WICHITA, Kan. – Hockey is set to return to the city of Wichita for the first time since February 28th as Wichita prepares for a very busy January. A trio with the Allen Americans is how they kick it off.

The Past Week:

The Games:

• The Thunder doubled their win count on Saturday night as they took down the Kansas City Mavericks 3-1. The three goals were from three of the four players sent to Wichita from the Toronto Marlies last week. Gordie Green, Noel Hoefenmayer and Bobby McMann each scored their first professional goals on Saturday in Kansas City. Mitch Gillam advanced to 2-0-0-0 in the young season following the 33 save outing. Wichita was 1-for-3 on the powerplay but allowed a shorthanded goal.

The Pros

• Gillam looks outstanding this season thus far. Not only does he look solid in the crease but he seems to improve the confidence of the defenseman so far. He ranks fourth in the league in goals against average (1.42) and third in the league in save percentage (0.960).

Who’s In, Who’s Out:

• Prior to Saturday’s contest in Kansas City, Wichita made a couple swaps on the reserve list. Forwards Stefan Fournier and Beau Starrett were activated while forwards Alex Berardinelli and Brayden Watts joined defenseman Patrik Parkonnen on the reserve list. Another noted move was defenseman Riley Weselowski‘s placement on the injured reserve list (retroactive to December 11th).
• On the 28th, more reserve swaps took place as Fournier switched places with Berardinelli and Watts.
• Wichita welcomed a familiar face back on the 29th as the signing of defenseman Vincent Desharnais was announced. Desharnais played in six games for the Bakersfield Condors before being sent down to Wichita where he finished the season, appearing in 31 games and scoring 13 points (all assists).

The Coming Week:

Things Get Busy:

• Wichita (2-0-0-0) concludes 2020 with a road contest with the Allen Americans (4-1-0-0) on Thursday night before welcoming the Americans to Wichita for a Friday-Saturday back-to-back. These are the first matchups between the long time rivals this season. The game is scheduled for a 6:05pm puck drop with the Wichita Thunder pregame show presented by The Sin Bin starting at 5:40pm on The Sin Bin app.
• Thursday night’s showdown with Allen in game one in a seven game set spread over just 11 days. Wichita heads back to Kansas City next Tuesday night before returning back to Wichita for a three-in-three with the Mavericks.

Around the ECHL:

• The ECHL will be busy for the weekend as four games take place Thursday, three on Friday and six on Saturday.
• Florida is running away with the South so far with a goal differential of +16 (28 goals for, 12 goals against) and record of 5-1-0-0. The top four scorers in the league belong to the ‘Blades as well. Florida is outstanding on special teams with a 21.9% powerplay percentage (7-for-32) and perfect 100% penalty kill rate (27-for-27).