Thunderbolts Sign Ethan Price to SPC; Valente on 14-Day IR

On Saturday, the Thunderbolts and Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced a pair of transactions, led by the signing of forward Ethan Price to a standard contract.

Price most recently played in the France 2 league in 2022-23, where he scored 7 goals and 17 points in 17 regular season games, along with a goal and 7 points in 6 postseason games.  Price, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, played two seasons of major junior hockey with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks from 2013-2015, before returning to his home state to play for the USHL’s Lincoln Stars midway through the 2014-15 season.  Price returned to the WHL with the Victoria Royals for two seasons between 2015-2017, before playing one final season of junior hockey back in Nebraska with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers in 2017-18.  Price tallied 27 goals and 61 points in 245 total WHL games, along with 16 goals and 37 points in 87 USHL games.  Price then began his collegiate career at Brock University in 2018-19, before moving on to Grant MacEwan University from 2020-2022, where he served as team captain in 2021-22.  Price finished with 7 goals and 18 points in 42 collegiate games.  Following the conclusion of the 2021-22 collegiate season, Price turned pro with the ECHL’s Worcester Railers to finish the year, appearing in 17 games and tallying 2 assists.

In additional transaction news, defenseman Grayson Valente has been placed on 14-Day Injured Reserve.

Stewart’s Overtime Goal leads Thunderbolts over Marksmen 3-2

Fayetteville, NC.:  In the Thunderbolts’ first game at Fayetteville in over five years, Mackenze Stewart scored his first goal as a Thunderbolt in dramatic fashion, scoring in overtime to defeat the Marksmen 3-2 in Fayetteville on Friday night.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, March 22nd against the Quad City Storm at 7:05pm CT.

For the second game in a row, Aidan Litke opened the scoring early in the first period for Evansville, scoring moments after a power play chance expired at 3:39, assisted by Stewart and Isaac Chapman.  The Marksmen answered back to tie the game 1-1, as Trent Grimshaw scored a power play goal with only 1.8 seconds remaining in the first period.  The lone goal of the second period was scored by Evansville on a 3-on-2 rush by Will van der Veen at 3:48, assisted by Logan vande Meerakker and Scott Kirton, the goal being Van der Veen’s first professional goal in his first professional game.  Evansville led 2-1 nearly the entire rest of the way, however Sam Anzai banked in a shot from behind the goal line with only 2:25remaining in the third period to force overtime.  In overtime, Stewart scored at 4:21 with assists from Myles Abbate and Matt Dorsey, as Dorsey initially stormed the net and Abbate fed Stewart with a beautiful pass from the far corner while tied up by a Marksmen defender.  With the win, Evansville is now 8-1-1 in their past 10 games, the best 10-game record at present time for any team in the SPHL.

Stewart scored the game-winning goal along with an assist, while Litke and Van der Veen scored one goal each in regulation.  In goal, Cole Ceci finished with 30 saves on 32 shots on goal for his 17th win of the season and his 30th as a Thunderbolt, which gives Ceci the franchise all-time wins record previously held by Brian Billett.  The Thunderbolts and Marksmen meet again on Saturday, March 15th at Crown Coliseum.  Friday’s win was Evansville’s 23rd of the season, increasing Evansville’s standings points to 52 as the Thunderbolts are again tied for 5th place and only one point out of 4th place.  Evansville now only needs a maximum of 7 points out of 16 possible remaining points to clinch a playoff spot.

Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2024-25 season.  Season tickets for the 2025-26 season are on sale now.  Call 812-422-BOLT(2658) or visit our website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL.  The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com

Thunderbolts Sign van der Veen and Del Vecchio; Waive Mendeszoon and Lynn

On Wednesday, the Thunderbolts and Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced several transactions, led by the signings of defenseman Will van der Veen to a standard contract and forward Patrick Del Vecchio to a professional tryout (PTO).

Van der Veen turns professional with the Thunderbolts after concluding his college career at Saint Anselm College, where he scored two goals and 11 points along with a +7 rating in 29 games this season.  The native of Duxbury, Massachusetts played four seasons of college hockey with Bowdoin College between 2021-2023 and Saint Anselm between 2023-2025, scoring 7 goals and 23 points with a +14 rating in 72 regular season games, and won the NESCAC Conference Championship with Bowdoin College in 2022-23. 

