Thunder Hockey Athletic Awards Recipients Named
April 4, 2012
The recipients of this season Athletic Awards were named last night at the annual banquet held in the Teglar Centre. This year's winners include:
- Andre Herman - Most Valuable Athlete
- Richard Gagnon, Patrick Turville - Outstanding Scholastic Athletes
- Andre Herman - ACAC All-Conference Selectee
- Tyler Ferbey, Scott Burke, Hossam Abdelaal - Graduates
Congratulations to all our award winners!
Thunder Hockey Finishes Season With Narrow 2-1 Series Loss to NAIT
February 27, 2012
In a season that began with the program being cancelled and then almost miraculously resurrected, the Concordia Thunder Hockey team has endured many trials. Despite this past weekend's first-round exit from the playoffs, "the players on this team have a great deal to be proud of," says Head Coach Dan Peacocke. "As grateful as the coaching staff is to Sid Braaksma and Northgate Industries for the financial backing to keep our program alive, the real credit for “saving the program” belongs to the members of this year’s team. With only three wins in the first semester the team could have easily given up hope and finished out of the playoff picture. Instead they rallied after Christmas, moved up into fifth position and battled NAIT to the bitter end in an exciting three game playoff series. This close-knit group made a very positive name for themselves around campus this year for their enthusiasm, charitable work and school spirit. The outlook is indeed very bright for this “resurrected” team and as soon as the sting of losing wears off, the team will definitely turn their attention to the excitement that next season and beyond promises."
The Thunder also wish to express their heartfelt thanks to the best fans in all of the ACAC and especially to the dedicated crew of game day volunteers that contributed so much to the overall success of the hockey program this year!
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Thunder Hockey Team Ready to Take on NAIT in Playoff Opener
February 22, 2012
Although the regular season didn't quite get wrapped up the way our Thunder Hockey team would have liked (2 losses to Augustana) the boys are turning their attention to the post season and are excited about taking on the NAIT Ooks in the first round of playoffs. "It's a good match up for us," said Coach Peacocke about the NAIT team. "I expect that our guys will be very well prepared to compete and working very well together as a team." The first game of the best-of-three series gets started at the NAIT arena on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. The second game is at Clareview arena on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. and the third game (if necessary) will go Sunday back at NAIT. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m.
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Thunder Hockey Make Playoffs in Spite of Two Tough Losses
February 13, 2012
After a high point in the season that saw the Thunder take three of a possible four points from the SAIT Trojans, the team came crashing back to earth with two lopsided losses to the Mount Royal Cougars. "Schooled" is the term Coach Peacocke used to describe the weekend. "Mount Royal has a very good hockey team. Their puck movement is exceptional and they play with a sense of urgency every single shift." If there is a silver lining in a performance that saw the Thunder outscored 17 to 3 over the two games (8-1 and 9-2), the team does have one more weekend of play before the post season starts. Hopefully the team learned some key lessons and can get back to their winning ways this weekend as they take on the second place Augustana Vikings. Game time this Friday is 8:15 p.m. at Clareview Arena. Saturday the team wraps up the season in Camrose and then it's on to playoffs the following weekend. The Thunder will take on the NAIT Ooks in the first round of playoffs (Friday, February 24 at Nait, Saturday at Clareview and Sunday (if necessary) back at NAIT in the best-of-three series).
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Thunder Hockey Continue Winning Ways Taking 3 Points from SAIT
February 6, 2012
The Concordia Thunder Hockey team took another positive step forward on their march towards the playoffs. It has been a long time since the Thunder were able to take 3 of 4 points in a weekend series versus the SAIT Trojans, but they did just exactly that in two very close and exciting hockey games last Friday and Saturday night. On Friday the team battled their way to a 2 - 2 draw, coming back from an early two goal deficit and then holding off the strong Trojan powerplay when they took an untimely penalty in the overtime period. On Saturday the Trojans scored first again, but the Thunder responded well in the second period and went ahead 2 to 1, only to give up a second SAIT goal with just three seconds left in the period. The game ended with a great penalty kill by the Thunder followed by a powerplay goal with just under two minutes left to play.The team now turns their attention to the first place Mount Royal Cougars, with the home game going this Friday at Clareview Arena (8:15 p.m. start) and concluding with the away game in Calgary on Saturday. Coach Peacocke said that "this next series will be another very good test of our playoff readiness and we are looking forward to the challenge."
