Thunderbolts Announce Time Change for Saturday's Game

Evansville, In.:  Due to the heightened risk of inclement winter weather, the opening face-off for this Saturday’s game at Ford Center between the Evansville Thunderbolts and Quad City Storm has been moved up from 7:00pm to 3:00pm CT.  Opening face-off for this Friday’s home game against the Birmingham Bulls remains unchanged at a 7:00pm CT opening face-off.

The Ford Center Box Office will now open at Noon on Saturday.  The jersey auction for this Saturday’s game-worn Star Wars jerseys will be moved online via DASH, instead of in-person.  The auction will run from Friday, January 23rd at 8:00 am CT to Monday, January 26th at 6:00 pm CT, through the following link:  https://bit.ly/4bN8yWv.  

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  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 Hawes to PTO

On Wednesday, Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced signing of defenseman Ethan Hawes to a professional tryout (PTO).

Hawes played with Eindhoven Kemphanen of the Netherlands-2 professional circuit in 2024-25, scoring 3 goals and 18 points in 19 regular season games before adding 2 goals and 7 points in 10 playoff games.  The native of Newcastle, Australia has played four seasons for his hometown semi-professional team, the Newcastle Northstars of the Australian Ice Hockey League between 2022 and 2025, scoring 13 goals and 86 points in 87 regular season games.  Hawes also represented Australia in the World Junior Hockey Championships in the 2B and 3 divisions, captaining the team in 2022.  Hawes previously played junior hockey in North America, most recently with the Oceanside Generals of the VIJHL in 2022-23.   

Thunderbolts Sweep Weekend in Pensacola with 2-1 Win

Pensacola, Fl.:  The Thunderbolts clamped down in Saturday night’s rematch in Pensacola against the Ice Flyers, winning 2-1 and securing all four possible points on the weekend, extending their regulation unbeaten streak to five games and counting.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, January 23rd against the Birmingham Bulls at 7:00pm CT.

The Thunderbolts dominated the Ice Flyers in the first period, outshooting Pensacola 14-3 and scoring the only goal of the period as Derek Contessa scored on a 2-on-1 rush from Myles Abbate at 12:29.  In the second period, the Ice Flyers pressed hard and tied the game at 4:05 as Tyrone Bronte scored on a net-front pass.  Evansville bent but didn’t break for about 10 minutes afterward as Pensacola pressed, before bouncing back to retake the lead at 15:34 as Eelis Laaksonen scored at the net-front from Evan Miller and Contessa to make it 2-1 Evansville.  The Thunderbolts shut down the Ice Flyers on their only power play chance in the game midway through the third period and denied Pensacola any significant opportunities with goaltender Logan Flodell pulled for an extra attacker late, as Evansville secured the 2-1 victory, taking both games in their only trip to Pensacola this regular season.

Contessa scored one goal and one assist, with Laaksonen scoring the game-winning goal.  In goal, Kristian Stead stopped 20 of 21 shots on goal his 14th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Ice Flyers meet again on Friday, April 3rd at Ford Center, with Evansville leading the regular season series 2-0.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  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

Karpinski Leads Thunderbolts to 3-2 Comeback Win over Ice Flyers

Pensacola, Fl.:  Behind stellar goaltending from Cody Karpinski against his former team, the Thunderbolts rallied from a 2-0 deficit to come back and defeat the Ice Flyers 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night at the Pensacola Bay Center.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, January 23rd against the Birmingham Bulls at 7:00pm CT.

Pensacola grabbed the game’s first lead late in the first period, with Tyler Burnie scoring on a back-door pass at 15:50.  48 seconds later, the Ice Flyers doubled their lead to 2-0 as Zack Jones scored on a 2-on-1 rush at 16:38.  Evansville’s trend of strong second periods continued, starting with Connor Tait batting in a puck at the side of the net from Eelis Laaksonen and Will van der Veen at 7:41 to trim the deficit to 2-1 Pensacola.  On the power play late in the period, the Thunderbolts nearly fell behind 3-1 with a shorthanded 2-on-0 rush by Pensacola as Tyler Burnie passed across to Tyler German, but a sure goal was robbed by Karpinski, who dove across to make the pad save.  The save proved to be a massive momentum swinger, as Evansville scored one second after the power play expired to tie the game 2-2, with Berkopec scoring the goal from Myles Abbate at 17:11.  After a scoreless third period and overtime, where Karpinski again denied a 2-on-0 scoring chance, the game went to a shootout.  Behind goals in the first round by Scott Kirton and fourth round from Abbate and another 4 saves on 5 shootout attempts by Karpinski, Evansville ended their losing streak of five consecutive shootouts and completed the comeback, 3-2 the final score to open the weekend doubleheader at Pensacola.

Abbate scored the shootout-winning goal plus an assist, with Tait and Berkopec also scoring one goal each.  In goal, Cody Karpinski stopped 30 of 32 shots on goal in regulation and overtime and 4 of 5 in the shootout for his 2nd win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Ice Flyers meet again on Saturday, January 17th at Pensacola Bay Center, with Evansville leading the regular season series 1-0.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  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

Keanan Stewart Returns from ECHL; Thiessen loaned to Idaho (ECHL)

Prior to Friday night's game in Pensacola, Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced a pair of transactions, led by the return of forward Keanan Stewart from call-up to the ECHL's Iowa Heartlanders.

Stewart returns to Evansville after just over a month in Iowa, where he played 6 games and scored 1 goal, and has now tallied 4 goals and 12 points in 60 career ECHL games with Iowa, Cincinnati and Adirondack.  The native of Guelph, Ontario has been off to a fantastic start in his Thunderbolts career, having scored 5 goals and 8 points along with a +5 rating so far in 7 games with Evansville.  

In additional transaction news, defenseman Max Thiessen has been called up to the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads.  Thiessen has played 12 games in his rookie season with Evansville, recording two assists.