ECHL: A Flurry Of First’s For the Adirondack Thunder

There’s no doubt that the Adirondack Thunder season hasn’t gone as expected, as they currently sit in last place in the North Division and the Eastern Conference with a record of 16-28-2-1; however, let’s shine some light on some of the positives in Adirondack lately. The Thunder recently had a flurry of ECHL first goals as they went three straight games with a player getting their first career goal, including being a part of a first goal in four straight games from February 6th-Febuary 12, as Tahoe’s Aidan Girduckis picked up his first ECHL goal on February 6th vs Adirondack. Saava Smirnov, Gustav Muller, and Ryan Nolan would all pick up their first goals in the Thunder’s following three games, and then last Saturday, Jackson van de Leest would get his first career ECHL goal.

“That’s a testimate to them and their work ethic. It’s not easy joing a team halfway through the year. We have a young team so a lot of guys are gonna score their first goals but we’re not winning games so it’s not good enough”

Brendan Less on Saturday Night when asked about four guys picking up their first ECHL goals in the last five games for the Thunder

Savva Smirnov

There was a lot of hype around Savva Smirnov when he first signed with the Thunder after he put up seven goals and six assists in the FPHL with the Blue Ridge Bobcats and then continued that success with the Quad City Storm, putting up five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 14 games with the Quad City Storm in the SPHL. Smirnov has had some good looks and finally got rewarded with his first ECHL goals on February 7th vs Tahoe Knight Monsters. Smirnov has one goal and two assists for three points in 16 games with the Thunder but was a healthy scratch on Saturday Night. It will be interesting to see if he keeps his roster spot as the Thunder continue to get healthy.

“Of course, it always feels nice but we didn’t get the result that we wanted, but we’re focusing on winning hockey games and I’m not really focused on stats, more of a team effort”

Smirnov on his picking up his first career goal

Gustav Muller

Gustav Muller began the season with the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, where he put up 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 28 games before being called up to the Thunder. In 10 games with Adirondack, he has a goal and an assist, with his first goal coming just a day after Smirnov got his first career goal. Muller is closer to a bottom-six forward and only had 10 goals in 71 games at the NCAA level in four seasons.

Ryan Nolan

It wouldn’t take long for Ryan Nolan to make his name known in Adirondack as he picked up his first career ECHL goal at the 13:11 mark of the opening period in his first ECHL game against the Trois-Rivieres Lions last Wednesday and would be one of three Thunder players to finish the night with four shots on goal. He started off playing in the top six for the first three games before being bumped down to the fourth line on Sunday, but he played on a line with Ryan Francis and Gustav Muller. Nolan’s play certainly gives Head Coach Pete MacArthur some reasons to keep him around. Prior to joining the Thunder, Nolan had 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points in 31 games with the Fayetteville Marksmen of the SPHL.

Jackson Van de Leest

Out of the four players that recently got their first career goal, it would take the 6’7 defenseman the longest as he did it in his 42nd career ECHL game. Jackson van de Leest joined the Thunder less than a year ago and played in 14 games with the Thunder, putting up two assists. The Utica Comets would notice his play as he would get a call-up to the AHL, where he put up one assist in six games and earned himself an AHL deal with the Comets in the Summer. The Kelowna, BC native has one goal and seven assists for eight points in 29 games with Adirondack and has also seen action in six games with the Comets this season. I would expect van de Leest to continue to be a solid depth defenseman for the Thunder as long as he’s up in Adirondack.

“Ya, felt really good would have been better with the win”

Jackson van de Leest on his first career ECHL goal