If you haven’t been to an Airdrie Techmation Thunder game this season, you’re missing out. Even if you’re not a hardcore hockey fan, a night at the Ron Ebbesen Arena to watch our Junior B team play is almost guaranteed entertainment. The Thunder boasts some of the most talented players in the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) and a crop of former Junior A players, which means you’re likely to see lots of goals when the Thunder takes to the ice. It would be an understatement to say the Thunder has dominated the league this year. A third of the way through the 2018-19 regular season, the team has a 17-0-0 record, with 160 goals scored and 40 goals conceded. Airdrie's most staggering results were a 15-1 drubbing of the Lomond Lakers and a 29-1 beating of the struggling Three Hills Thrashers in October. Heavy victories against poor opposition aside, perhaps the team’s most impressive feat is that Airdrie is the last remaining Junior B hockey team in Alberta to remain undefeated in 2018-19. According to Hockey Alberta’s website, there are 51 teams in five Junior B hockey leagues in the province – and the Thunder is at the top. On the scoring front, the team has been led by former Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) player Jordan McConnell and three-year HJHL veteran Rylan Plante-Crough, who have each averaged around four or five points per game. An Airdrie native but a Thunder newcomer this year, McConnell has registered 30 goals and 38 assists in his first HJHL campaign, while Plante-Crough has put up 27 goals and 34 assists (as of Nov. 13). Both players have put more pucks in the net individually than the entire Three Hills Thrashers team (20). To make matters more interesting, McConnell and Plante-Crough often play on the same line, which means opposing defensemen have to contend with both players on the ice at the same time. Watching the pair set each other up for scoring opportunities is a joy. While McConnell and Plante-Crough have been the obvious stars this year, they’re by no means alone. Five Airdrie players have scored goals in the double-digits already this season, including Cooper Page, Tristan Paquette and newcomer Brayden Dunn. The recent arrival of Dunn – another former Junior A player who joined the Thunder in mid-October – has boosted the team’s offence even more. In just eight games, Dunn has tallied 16 goals and 13 assists. While it may still be too early to start talking about the HJHL championship, hockey fans in Airdrie can be forgiven for predicting big things from the Thunder this season.
