The Carolina Thunderbirds begin what is easily the most brutal part of their schedule tonight with 4 games in 4 days in 3 different rinks starting in Mentor, OH against the Ice Breakers. Carolina then heads up to Michigan for their first trip to the McMorran Arena this season to take on the Prowlers on the 27th. After those two road games the team quickly heads back down to North Carolina hosting a weekend matchup against the Mentor Ice Breakers on Friday and Saturday night.
While the 4 games in 4 nights will be over, the schedule adds one more tough wrinkle with Carolina hosting the Danville Dashers on New Year’s Eve (Monday, December 31).
The Thunderbirds are currently in the middle of a stretch in their schedule that will see them play in every rink in the league over 15 days.
Danville 12/22
Mentor 12/26
Port Huron 12/27
Winston-Salem 12/28, 12/29, 12/31
Elmira 1/4
Watertown 1/5
Despite giving up seven goals last weekend, Christian Pavlas remains the hottest goalie in the FHL with wins in his last six starts including three shutouts in that window. He’s certainly a favorite for FHL goaltender of the month in December with a 5-0-0-0 record and a 1.40 GAA so far.
Carolina’s offense certainly found their way against the Danville dashers last weekend scoring a combined 15 goals in two games. Chase Fallis has the highlight moment offensively, scoring his first ever professional hat trick in Saturday’s 8-3 win, with his last two goals coming in the last 20 seconds of the game. Jan Salak (6 points) and Petr Panacek (5 Points) also had exceptional offensive outputs last weekend.
The Thunderbrids remain atop the FHL standings and their lead seems to be growing every weekend thanks in part to a 6-game winning streak the team is currently on. The nearest team to them (Watertown) is 14 points back with one game in hand. Even at a three point max with that game in hand the Thunderbirds lead their nearest competition by roughly four games.
Back at the Annex, the front office and stadium crews get ready to host three games in four days. A pair against the Ice Breakers on Friday (7:35 puck drop) and Saturday (6:05 puck drop) plus our annual New Year’s Eve game on Monday night hosting the Danville Dashers (8:35 puck drop). Saturday and Monday’s game both feature a post-game skate with players and on Monday night stay until midnight with the whole family as we countdown to 2019 with the Thunderbirds.
Tickets are on sale at the Fairgrounds Box Office and on TicketMaster.
FHL Standings through December 23rd
W-OTW-OTL-L
CAR 15-0-1-3 (46)
WAT 10-1-0-7 (32)
DAN 8-1-0-10 (26)
ELM 8-0-2-9 (26)
PTH 6-2-1-10 (23)
MIB 5-0-0-13 (12)
Thunderbirds point leaders
16 Jan Salak 8G-16A-24P
19 Josh Pietrantonio 6G-17A-23P
14 Chase Fallis 8G-9A-17P
10 Jiri Pargac 5G-11A-16P
11 Michael Bunn 3G-13A-16P
Thunderbirds goalie leaders
31 Christian Pavlas, 7-0-0-1, 1.63 GAA, .940 sv%
*#30 Henry Dill, 5-0-1-2, 1.86 GAA, .924 sv%
35 Frankie McClendon, 2-0-0-0, 3.50 GAA, .857 sv%
*Currently inactive
Our tape delay schedule with WSTV is currently being modified to accommodate the extra games the Thunderbirds will be playing in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned to our social media for more information on when games will be broadcast
You can find full highlight packages and coach’s show replays on our YouTube channel, Carolina Thunderbirds TV