Del Vecchio joins the Thunderbolts from Alvernia University, where he was a teammate of Thunderbolt forwards Isaac Chapman and Logan vande Meerakker.  The three forwards were also teammates at Norwich University before each transferred to Alvernia, Chapman and Vande Meerakker in 2022 and Del Vecchio in 2024.  This season, Del Vecchio scored 2 goals and 12 points in 18 games, and in 84 total games with Norwich between 2021-2024 and Alvernia in 2024-25, he scored 13 goals and 37 points.  The native of Mississauga, Ontario was also a prolific offensive producer in junior hockey in his home province, scoring 31 goals and 66 points with the GOJHL’s Brampton Bombers  in 2017-18, following by two full seasons in the OJHL with the Brampton Admirals between 2018-2020, scoring 33 goals and 98 points in 104 total games of league play.

In additional transaction news, defenseman Jake Mendeszoon has been released from his professional tryout (PTO), and forward Brady Lynn has been placed on waivers.

Vande Meerakker's Late Goal Leads Thunderbolts Over Havoc, 4-3

Evansville, In.:  After a late two-goal lead slipped away from Evansville, the Thunderbolts bent but did not break as they scored in the final minutes of regulation to defeat the Havoc 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Ford Center.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, March 22nd against the Quad City Storm at 7:05pm CT.

Only 3:56 into the game, Aidan Litke opened the scoring for Evansville on a nice move to the inside from Scott Kirton and Cameron MacPhee to make it 1-0.  At 14:17, Huntsville responded as Phil Elgstam scored on the rush to tie the game, before Evansville grabbed the lead back only 37 seconds later, as Benjamin Lindberg scored off a face-off win from Tyson Gilmour to give Evansville the 2-1 lead at 14:54.  Following a scoreless second period, Myles Abbate scored unassisted on a breakaway 9:33 into the third period to give Evansville some insurance with a 3-1 lead.  Huntsville stormed back however, as Elgstam scored off a broken play at 11:53, followed by Sam Ruffin on a power play just over a minute later at 13:16 to tie the game 3-3.  Weathering the late pressure from the Havoc, Evansville gained a late 4-3 lead with 2:10 remaining in the third period as Logan vande Meerakker finished a net-front scramble from Gilmour and Kirton, the lead holding following a late push from Huntsville with Havoc goaltender Mike Robinson pulled for the extra attacker.

Vande Meerakker scored the game-winning goal, while Lindberg, Litke, and Abbate each finished with one goal apiece.  Gilmour and Kirton each tallied a pair of assists, while Cole Ceci finished with 22 saves on 25 shots on goal for his 16th win of the season and his 29th as a Thunderbolt, which ties the franchise all-time wins record held by Brian Billett.  The Thunderbolts and Havoc meet again on Friday, March 28th at Von Braun Center.  Sunday’s win was Evansville’s 22nd of the season, increasing Evansville’s standings points to 50 as the Thunderbolts are now tied for 5th place and only one point out of 4th place.  Evansville now only needs a maximum of 9 points out of 18 possible remaining points to clinch a playoff spot.

Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2024-25 season.  Season tickets for the 2025-26 season are on sale now.  Call 812-422-BOLT(2658) or visit our website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL.  The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com

Thunderbolts Sign Defenseman Mackenze Stewart; Put Adams on 14-day IR

On Thursday, the Thunderbolts and Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced a pair of transactions, led by the signing of defenseman Mackenze Stewart.

Stewart, a native of Calgary, Alberta, is a former NHL draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks, who selected him 186th overall in the 2014 NHL Draft from the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL.  In the WHL with the Raiders along with the Tri-City Americans between 2012-2016, Stewart played 163 games and scored 15 goals along with 16 assists for 31 points, along with 230 penalty minutes.  Stewart played three seasons within the Canucks organization with the AHL’s Utica Comets along with the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings and Alaska Aces between 2015-2018, before playing one season in the Detroit Red Wings farm system with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins and ECHL’s Toledo Walleye in 2018-19, before concluding the season with the Innisfail Eagles of the ACHW and playing briefly with the Eagles in 2019-20.  In total professionally, Stewart played 10 games in the AHL, along with 134 ECHL games, scoring 10 goals along with 16 assists for 26 points.  Since 2019, Stewart has remained active in hockey, working in prospect development for the Raiders and attending training camp with the ECHL’s Allen Americans prior to the start of this season.

In additional transaction news, defenseman Bronson Adams has been placed on 14-Day Injured Reserve.