ECHL: An Interview With Adirondack Thunder Defenceman Colin Felix

Colin Felix began playing hockey at a young age as his dad was already working in the hockey business, “My dad was actually an athletic trainer with the Philadelphia Phantoms from 1996 until about 2002, so I grew up around the rink and started skating when I was about two years old, so I was kinda a rink rat when I was growing up” said Felix. The 6’1 defenseman would spend his collegiate career at U-Mass Amherst, where he put up four goals and 38 assists for 42 points in 140 games, as the Minutemen won two Hockey East Championships along with a National Championship. Once his collegiate career was over, it was only fitting that he joined the Reading Royals for his rookie season, where he’d put up eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points in 72 games while also adding 139 PIMS to his stat sheet, “Ya, for sure, I’m most effective when I’m physical and in the other teams face, and that kinda game comes with some penalty minutes, and that’s just the way it is, and I’m always happy to protect my teammates as well” said Felix when asked about his 139 minutes in penalties. During the off-season, Felix signed an AHL deal with the Utica Comets and ended up starting the season with the Thunder and has seemed to fit in quite well so far.

The Thunder started the 2023-24 season with a blueline that looks a little different than the blueline they finished last season with, and one of those new faces is the 26-year-old blueliner. Adirondack originally brought in Yanick Turcotte and Zach Walker as two guys up front who are known for throwing the body around and their willingness to drop the gloves, but they didn’t have anyone on an ECHL deal on the backend who could bring that level of physicality, with Turcotte going overseas and Walker still on the IR, fans are wondering who’s gonna be the guy to throw around the body, and one player who could fill that role is Colin Felix. Felix has had a strong start to the season as he put up back-to-back assists this weekend to get himself on the scoresheet this season and has played five games with the Thunder while also seeing three games with the Utica Comets, Felix feels very comfortable already in the Devil’s organization, “This is a great organization, their very honest with my play and how they want to utilize me and I’m just trying to get better and my game and I’m getting a lot of minutes down here, just trying to work on something I can translate with my game up there and when my chance comes I’ll be ready to take it”.

Coming to a new team can be an adjustment but since coming to Adirondack, Felix has been paired with his former D-partner Will MacKinnon, “Ya we kinda talked about it in the Summer, I ended up signing, then he ended up signing here as well, it was a nice surprise to hear that he was signing and we’d potentially be playing together, he’s a really reliable guy, and we had some success last year, and we were hoping to carry that success, and we were lucky enough to be here together again” Said Felix. Colin Felix and the Thunder will welcome the Royals to town on November 22nd for the first of 12 matchups between the two North Divison teams, “Ya, it will be good to see some old friends, obviously a little chip on our shoulder, I think Mac {MacKinnon} and I have a little hidden vendetta against those guys but it’s nice to see them off the ice, but we’ll be ready to face em” said Felix.