool place!

a bit of interesting info.... our new coach had the pleasure of being a part of the identical twin "Ferraro" brothers playing together in Las Vegas. They both have careers dating back to the early 90 and quite a bit of NHL experience.... and after all this time still playing at the ECHL level.

Voth wrote:

Those two teams are winners year in and year out....Not to mention the fact they have affiliations with the AHL......

When did Bossier get an affiliation with an AHL team? We had one a few years ago, but I think it has gone by the wayside recently. We might have a player called up to the AHL from time to time, but it is independant I believe--would have to ask FC to make sure though.

AD - hockey affiliations:

http://www.arenadigest.com/ad_hockey/affiliations.htm

Number 5 on that list speaks volumes......

A man was happily driving along in his car late one Saturday night when a cop pulled him over. The policeman walked up to him and asked, "Have you been drinking, sir?"

Confused, the man replied, "Why? Was I weaving all over the road?"

"No," said the policeman. "You were driving splendidly. It was the incredibly ugly girl in the passenger seat that gave you away."

gametime wrote:

AD - hockey affiliations: http://www.arenadigest.com/ad_hockey/affiliations.htm

That list definitely isn't up to date. How long have Louisiana Ice Gators been out of business?

bk wrote:

gametime wrote: AD - hockey affiliations: http://www.arenadigest.com/ad_hockey/affiliations.htm That list definitely isn't up to date. How long have Louisiana Ice Gators been out of business?

well it has to be since '05 when louisana dissapeared and when Youngstown entered the CHL.

Eagle Struck wrote:

A man was happily driving along in his car late one Saturday night when a cop pulled him over. The policeman walked up to him and asked, "Have you been drinking, sir?" Confused, the man replied, "Why? Was I weaving all over the road?" "No," said the policeman. "You were driving splendidly. It was the incredibly ugly girl in the passenger seat that gave you away."

hey now, I told you that story in confidence!! LOL
The good news was, my husband was able to convince the cop that he just has bad taste, and was sober as could be!!

I am excited about the new coach. I believe coach adew has the contacts to bring in quality chl level talent and will recruit well. getting the players and getting them to work well on the ice are two different things though. time will tell. i look forward to seeing who he signs and how the 08-09 team shapes up. He says he likes blue collar, and will bring a blue collar team to the ice. i expect the team to be even keel and play a full 60 minutes of hockey. some are saying to expect "laxdal" style of hockey. I see better skaters, less goonery, but a increase in physical in your face hockey. any guess on which player from last year will be the first to be announced?