Posted on

Devils and Adirondack Thunder Extend Affiliation Agreement

The Binghamton Devils announced via their website today that the New Jersey Devils organization has come to an agreement to keep the Adirondack Thunder the ECHL affiliate of both the New Jersey and Binghamton franchises through the end of the 2018-19 season.

The Devils’ press release mentions that Adirondack and New Jersey entered into an agreement for the first time as affiliates on August 8, 2017. Prior to that, the teams had an “informal working agreement” according to the release. That informal agreement went back two seasons to the 2015-16 season.

The release also mentions that several players from the Thunder “had several players with the team this season on New Jersey or Binghamton contracts.” These included goalies MacKenzie Blackwood and Ken Appleby and defenseman Colton White. Appleby was “the first Thunder alum that appeared in multiple games with Adirondack to go on to make his NHL debut.”

Adirondack made it to the ECHL’s Eastern Conference Finals, losing four games to one to the Florida Everblades, this season. Florida will play the Colorado Eagles in the Kelly Cup Finals, the championship of the ECHL.

New Jersey Assistant General Manager Tom Fitzgerald said: “On behalf of the New Jersey Devils, we are pleased to extend our partnership with the Adirondack Thunder as our ECHL affiliate for the 2018-19 season. We have seen firsthand how the staff in Adirondack has developed our players and helped aid in the transition to Binghamton. The success of the Thunder on the ice this season has been a direct reflection of that, and we all look forward to working together next season.”

The Thunder were formerly the ECHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames.

Posted on

Devils Enter into Official Affiliation Agreement with Adirondack Thunder

The New Jersey Devils officially have an ECHL affiliate again. Earlier today, the Adirondack Thunder made the announcement that they have entered into an official affiliation with New Jersey and the Binghamton Devils after two seasons of having “an informal working arrangement” with the franchise.

The Devils had not had an official ECHL affiliate since the Trenton Titans folded a few years back. For the Thunder, this will be their second affiliation – they were owned and operated by the Calgary Flames from 2015 to 2017 according to their press release.

The Thunder play out of Glens Falls, New York and have been informally working with the New Jersey and Albany Devils since 2015.

According to the press release put out by the Thunder, Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood became the first Adirondack player to appear in a NHL game when he started for the Devils on March 20, 2016 against Columbus. Goalie Ken Appleby was the first “with multiple games played with Adirondack” to appear in the NHL – he dressed as the backup for the Devils on March 10, 2017 versus Colorado.

The Thunder began life in Stockton, California, but the Flames swapped them to Glens Falls when they moved their AHL affiliate (the Adirondack Flames) out west to become the Stockton Heat. The Thunder were then moved east to take the Flames’ place in Glens Falls.

The informal working agreement saw Brandon Baddock play in with Adirondack in addition to the two goaltenders and, according to the press release, saw seven Thunder players sign try out deals with Albany, which allowed those players to move up to the AHL level.

In addition to the affiliate agreement, Adirondack also announced Brad Tapper as their new head coach and director of hockey operations. The release on that says that he is the second coach in team history, after Cail MacLean “who accepted a position at a higher level last week.”

Tapper is 39 years-old and has been coaching for eight years according to his bio. He was an assistant in the AHL for the Rochester Americans and Chicago Wolves and the Orlando Solar Bears and Florida Everblades (with whom he was a part of a Kelly Cup championship) in the ECHL. He served as head coach of the North York Rangers of the CCHL.

Tapper, a Scarborough, Ontario native, played 71 NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers from 2000 to 2003. He had a career high 14 points in 2002-03, including 10 goals.

He played in 132 AHL games in a career that took him to the Wolves, Binghamton Senators and Philadelphia Phantoms. He won the Calder Cup with Chicago in 2002. He also played in Germany and in the IHL with the Solar Bears (when the franchise was in that now-defunct league).

Tapper played college hockey at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and led RPI with 51 points during his junior year (1999-2000).

The Thunder also announced that they will retain Alex Loh “on the hockey operations staff.” He “will be promoted to Associate Coach” and will help Tapper run the team day-to-day. The press release also says that he will sign players, manage the salary cap and do video work in addition to his on-ice coaching duties.

Congratulations to both coaches for their appointments to the Adirondack coaching staff and good luck to the Thunder as they enter into their new agreement with the New Jersey Devils.