Springfield Thunderbirds
| Springfield Thunderbirds | |
|---|---|
 2016–17 AHL season
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| City | Springfield, Massachusetts |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | Atlantic |
| Founded | 1975 (In the NAHL) |
| Home arena | MassMutual Center |
| Colors | Red, navy blue, sky blue, white, gold |
| Owner(s) | Springfield Hockey, LLC. |
| General manager | Eric Joyce |
| Head coach | Geordie Kinnear |
| Captain | Brent Regner |
| Media |
The Springfield Republican WHYN NewsRadio 560 CBS 3, 22 News ABC 40 |
| Affiliates | Florida Panthers (NHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1975–1982 | Erie Blades |
| 1982–1993 | Baltimore Skipjacks |
| 1993–2016 | Portland Pirates |
| 2016–present | Springfield Thunderbirds |
The Springfield Thunderbirds are a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that began play for the 2016–17 season as the affiliate of the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers. Based in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Thunderbirds play their home games at the MassMutual Center.
In May 2016, following the relocation of the Springfield Falcons to Tucson, Arizona, after the team was sold to the Arizona Coyotes, the AHL's Portland Pirates were sold to a Springfield-based group who intended to relocate the franchise to Springfield for the 2016–17 season.
The new owners were a consortium of local business interests seeking to keep hockey in Springfield, and included Paul Picknelly, owner of the Springfield Marriot and member of the family owning Peter Pan Bus Lines, as well as several local hotel owners. A team from Springfield has taken the ice in the AHL and its predecessors for all but seven years since 1926, and in every season since 1954.
The Florida Panthers renewed its affiliation with the relocated franchise. The Panthers assigned their assistant general manager, Eric Joyce, to be Springfield's general manager and named Geordie Kinnear as the new head coach. The Thunderbirds also named Bruce Landon, the Falcons' and Indians' longtime president and general manager, as a consultant, while hiring AHL executive Nathan Costa as their executive vice-president in charge of business operations. The team's new name was announced at a press conference on June 15, 2016. Team management explained that Thunderbirds invokes both the mythological Thunderbird and the United States Air Force presence in the region, such as the Barnes and Westover Air Reserve Bases.
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Wikipedia