The air inside Ford Center was crackling with tension. It was late April and the final week of the SPHL hockey playoffs. Having knocked off the league’s top two teams, the No. 7-seed Thunderbolts found themselves in an overtime fight with the Ice Bears of Knoxville, Tennessee, and needed just one more goal to clinch the President’s Cup. Fed a pass from Bolts goaltender Ethan Price, forward Aidan Litke sliced the puck past the Ice Bears’ goalie and into the net. Red and blue lights blazed from the goal posts, spotlights hit the rink, helmets were thrown in the air, and the crowd went wild. The Bolts had done it; the Cup was theirs.
On the ice, assistant captain Scott Kirton leapt into forward Jordan Simoneau’s arms. Forward and first-year Bolt Derek Contessa, grinning from ear to ear, grabbed a fan’s phone for a selfie. Captain Matthew Hobbs skated between staff members, shaking hands and thanking each. While DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” blared from the speakers, players glided across the ice in a daze, taking it all in. Fans remained through the Cup presentation, cheering as each player skated a loop and raised the city’s first trophy.
“It was surreal,” Hobbs, who joined the Bolts in 2022, told Evansville Living in December. “It was unbelievable, something that we’ve been fighting for for so long. I’ve been replaying it almost every day in my head, to be honest.”
With nearly a decade of play under their belt, the Evansville Thunderbolts have carved their place in the city. The hockey club has a growing fanbase to cheer on the nearly two-dozen players who, with Head Coach Jeff Bes, have developed a championship-winning culture. “We believed we could do it, but nobody else really did other than our loyal fans,” Hobbs says. “It definitely was extra sweet that we were able to prove a lot of people wrong.”
Owned by Ford Center management company VenuWorks, the Thunderbolts average nearly 3,600 fans per home game and started this season strong as they seek to defend their title. Bes says the Thunderbolts are built on hard work, professionalism, and accountability. “We buy into that, and it’s helped our foundation,” says Bes, a Canadian native who has led the club since 2019 and has a lengthy résumé of playing and coaching at various levels of hockey.
Fans have embraced the team — and each other. “I love the sense of community that Bolts hockey brings,” says Anna Borowiecki of Newburgh. “It brings me so much joy getting to catch up before and during games with friends who have become family.”
Minor-league sports players and coaches come and go, as do franchises on occasion. Local hockey fans, stung from the acrimonious departure of the ECHL’s Ice-Men in spring 2016, gradually warmed up when the Thunderbolts — named for the war-era P-47s produced here — debuted that fall. Focusing on player development, the organization attracts talent from across the U.S., Canada, and even Europe. “We’ve built a good culture,” says Hobbs, a 26-year-old forward from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, who played most of the 2021-22 season for the Birmingham (Alabama) Bulls before being picked up by the Bolts on waivers. “You’re treated like a pro. So, it’s definitely something that is a top attribute to being able to recruit guys.”
SPHL teams log substantial bus time during their 58-game regular season: The 10-team league stretches from Moline, Illinois, to Pensacola, Florida. Players vie for opportunities in National Hockey League-affiliated feeder leagues such as the ECHL and the higher-up AHL. “It’s a really pro environment. The Ford Center is a first-class arena. Coming in, you feel that, the guys feel like a pro,” says 29-year-old Kirton, a five-year Bolt from Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. “It just provides guys a good opportunity to get better at hockey.”
Players reside in local apartments from training camp in October through the playoffs in April. Part of the job is community outreach, including making school and hospital visits and running children’s camps. A booster club hosts monthly dinners and helps them with grocery shopping. Fans brush shoulders with the team by bidding on game jerseys and attending public open skates with players. “They all see my grandson and call him their ‘little buddy,’” says Evansville resident and season ticket holder Katrinka Rynder. “A few have come and taken him skating in their free time. There is no way to put into words how special each of these guys is.”
“Bolts fans are very dedicated,” says Dan Katz, who began emceeing Thunderbolts games in October 2021, one month after retiring from his longtime job as a 14 News TV anchor. “The atmosphere inside Ford Center is incredible. The natural enthusiasm is pretty wild, but when you add the newly updated Jumbotron and sound system, it can get downright ear piercing.”
Fans and players alike want to see more seats filled at home games, saying the 750-member season ticket holder bandwagon has plenty of room. “These guys are great hockey players, they’re hard working, and they’re an asset to our community, and I feel like they really get slept on,” Evansville resident Kirt Ethridge says.
“The guys compete their hearts out and fight every minute to try and gain an advantage. I think they are the absolute perfect fit for this area,” Katz says. “I always tell people that it often seems like a TV show with a hockey game happening on the ice below. But both shows are exciting, and win or lose, the fans always seem to leave the arena with smiles on their faces.”
