| BC Thunder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City |  Richmond, British Columbia |
| League | National Ringette League |
| Conference | Western |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Colours | |
| Head coach | Troy Takasaki |
| Website | bcthundernrl2022-23 |
| Previous franchise history | |
| Lower Mainland Thunder (2011–12) | |
| Championships | |
| NRL Titles | 1 (2012) |
The BC Thunder is a ringette team in the National Ringette League's (NRL) Western Conference. The team is based in Richmond, British Columbia.
Team history
The Thunder were founded as the Lower Mainland Ringette League Thunder (LMRL Thunder) in 2011, and joined the NRL that year. The league took over operating the team when a private ownership group fell apart.[1] Practically, the team was run by the Lower Mainland Ringette League, a club based in Vancouver, and the Thunder practiced and played throughout the Vancouver area.[2] Despite these challenges, their first season was highly successful. The team competed in the NRL's Western Conference along with teams in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Led by Jennifer Wakefield, a veteran who joined the team from the Cambridge Turbos, and Finnish imports Heidi Petrell and NRL scoring champion Salla Kyhälä, the Thunder won 22 games and finished second in the conference.[3] The 2012 Canadian Ringette Championships were being hosted in Burnaby, BC, which gave the Thunder the opportunity to compete for the national championship in front of home crowds.[3] The Thunder entered the tournament ranked seventh in the nation.[4] At the tournament, the Thunder started out 2–3 and needed to defeat the Turbos in a sudden-death tie-breaker to advance; they won and went on to face the undefeated Montréal Mission in the championship final.[5] The Thunder won the final 7–2 to claim British Columbia's first national ringette title.[1] Kyhala scored four times in the final and was named the tournament's most-valuable-player.[5] Wakefield and Melanie Thomas joined Kyhala as Thunder players named to the tournament all-star team.[1]
In December, 2012, part way through the 2011–12 season, the team found a new home in Richmond, with Richmond Ringette taking over managing the team, and re-branded itself as the BC Thunder to better reflect its status as a provincial team.[2] While based in Richmond, the team continued to play some of its games in other arenas around Greater Vancouver, including Delta and Port Coquitlam.[6][7] The team narrowly missed out on a medal when defending their national title at the 2013 Canadian Championships, finishing in fourth place.
The Thunder paused operations ahead of the 2013–14 season in order to restructure and stabilize its ownership. Former coach Dale Hannesson took over as the team's owner, and the Thunder rejoined the NRL for the 2014–15 season.[8]
In 2018, Troy Takasaki took over as head coach after leading Richmond's under-19 team to a gold medal at the 2018 Western Canadian Championships.[6]
Burnaby hosted the 2019 World Ringette Championships. Thunder goaltender Kiana Keska was named to Canada's national junior team, which went on to win the gold medal.[9][10]
The Thunder paused operations for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team returned to the NRL for the 2022–23 season, and finished third in the Western Conference with a 9–15 record.[11]
Season-by-season
| Season[12] | League | Conference | GP | W | L | OTW | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
| 2020–21 | NRL | Western | Did not play due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
| 2021–22 | NRL | Western | Did not play due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
| 2022–23 | NRL | Western | 24 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 131 | 166 |
Rosters
Current roster
| 2022–23 BC Thunder | ||
|---|---|---|
| #[13][14] | Name | Position |
| 1 | Ashley Smith | G |
| 2 | Dominique Sobush | F |
| 3 | Jayme Simzer | F |
| 4 | Grace Kemp | D |
| 5 | Samira Tajbakhsh | D |
| 8 | Emily Ma | F |
| 10 | Robyn Gillespie | D |
| 11 | Kacy Hannesson | F |
| 12 | Emma Paradis | F |
| 14 | Hailey Takasaki | F |
| 17 | Hailey Magrath | D |
| 19 | Kiandra Gustavson | D |
| 23 | Edie Paul | F |
| 26 | Sidney Crowe | F |
| 29 | Sarah Macdonald | G |
| 86 | Jessica Jalava | D |
References
- 1 2 3 Berridge, Tom (2012-12-24). "Thunder made ringette history in Burnaby". Burnaby Now. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- 1 2 Booth, Mark (2012-12-14). "Canadian champs now call Richmond home". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- 1 2 Berridge, Tom (2012-03-23). "Ringette's chance of a lifetime". New Westminster Record. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ Berridge, Tom (2012-04-17). "Thunder storm to first-ever ringette win at nationals". New Westminster Record. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- 1 2 Prest, Andy (2012-04-17). "Lower Mainland team claims B.C.'s first ever ringette national title". North Shore News. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- 1 2 Booth, Mark (2018-10-31). "B.C. Thunder rolls into town". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ "Port Coquitlam player leads BC Thunder to ringette sweep". Tri City News. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ "B.C. Thunder back in NRL ringette league". Burnaby Now. 2014-07-31. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ "RINGETTE: Surrey goaltender Kiana Heska the lone B.C. player on Canada's junior national team". Today in BC. 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ "Team Canada juniors take gold at World Ringette Championships, seniors drop series to Finland". SIRC. 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ "BC Thunder". BC Thunder Ringette. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ "NRL/LNR Standings". National Ringette League. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
- ↑ "2022-23 Season Roster". BC Thunder Ringette. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ "National Ringette League | 2022–23 NRL Rosters". nationalringetteleague.msa4.rampinteractive.com. Ringette Canada. 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.