Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Thunder’s cup quest to begin

Leave it to Michael Jordan to put things into proper perspective for the Thunder.

His Airness, who has led the Chicago Bulls to the most dominant season in the history of the NBA, said the season isn't over when the Bulls win 70 games; it has really just started.

And so it is for the Thunder, which has dominated the IHL in Bulls-like fashion to the tune of 122 points and posted a slew of impressive individual performances.

But as coach Chris McSorley has said time and again, this team was designed and built to go the distance. And he wasn't referring to the 82-game regular season.

"Through June," is McSorley's stock answer.

And with the second season ready to begin 24 hours from now against Phoenix, the Thunder can set its sights squarely on the ultimate goal -- the Turner Cup.

Certainly, the players are thinking about going the distance and there's enough talent to give Las Vegas a legitimate chance of duplicating its regular-season dominance in the postseason.

But the accomplishments of the past 6 1/2 months should not go unnoticed. The 122 points is the third-highest total in IHL history and for the second time in its three-year existence, the Thunder captured the Fred Huber Trophy, which goes to the team with the best overall record.

Las Vegas never lost more than two games in a row at any point during the season. The Thunder is riding an eight-game winning streak into Wednesday's playoff opener at the Thomas & Mack Center against No. 8 seed Phoenix.

The Thunder led the IHL in wins (57), home wins (34), goals (380), penalty minutes (2,588) and overall penalty killing (86.6 percent). The Thunder also set an IHL record with 37 shorthanded goals. In addition, Las Vegas had the IHL's second-most potent power play (22.4 percent) and the best home power play record (27.9 percent).

Individually, Patrice Lefebvre set a team record with 114 points and Sergei Zholtok became the second Thunder player to score 50 goals in a season with 51.

Bill Bowler led all rookies in scoring with 31 goals and 86 points while Greg Hawgood was second in scoring among defensemen with 83 points.

Four of the IHL's top five plus-minus performers wore a Las Vegas sweater, including leader Jeff Ricciardi at plus 44.

Bob Strumm, the man responsible for putting this powerful team together, can't point to any one defining moment for the Thunder's success.

"I think the key to it all was the fact we weren't satisfied with what we had," said the Thunder's general manager. "It really goes back to last summer when we decided to make some changes."

Signing Hawgood, bringing in Zholtok and Ruslan Salei, trading in midseason for Grigori Panteleyev and pairing him with Zholtok, then trading for Joe Day and Guy Larose changed the makeup of the team dramatically.

And when Strumm brought in the hard-shooting Jeff Serowik from Indianapolis and Paul DiPietro and Marc Laniel from Houston at the trading deadline in late March, he crafted a team which was deep in talent, long on experience and willing to accept whatever role McSorley had for them.

McSorley, who repeatedly has given Strumm and his players credit for this season's accomplishments, knows anything less than a successful run at the Turner Cup will tarnish what already has transpired.

"We have a better team this year," he said. "My job is to make sure we're ready to give 100 percent every night.

"This isn't pressure. Pressure is when you don't have enough talent to win and they expect you to win. The talent is here to win."

Thunderbolts...

* USE GAME 1 TIX: Fans holding tickets for Wednesday's opening game are reminded to use those designated "Game 1" and ignore the date on the tickets. Some Thunder fans are holding tickets with an April 16 date. Those tickets will be honored at the Thomas & Mack turnstiles Wednesday. The tickets designated "Game 2" will be good on Monday. ... The Thunder averaged 7,771 fans a game this year, seventh-best in the league.

* DEJA VU: The Thunder opened the regular season against Phoenix, a game the Roadrunners won 4-3 in a shootout back on Sept. 30. The Roadrunners can only hope history repeats itself Wednesday. As Alanis Morrisette would say, isn't that ironic?

* FEW CHANGES: Don't expect a lot of roster movement from the Thunder, even with LW Darcy Loewen out. General manager Bob Strumm said the team probably will bring forward Vaclav Nedomansky Jr. up from Knoxville of the East Coast Hockey League later this week to give Las Vegas 12 forwards. Goalie Chris Rogles would be recalled only in an emergency.

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