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| Photos by | Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Wheeling Their Way Back into Playoff Picture with Twin Wins
January 30, 2012
The Concordia Thunder Hockey team had a huge weekend taking four points from the MacEwan Griffins with a 4-3 victory Friday and a 7-4 win on Saturday. With both teams fighting to ensure that they will be seeing some post season action this year, the back-to-back wins did much to help the Thunder cause. In Friday’s game the Thunder showed significant resolve as they had to battle back from a one goal deficit twice in the game. They eventually went ahead with four minutes left to play and then staged a strong defensive stance to ensure that the Griffins were not able to muster any last minute heroics. On Saturday the Thunder fell behind again in the first period, but a four goal spree in the second put them comfortably in the lead. Despite a couple of bobbles in the third period, the Thunder managed to make their three goal lead last until the end. Pleased with the weekend performance, Coach Peacocke said. “We are starting to really see some of the promise and potential that we have felt this team has had all along.” The next Thunder action is this coming Friday, February 3rd when they take on the SAIT Trojans at Clareview arena, 8:15 p.m. start. It promises to be another entertaining game, so mark your calendar and plan to get out and cheer on your team!
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| Photos by | Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Right-the-Ship on Road Trip to Briercrest
January 23, 2012
The Thunder Hockey team exploded with a 19 goal offensive performance in their two game weekend series in Caronport, Saskatchewan versus the Briercrest Clippers. You would think that the two wins and the offensive productivity would have left Coach Dan Peacocke ecstatic. "I'm happy for the guys that they got a couple of wins, however I also don't want them to lose sight of the fact that the 8 goals we gave up is a clear sign that we still have more work to do." The Thunder struck for an 11-3 win Friday following it up on Saturday with a 8-5 victory. Despite the goals against the Thunder really did show some signs that they might be ready to cause a bit of a stir in the league as they move closer to playoff action. Not wanting to leave the impression that he was dissatisfied with the weekend outing, Peacocke added, "Our puck pursuit was much improved and we did a great job getting to the net and winning a majority of the board battles." The Thunder match up against MacEwan this coming weekend for a pair of crucial games that could have considerable impact on the playoff picture for both teams. Friday's game is at Clareview Arena, an 8:15 p.m. start, while Saturday's game will be played at Millwoods Arena (rather than MacEwan's normal home at Bill Hunter arena). Game time Saturday is at 8:15 p.m. as well.
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| Photos by | Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Take One Point Off Voyageurs
January 16, 2012
For six periods of hockey this past weekend, the Portage Voyageurs pressured our Thunder hockey team relentlessly. In doing so one rather large deficiency in the Concordia game was exposed … "our players simply got out worked," observed Coach Dan Peacocke. "There were glimpses of a Thunder team that could really be a contender, but overall there just wasn’t enough intensity to match the desire and determination of an inspired Voyageur squad." As a result, the Thunder managed to take away just a single point from the weekend series (tying Friday’s contest 2-2 and then falling 8-2 on home ice Saturday). Coach Peacocke commented, “We really want to believe that it is just a matter of some rust being kicked off after the long Christmas break, but whatever it was this past weekend we will need to get it fixed quickly. We travel to Briercrest this coming weekend to take on the Clippers who got a big confidence boost after coming away with a split in weekend action versus the SAIT Trojans." The next home game for the Thunder will be on Friday, Jan. 27 against MacEwan – the team the Thunder are currently tied with for the last playoff spot.
