The Adirondack Thunder had their home opener on Saturday Night against the Trois-Rivieres Lions in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,184 at the Cool Insuring Arena. Adirondack would get off to a fast start early in the period, getting multiple odd-man chances on Luke Cavallin, but the 23-year-old goaltender stopped eight shots he had in the opener frame as the Lions would outshoot the Thunder 13-8 in the opening 20.
“It’s hard to put it in to words, I think there was a quote from me on the video board that talked about how special it is to be from here and to want to win for the community so to get a win on home ice after waiting a long long time after being bounced by Florida I think our fans derve that effort and our guys deserve to see what it’s like to play here in front of the best fans in the league. Good start hopefully we can keep going”
-Head Coach Pete MacArthur on what it meant to be back on home ice for the home opener
In the middle frame, it would be all Adirondack as they would get on the board as Alex Young would make a beautiful play that led to a nice pass to Ryan Conroy in front, who found the back of the net for his second professional goal and first of the 2024-25 season. Young, who joined the Thunder late last season, where he had two goals and four assists for six points in seven games, now has one goal and three assists in his first four games with the Thunder and is starting to become a key piece on this Thunder roster.
“We talk about winning your battle on the walls and then beating guys off the wall, attacking the middle and when you get to the middle play you don’t wanna force plays and I think he did a great job in the aspects and gets to use his skill-set to put points on the board but I think he’s a guy who’s only going to get better once he learns how the league works and what works for him”
-Head Coach Pete MacArthur on the play from Alex Young that set up the Ryan Conroy Goal
The Adirondack Thunder have a ton of guys who play that rough-and-tumble type of game and multiple guys who are willing to drop the gloves. Tonight, Jace Isley would drop the gloves with Jacob Paquette at the 16:16 mark and easily win the fight, igniting even more energy into the Thunder faithful. The Thunder led 1-0 after two periods of play while also outshooting Trois-Rivieres 24-4 in the second period alone. However, Cavallin would keep the Lions within one.
“I’m gonna go with no, I think we’ve practiced a couple times, that’s all Jace. He plays hungry and they tried to make a big hit on Boomhower which isn’t the guy to hit hard, he’s a brick out there and Jace went right down and burried that guy in the corner, he’s awesome for us”
-Darian Skeoch on if he taught Jace Isley any of the moves he used in tonight’s fight
The Lions had their chances in the third period, but Jeremy Brodeur stood tall, stopping all ten shots he saw in the period and all 27 shots in the game for his first shutout of the season and third career ECHL shutout (all coming with the Adirondack Thunder). It was the first home opener win for Adirondack since 2019, and its the first time they are 3-0 to start the year since the 2015-16 season.
