Game after game, win after win – it’s been the best-ever start to a season for the Airdrie Techmation Thunder hockey team. Twenty-two games into the 2018-19 season, the Thunder remains the top Junior B team in the province – boasting first place in the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) with a 21-1-0 record and a +135 goal differential. Airdrie remains unbeaten in the North Division, enjoying a healthy 15-point lead over the second-place Red Deer Vipers. The Thunder’s most recent games – Nov. 23 and 24 – saw the Airdronians overcome the Medicine Hat Cubs 9-4 at home, and the Cochrane Generals 8-4 on the road. After starting the year with an 18-game win streak, the Thunder’s first loss of the season finally came Nov. 16, in a 4-2 home defeat to the Coaldale Copperheads. Head coach Derek Stamp said the Thunder started strong in the game against the Copperheads, but was unable to bury chances early on. “We ran into a bit of adversity and didn’t handle it as well as we should have,” he said. "We got behind and just gripped the sticks a little too tight. We definitely could have handled the adversity better, but we learned from it.” The team shook off the defeat quickly, and has since posted three wins on the trot. Considering the points gap that has emerged between the Thunder and its nearest challengers in the HJHL, Stamp acknowledged keeping the players from slipping into a sense of complacency will be important as the season moves forward. However, he said, the players’ hunger to win the Thunder’s second-ever HJHL championship – and the organization’s first since 2000 – comes largely from within. “There’s a lot of competitiveness within them, and they’re here to have a great season and see what they can do,” said Stamp, who is in his second season coaching the Thunder. “The coaches, we try to keep them on task, [with] a lot of conversations around systems, tactics. Trying to get them to answer questions and feel engaged with the team’s planning. “Really, it’s a motivated group, internally.” Captain Jacob MacDonald agreed. “I think we’re just a bunch of competitive guys,” he said after the team’s Nov. 23 win against Medicine Hat. “I don’t think anyone on this team likes losing. “It’s gotten to a culture point now where losing just isn’t acceptable, especially since we know how good we can be.” MacDonald, who is in his third season with the organization, said laziness and a bit of cockiness contributed to the Thunder’s sole loss of 2018-19. “I think it was good the way we got back into the win column right away,” he added. The Thunder will return to the ice Nov. 30, with a home tilt against the Strathmore Wheatland Kings. Strathmore is third in the South Division with an 11-8-1 record. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. at the Ron Ebbesen Arena.