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Thunder Hockey Drop Two to Close Out First Half of Season
November 28, 2011
After playing five 'pretty decent' periods of hockey, the Thunder Hockey team nonetheless came away empty handed to finish out first semester action. In the two game weekend series against the 3rd place NAIT Ooks, the Thunder started out playing good hockey Friday night and ended the first period at 0 – 0. However, for a nine minute span in the second period the Thunder game plan went off the rails and the Ooks took a commanding four goal lead. The Thunder came storming back and kept things interesting though, scoring late in the second period and then potting two quick goals early in the third to close the gap to 4 - 3. Unfortunately in the end, the Thunder just didn’t quite have enough left in the tank to bring home the victory, eventually losing 6 – 3. Saturday’s rematch saw the Thunder jump out to a 2 goal lead, but the experienced NAIT squad clawed their way back into the game, scoring a goal in each period to take the 3 – 2 win. The Thunder are now left to heal their many injuries over the lengthy Christmas break. Although the Thunder have had a tough schedule - especially in the month of November - Coach Dan Peacocke is optimistic about the team's prospects going into 2012. "They have definitely shown that they have enough of a compete factor to cause a stir in the second half of the season and perhaps even surprise a few teams come playoff time." The Thunder's next action will be January 13th/14th when they play a home-and-home series with the Voyageurs from Portage College.
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| Photo by Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Earn Hard Won Single Point Against 2nd Place Augustana
November 21, 2011
The Concordia Thunder Hockey team faced yet another tough opponent this past weekend, tangling with the Augustana Vikings who are currently locked in a two-way tie for 2nd place with the SAIT Trojans. After a disappointing outing on Friday in Camrose - where the Thunder just couldn’t seem to catch a break - the team responded with a very determined performance on Saturday night in front of an enthusiastic crowd that included many of the hockey alumni. The Concordia Choir set the tone for the evening with a wonderful rendition of “O’Canada” and set the stage for just what can happen when a group really works on creating harmony. Coach Peacocke and the Thunder Hockey team want to extend a "big thank you" to the Choir and indeed to all the soloists that have sung our anthem in each of our home games. Despite some pretty decent hockey being played over the weekend, the Thunder still only managed to earn a single point from their efforts, dropping an 8 - 2 decision on Friday and then a 5 to 4 overtime loss on Saturday. The team is looking forward to a strong finish to their first semester of action as they close out play before the Christmas break with two games this coming weekend against NAIT. Friday’s game goes at NAIT with a 7:00 p.m. start and the series concludes Saturday at Clareview Arena with the puck dropping at 8:15 p.m.
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| Photo by Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Drop Two to 1st Place Mt. Royal
November 14, 2011
The Thunder Hockey team faced the ACAC's first place Mt. Royal Cougars over the weekend. Friday night's game in Calgary saw a close contest with the Thunder falling 6-4 on an empty net goal in the final minute. Saturday's return engagement resulted in an 8-1 decision in favour of the Cougars. The Thunder's next action will be Friday, November 18th when they travel to Camrose to take on the Vikings of Augustana before returning home on Saturday night to host Augustana at Clareview. Game time is 8:15 PM.
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| Photo by Jacob Bos |
Thunder Men's Hockey Take it on the Chin in Weekend Series with SAIT
November 7, 2011
The Concordia Thunder Men's Hockey team took some lumps over the weekend with a pair of losses to the perennial powerhouse Trojans from SAIT. Friday's match up at Clareview Arena was one of those games that you just want to put behind you as the Thunder fell to the Trojans 12-1. Saturday's return engagement down in Calgary saw the Thunder recovering some of their dignity but still struggling to find the score sheet as they fell 5-1. Things don't get any easier for the Thunder as they face the Mt. Royal Cougars this coming weekend. The Cougars are currently tied for first place with SAIT. The Thunder travel to Calgary on Remembrance Day and will be back at Clareview for the rematch on Saturday the 12th starting at 8:15 PM.
