Opening thoughts.

For those of you that don't know me, I am 24 years old and have been going to games since 92-93. Some of my best father/son moments came at Thunder games. This is my third year as a season ticket holder. If you know anything about me you know hockey is a passion of mine. I have played the sport, traveled to watch it, and even dabbled in coaching (there is a small bit of a joke with that). I am a regular poster on the Thunder message board and have decided to take my love for writing about the sport to another source. Not that there is anything wrong with a message board, but rather this is more of an open area for me to post without making it feel like I am shoving my thoughts down anyone's throat.

So with that being said, the season has started out to an exciting and thrilling start. With what started out as a dismal off-season, with threats of playing at the salary cap floor, soon switched to hopeful optimism. I gotta say that playing this season on the cap floor would have put this team right back into a state of panic. The fan base has always, and will always be here. But how long can a solid base, support and fund an owner that does not give back what the fans put in? That question of doubt was quickly erased by three local brothers with a family name that is known throughout the city. Brandon, Rodney and Johnny Steven stepped in, and stepped up and purchased a storied minor league franchise that was seemingly at its financial wits end. As a fan it was a strong sigh of relief. The brothers gave the team the financial support it needed to sign high caliber players, and almost just as important, promote the team. Something that had not been done in mass for years.

So Coach McClelland was able to bring in a roster that was over flowing with talent. NHL 1st round draft picks, guys who have ample time in the AHL, and guys from the AA level that have led their respective leagues and teams in scoring. Now all that was left was to see them on the ice. To be quite honest the exhibition games did not overwhelmingly impress me. I expected to come in and beat a Tulsa team that quite frankly looked like an SPHL team in training. But as we all saw Tulsa played two tough games. Next comes opening weekend, and games against Rapid and Allen. We've seen enough of Rapid City the last several years to know what we were walking into. There is not much to say about Allen, considering we had never beat them. The thing that impressed me the most was nothing flashy. But rather when we got behind or looked a few steps behind these teams, we were able to stabilize and regain our composure. Sure Matt Robinson had a highlight real short handed goal, but most of our goals were due to hard work. The kind of work that grinders do, close to the net, rebounding, and stick on the ice type goals. Of the five regulation goals scored over this last weekend, four of the five were scored from the middle of the circles or lower. Matt Summers, Brett Hemingway, and Matt Robinson all scored from within a sticks length of the crease. That says a lot to me about a group of guys that on paper would seem to be highlight reel kind of goal scorers. The only goal that came from outside the circles was Daniel Tetrault's point blast to tie the game, coming off the power play. These are the kind of goals that we have been lacking, to win games in recent years. Four points against two teams that last year had a combined 87 wins. Are we championship bound? Not necessarily, please remember we are only two games in. But these are two games that really says what we have to look forward to this year. I said in the off-season that I was more excited for this season than any other season before. And after this opening weekend, that thought is still the same.

It's going to be a fun year Thunder fans! I look forward to writing about the team that I love. If you have any suggestions on blog topics please let me know. I am never at a lack for words!