New coach, new affiliation create new hope as Thunder opens season

In four seasons over the past nine — 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2015-16 — the Wichita Thunder was a terrible hockey team with a record of 67-174-11-12.

In three seasons, the Thunder was OK, going 93-87-8-16 in 2010-11, 2013-14 and 2014-15.

And in two seasons — 2011-12 and 2012-13 — there was magic as the Thunder, which opens its 25th season Saturday night against Tulsa at Intrust Bank Arena, played in the Central Hockey League finals after combining for an 83-38-3-8 record.

Guess which years Thunder general manager Joel Lomurno prefers?

“We’ve definitely had our ups and downs,” Lomurno said. “And I don’t think I’m any different than the fans I talk to. It’s not as much fun coming to games when you’re losing, and it’s not even work when you’re winning.”

It’s hard to remember so many changes to a Thunder franchise as there will be this season.

First comes an affiliation with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, which will mean a younger and, if all goes as planned, hungrier team on the ice.

The second is a new coach, Malcolm Cameron, who has strong CHL and ECHL ties and was instrumental in putting together a one-year player development agreement with Ottawa.

“Being in Fort Worth and San Antonio as a player, the one thing you saw here, even when they were having some down years in the mid-1990s, was a really loud fan base,” Cameron said. “And a real passionate fan base. There’s a good core of hockey fans here in Wichita and we want them to be excited about a lot of different things.”

It starts with the players. And if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that the new affiliation with Ottawa — the Thunder is essentially a Double-A farm club — is producing a lot of come and go with personnel. And that’s before the season even starts.

But while there are some similarities in the way minor-league hockey and minor-league baseball operate, there are also differences. The biggest is that Cameron has recruited the bulk of Wichita’s players.

“We’re going to be younger and faster with a more entertaining product on the ice,” Cameron said. “And we’ll have players who have a chance to move up.”

The youth movement is tangible. Cameron said the average age of players in the old CHL was around 28 and that in the ECHL it is just over 23.

“You have prospects here,” he said, vowing that a path will develop that leads Thunder players to Ottawa to play for the Senators.

How many? Who knows? But the possibility for Wichita hockey pros to move to the NHL hasn’t existed since the days of the Wichita Wind in the early 1980s, when the Wind was a feeder team to the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils.

Around Major League Baseball, of course, minor-league affiliates are mostly viewed as developmental territories where coaches are grooming players for the next level. Winning, while preached, isn’t always the No. 1 goal.

Cameron insists that won’t be the case with the Thunder, even though the development of young players will be vital.

“Every team in the NHL wants to win and you don’t develop players into winners by having a losing culture,” Cameron said. “We’re going to do our best to develop players but at the same time, we’re in the entertainment business. It’s no different than going to movies — we’re here to put a good product on the ice. And you do that by winning more games than you lose. And by being competitive in each and every game.”

Last season was bitter for the Thunder and that’s why Cameron was brought in to replace Kevin McClelland, who was in charge for Wichita’s back-to-back appearances in the CHL Finals.

There’s a new model now, though. McClelland’s teams were loaded with minor-league hockey veterans and last season the lethargy was palpable and the losing was contagious.

“The one thing I heard about when I came to town, whether it was in the locker room or in the stands was that there were a large percentage of people who believed we were beat before the game even started,” Cameron said. “That’s the one thing I think will change.”

It’s the one thing that has to change.

The Thunder is expecting 13,000 for its opener. It’s a new year with new hope. And a bunch of young players hand-picked by Cameron or assigned to Wichita by the Senators to succeed.

“If you have a veteran player, you have to make sure he’s playing for the right reasons,” Cameron said. “It can’t be someone who’s playing to delay life and just earn a living. There’s a difference between needing to play and wanting to play. Wanting to play means you’re typically doing it to delay life. Needing to play means you’re not ready to do anything else and those are the types of players I look for.

“We don’t want the guys who are just trying to hang on. It’s tough to motivate those types of players and tough to get the best out of them. They’re not typically the ones who go to the gym and stay in great shape and who are dedicated. And that’s why we went a little younger with our roster this year.”

Younger, for sure. Hungrier, hopefully. It’s definitely a new era for the Thunder. Whether it’s a winning era is soon to be determined.

This story was originally published October 13, 2016 at 11:34 AM with the headline "New coach, new affiliation create new hope as Thunder opens season."