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| Photo by Jacob Bos |
Thunder Men's Hockey Come Away with a Single in Weekend Series with MacEwan
October 31, 2011
The MacEwan Griffins game into the weekend series against our Thunder Hockey team having yet to win a game this season. On the surface it looked like it should be an easy four points for the Thunder. However, the Griffins have been extremely competitive, losing very close contests to the league's leading teams. This point was made to the Thunder players by Coach Peacocke but unfortunately the caution - not to underestimate this opponent - seemed to go unheeded. The Thunder came out very flat in the Friday night contest at Bill Hunter arena and never quite seemed to get their game together for any length of time, eventually succumbing to the Griffins 7-3. "There were moments where it looked like we might actually have some life,” said Coach Peacocke. "But every time we gained a bit of momentum, MacEwan seemed to add another soft goal to flatten us back out. We just had really bad performances from just about everyone today, although I should mention that Devon Tordoff was one player that had a strong outing.” The Thunder were able to turn the ship around on Saturday as that contest was a very entertaining tilt that ended in a 3-3 overtime tie. Having tasted a victory, the Griffins had momentum on their side and they played very well once again. This time however the Thunder also decided to show up to compete. The Thunder came out strong in the first period and jumped out to a two goal lead, but MacEwan answered late in the period which seemed to give them a big boost going into the second period. The Thunder struggled a bit in their own zone again in the second period and MacEwan managed to tie the game. However the Thunder game out in the third period with an obvious heightened resolve to get the job done. Despite this it was MacEwan that got the go ahead goal only a couple of minutes into the period. Now playing catch up the Thunder mounted a strong and pretty well sustained effort that finally paid off with just two minutes left in the period, tying the game and sending it into overtime. Although the Thunder dominated the five minute overtime period they were not able to score the winning goal. It was an impressive, determined effort to notch the winner that saw several excellent scoring chances come up just short. The Thunder face another serious test this coming weekend as they take on the always strong SAIT Trojans with the home game going Friday at 8:15 p.m. at Clareview followed by a trip down to Calgary on Saturday for the rematch; 6:00 p.m. at the SAIT Arena.
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| Photo by Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Sweep Weekend Series with Briercrest
October 24, 2011
To hear Coach Dan Peacocke tell it, "it wasn’t always pretty to watch", but the Thunder Hockey team did what was necessary to sweep their weekend series against the visiting Briercrest Clippers'. Coach Peacocke commented after the afternoon game on Saturday, “We obviously have some deficiencies that still need to be addressed. However what was most impressive is that when the games were on the line, our guys really stuck together, won the one on one battles and did what was necessary to earn the victories.” The Friday night game saw the Clippers take the lead in the first period despite being outplayed by the surging Thunder. As it turned out, this was perhaps a good thing as it seemed to keep the Thunder players focused on putting in a very solid effort throughout the entire three periods and they came away with a 5-2 victory. In Saturday’s matchup, the Thunder jumped out to a two goal lead half way through the first period and then seemed to get ahead of themselves a bit. The Clippers came storming back and managed to take the lead for a brief period toward the end of the second frame. A late goal by the Thunder tied the game up and set the stage for a one period show down. The Thunder picked their game back up in the third and took a two goal lead. Only an undisciplined penalty and resulting powerplay goal by the Clippers late in the contest made it close. A strong defensive stand versus Briercrest’s pulled goalie attack brought home a 5-4 victory and an overall solid two game sweep. The Thunder take on the MacEwan Griffins in their next series. The first game is Friday at Bill Hunter Arena with an 8:15 PM start. They return to Clareview Arena for the Saturday game where the puck will once again drop at 8:15 PM.
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| Photo by Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Earn Three Points in Week Two of ACAC Season
October 17, 2011
After suffering a pair of losses to open the season, the Thunder Hockey team rebounded well and earned a hard fought three out of four points this past weekend against the Portage Voyageurs. In both games the Thunder started very well, jumping out to two goal leads. On Friday night, the Voyageurs managed to inch their way back into the game and eventually took the lead in the third period, going up 3 to 2. However, the Thunder line combination of Herman, York and Stevenson responded to the challenge - as they have consistently done in all four games this season - tying the game and sending it into overtime. A quick break in on goal in the first minute of overtime however, sent the Thunder fans home disappointed with the final result being a 4-3 overtime loss. The game on Saturday in Lac La Biche looked for a while like it might turn out the same way as the night before, but on the strength of some solid goaltending and a very determined defensive effort, the Thunder held tight to their lead on this night and skated away with a 3-1 win, scoring into an empty net to seal the deal. This coming weekend the Thunder take on the Briercrest Clippers in a pair of home games. The puck drops on Friday night at 8:15 PM and on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM at Clareview Arena.
