The Bloomington Thunder were a minor professional ice hockey team that was a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League . Based in Bloomington, Illinois , the Thunder played their home games at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum , located in downtown Bloomington. After two years in the Central Hockey League as the Bloomington Blaze , the Thunder played under new ownership and in the Southern Professional Hockey League in the 2013–14 season.
7-696: Although the Blaze played at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum, they were not a continuation of the former Bloomington PrairieThunder franchise, who failed to reach an operating agreement with the Coliseum and folded on July 3, 2011. Their first season, the Blaze were coached by Paul Gardner . On May 15, 2013, it was announced that the Thunder, along with a new Peoria Rivermen team , would join the Southern Professional Hockey League for
14-859: A minor professional ice hockey team based in Bloomington, Illinois . They were a member of the Central Hockey League in the Turner Conference. The team was originally a member of the United Hockey League (later known as the International Hockey League) prior to its merger into the CHL in 2010. They played their home games at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum . On September 12, 1999, John Butler and Mike Nelson, both of Bloomington, began formulating
21-504: A combined 55–58–19 in his tenure there from 2010 to 2012. After 12 games into the 2013–14 SPHL season with a 3–9–0 record, Gratz was fired. The Bloomington Blaze organization also included a junior hockey team with membership to the Midwest Junior Hockey League (MWJHL) that began play in the 2012–13 season. In April 2014, the professional team folded and was replaced by the junior Tier I Bloomington Thunder of
28-499: A plan to bring a minor league hockey team to Central Illinois . On August 18, 2004, ground was broken for the $ 37-million U.S. Cellular Coliseum , the arena that would become the home of the PrairieThunder. On September 20, 2005, the United Hockey League (UHL) awarded Butler and Nelson a membership to obtain a franchise. On February 1, 2006, a contest was announced to name the new hockey franchise and on February 23, 2006,
35-855: The United States Hockey League . Five months later, the MWJHL junior team was relocated to become the Decatur Blaze and currently plays in the United States Premier Hockey League Midwest Division. This American ice hockey team-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a sports team in Illinois is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bloomington PrairieThunder The Bloomington PrairieThunder were
42-695: The 2013–14 season. The Peoria Rivermen of the AHL had been notified that the Vancouver Canucks , who had purchased the team a month earlier, would not keep them in Peoria. The two teams will reportedly be owned by two former Rivermen executives, John Butler, Bart Rogers and David Holt with financial backing from former Rivermen owner Bruce Saurs. In 2012–13, the Bloomington Blaze were coached by former Dayton Gems coach Brian Gratz. The Gems went
49-511: The official name was announced. "PrairieThunder" refers to a train called "Prairie Thunder" that passed through Bloomington in its early history. On July 20, 2006, the PrairieThunder unveiled their team logo, which featured a charging bison smashing its hooves into a sheet of ice. The team's colors were navy, silver, old gold, and white. The team held a name-the-mascot contest, sponsored by the Bloomington Pantagraph , to find
#536463