Union Thunder Junior Hockey News
The New York Apple Core is proud to announce that they now have an Official EHLP affilaite, The Union Junior Thunder! The Apple Core believe in the EHLP to EHL pipeline and look forward to the affiliation.
In our first 2 years we have already advanced several players to the EHL ranks, including the Apple Core. We are excited to build on this even more with the official affiliation and put our players development and advancement first!
UNION, N.J. – Just as expected, the Union Junior Thunder have had a spectacular second half of their season. Recently, they have won 4 of their last 7 matchups, including an impressive hard-fought win against the Seahawks Hockey Club. The double-header on Friday at the Aston showcase proved to be a successful one, where forward Ethan Richardson and recent signee Tyler Chmiel were able to both successfully get their first career EHLp goals with the Thunder.
Team leaderboard contributors include forwards Ryan Byington, David Toman, and recent re-signee James (Jimmy) Delaney. These key players have shown a tremendous effort and proven their improvement from the beginning of the season in September. Byington, despite an injury suffered in January, has been able to get back on the ice healthy, and most importantly, back on the scoresheet. Miles Fairbanks’ 2 way game on both ends of the ice has also been a contributing factor to recent results
The team has already achieved a franchise record of 11 regular season wins, surpassing the 5 wins they had in their inaugural 2022-2023 season just last year. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed.
This weekend, the team begins their long-awaited playoff run. The team battles one of their favored opponents in this play-in-round, the #4 seed Philadelphia Flyers (EHLp). The Thunder have gone undefeated in their last 4 matchups against PLF. They plan on keeping their streak going this weekend.
As always, make sure to tune into this weekend’s games on Hockey TV.
This weekend’s schedule is as follows:
Game 1: Friday @ 7:00pm at IceWorks Skating Complex, Aston, PA
Game 2: Saturday @ 2:30pm at Union Sports Arena, Union, NJ
Game 3: Sunday @ 11:00am at IceWorks Skating Complex, Aston, PA
UNION, N.J. - Things are heating up for the Thunder as they near the end of the season. With just 12 regular season games left, let’s take a look at what this past month has been like for the team.
Puzzle pieces have been falling into place while the Thunder have gone 3-2 in their last 5 games, with 2 wins over the Philadelphia Little Flyers, and a win against the New Jersey Renegades.
Starting goalie Shawn Kline has been on a roll and currently sits 3rd in the league (out of 20 goalies) with a 0.922 save percentage. Kline has made 664 saves this season (of 720 shots allowed) and has already hit his career 1000 saves.
Goalie Ryan Wirtz also receives a notable mention as he was able to get a win with his first home start in net against the Philadelphia Little Flyers on January 15th. Wirtz only let in 1 of 32 shots faced in goal.
Just this past Sunday, January 28th, Brandon Laragga was able to score his first career goal with the Thunder just this past Sunday against the Philadelphia Little Flyers.
The following forwards have also made a tremendous effort these last 5 games:
Ryan Byington = 3 goals, 2 assists
Paul Rubinshteyn = 2 goals, 2 assists
David Toman = 2 goals, 1 assist
Shane Culley = 2 goals
James Delaney = 1 goal, 2 assists
Colin Coakley = 1 goal, 2 assists
Cody Livernois = 3 assists
Collectively, the team has scored 12 goals in the last 5 games. With only 12 games left to play before the playoffs, this young team is expected to continue their strong efforts and keep putting numbers up.
This weekend’s game schedule is as follows:
Saturday, February 3rd - 7:45pm puck drop at SportsCare Arena vs New Jersey Renegades
Sunday, February 4th - 5:00pm puck drop at Jersey Shore Arena vs New Jersey 87s
All games can be viewed on FloHockey.com
Interested in taking the next step? Fill out this form and our staff will be in touch. CLICK HERE
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- By Emily Sznurkowski 11/15/2023, 3:45pm EST
Thunder Developing Stars
- By Union Thunder Staff 01/11/2023, 9:45am EST
Development at Work
- By Union Thunder Staff 01/05/2023, 11:45am EST