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| Photos by | Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Open ACAC Regular Season with a Pair of Losses
October 11, 2011
Although it wasn’t the ideal way to start the season, the 2011-12 Concordia Thunder Men's Hockey team have reason to be positive about where the team is heading despite dropping two games to the NAIT Ooks. After being outplayed for much of the home opener on Friday night (falling 5-2), the Thunder showed marked improvement in Saturday's rematch at NAIT. To many observers of the pair of games the Concordia goaltenders looked a bit suspect on this weekend and when asked if his goalies let the team down a bit, this is what Coach Peacocke had to say: “Well, they made some big mistakes that they know need to be fixed. However the important thing to note about the goaltender position is that when you make a mistake, the puck is in the net so goalies can become easy scapegoats. We have many players that made big mistakes at times this weekend and we need to fix all of them, not just the goalies." Peacocke went on to talk about the many positives that the team has to build on. "The 'compete factor' went way up in game two; the team spent considerably more time in the offensive zone from the effort of a well-structured forecheck and the speed of the Ooks' forwards (who had their way with the puck in much of the first game) was nullified for at least two of the three periods in game two due to much more effective checking in the defensive zone. Perhaps the most impressive thing from the weekend was the determination that the team showed in the later part of the third period on Saturday night, scoring twice in the final four minutes to make for a very exciting finish." Unfortunately, the Ooks deposited the puck into an empty net with one second left to skate away with a 5-3 win. With a strong week of practice the team should be well set to take on the Portage Voyageurs this coming weekend. Game time on Friday night is 8:15 PM at Clareview Arena. The Concordia Athletics Department encourages all fans to 'Come out and support YOUR Thunder Hockey team'.
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| Photo by Jacob Bos |
Tough Lessons for Thunder Hockey in NAIT Pre-season Tournament
September 26, 2011
The Thunder Hockey team struggled this past weekend in NAIT's Blue and Gold tourney falling to MacEwan, NAIT and Portage College. Despite the seemingly poor start, Coach Dan Peacocke took a positive slant on the weekend's events. “Exhibition season is all about finding some things out,” Coach Peacocke said. "Some of the things that we’ve been asking our players to do should now have much more relevance to the players.” Coach Peacocke added that “puck movement and discipline are the two biggest issues that we will be addressing over the next two weeks. We certainly hope that the hockey boys are taking the lessons from the weekend to heart and heeding the advice of their coaches because there are only two weeks left before league play starts and the points in each game are for keeps." The relatively inexperienced Thunder team is on a steep learning curve, but the players seem very excited about the challenge and appear confident that they will be ready to compete when the puck drops for the home opener on October 7th at Clareview arena (an 8:15 pm start). Asked what most impressed him about his young squad's performance to date, Peacocke said in a word - “enthusiasm”.
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| Photos by | Jacob Bos |
Thunder Hockey Opens 2011-12 Exhibition Season with a Win
September 19, 2011
The Concordia Thunder Hockey team began their exhibition season this past weekend with a close win over the Ft. Saskatchewan Chiefs (3 to 2). The Chiefs are a senior AAA men’s team made up of former WHL, CIS and minor pro players and their experienced play provided a great test to get the season started. The Thunder came roaring out of the gate and dominated much of the first period, but the experienced Chiefs squad gradually took over on the strength of an excellent passing game. Coach Peacocke commented, “It was a very good lesson for our young team. We worked twice as hard as our opponents but their puck movement and possession game really made it very clear that we have to start sharing the puck more in order to keep the speed of the game up and then capitalize on our great work ethic.” Despite being outplayed in the third period the Thunder managed to hold on to the victory. It may not have been pretty but it is always great to start to the season off with a win.
The Thunder will be playing in NAIT's annual 'Blue and Gold' tourney this coming weekend with three games on the agenda: Thursday (22nd) at 7:30PM vs MacEwan, Friday at 4:30PM vs NAIT and Sunday morning at 11AM vs Portage.
