The Adirondack Thunder had assembled a promising group of players before this season.
Thanks to the continuing coronavirus pandemic, the season never happened.
When the Thunder and the rest of the ECHL’s North Division opted out of the 2020-21 season, the 19 players who were signed were released from their contracts.
Today, they’re scattered all over. Some landed with other teams in the “Coast,” as players refer to the ECHL. One headed overseas to play in Europe. A couple of others decided to stay home and train for next season.
Here’s a look at how four recent Thunder players are spending their winter:
At 35, Pete MacArthur is the “old man” by hockey standards, especially a developmental minor league like the ECHL. He’s also the local guy, raised in Clifton Park before playing at Boston University and bouncing around the AHL and ECHL.
On Nov. 10, MacArthur was traded from Orlando to Adirondack for his second stint with the Thunder. The playmaking center had played three seasons in Glens Falls, was a team captain and became the franchise’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer. Eight days later, the Thunder pulled the plug on the season.
“We had a feeling it was going to go that way,” MacArthur said from his home in San Antonio, where he lives with his wife and two sons — William, who is 5 1/2, and Danny, who is 5 1/2 months old.
“I’ve been spending my entire corona experience training players and training myself every day, then going home,” he said. “It’s one-stop shopping for me — I get my job done and the rest of the day I spend with clients and my family.”
MacArthur works for Coast 2 Coast Player Development, a comprehensive training program created by and for hockey players for skill development, conditioning and nutrition.
MacArthur is especially proud of the company’s mentoring program — teaching younger players on- and off-ice skills to be better prepared for the next level, whether that’s college or the pros.
“It depends on the client — we do one-on-one training, group training, different-style camps for all different levels,” MacArthur said. “I’ve worked with 7-year-old youth hockey players and 28-year-old professional players — it depends on who’s looking for what.
“It’s giving back to the game and helping yourself out at the same time,” he added. “It’s a win-win.”
Several recent Thunder players also work for Coast 2 Coast, including Matt Salhany, James Henry, Greg Wolfe and Drew Fielding, he said.
As for future plans, MacArthur continues training on and off the ice. He does have an eye on one night this October at the Cool Insuring Arena.
“If I play hockey again, it will be for the Thunder,” MacArthur said. “It will be special to skate out there again.”
Matt Salhany apologized for a rushed first conversation. He was getting ready to fly to Denmark for an unexpected opportunity to play hockey this season.
Reached a few days later at his new apartment in the town of Vojens, about 2 1/2 hours from Copenhagen, Salhany related his whirlwind experience since the Thunder closed down their season.
A 28-year-old right wing from Warwick, Rhode Island, Salhany had racked up 93 points in two seasons with the Thunder. Now, he is practicing with his new team, SonderjyskE, of the top Danish hockey league, while waiting for his working visa to be approved.
“My agent contacted me about them,” Salhany said. “I was very reluctant to play in the Coast this year, it’s just a messy situation. And my girlfriend is still in Glens Falls.
“We got a lot of offers to play in the Coast, but we just signed a lease in Glens Falls. It was a tough decision to get up and move, especially finding a team that would take all of us,” he said, referring to the couple’s dog and cat.
“This was ideal — come over for two or three months, tops, then I’m back in Glens Falls.”
Salhany said he has always been interested in playing overseas because of the larger international ice surface, which would be ideal for his speed.
“I definitely want to get my feet wet and see how I like it,” he said. “I’ve been knocking on the door of playing in the AHL, but to make a decent living, you have to come over here (to Europe).”
Salhany said the coronavirus situation was “fairly good” in Vojens, adding, “It’s a small town, you wear a mask in public, the team gets tested once a week. They seem to be ahead of things and have it under control here.”
He is also not the only North American player on the team — there are a few others, including Cam Brown, whom Salhany grew up playing with.
“Cam’s in his first year overseas, so he’s been through the transition,” Salhany said. “They all speak English here, so it’s been a super-easy transition, but it’s nice to experience a different culture.”
Now, he’s just looking forward to getting on the ice for a real game for the first time in almost a year.
“I stayed on the ice for the last three months, so my legs and lungs are good,” he said.
After the season, Salhany said he plans to assess how playing in Europe went and go from there
“I love Adirondack — they treat me well, and the fans are amazing,” he said. “They were my first organization as a pro that kick-started my career. It’s possible that I’ll be back, but it’s tough to say. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.”
One of several recent Adirondack Thunder players to find landing spots in the ECHL, Charlie Curti is in South Dakota playing for the Rapid City Rush.
A 25-year-old defenseman from Minneapolis, Curti started most of the 2019-20 season for the Thunder, scoring 31 points. He was excited to be part of what looked to be a strong returning roster in Glens Falls.
“Obviously it’s disappointing — we thought we had a good group coming back to Adirondack, I had a lot of buddies on the team,” Curti said. “But you could see the writing on the wall, so it wasn’t a surprise when they canceled the season.”
Like most of the Adirondack players, Curti had to scramble to find another team — a challenge in a market that suddenly lost 11 teams, six in the North Division, plus five more from other divisions.
“It was wild — I thought I’d be in Adirondack. I knew some of the guys, I was planning to come out a week or two early to work out with them before the season,” he said. “At first, I signed with Kalamazoo, but two weeks later, they opted out and I had to pivot again and quickly find a spot here in Rapid City.”
Curti has played 14 games for the Rush this season, which the ECHL extended to June after its late start.
“There’s a lot of season left — maybe I can parlay it into something for next season,” he said. “It sounds like our rights go back to Adirondack. I’m not opposed to going back, as long as everyone comes back.”
Among other recent Thunder players, forwards Mike Szmatula and Ara Nazarian are playing for the Jacksonville Icemen. Goalie Eamon McAdam started out in Jacksonville, then signed with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. Many others, however, have not found new teams are are waiting to see what happens for next season.
Alex Carrier was all set to start the third season of his second stint with Adirondack when the opt-out ended it. That changed his entire focus this winter.
Rather than find another playing opportunity, Carrier chose to stay in Queensbury, where he and his wife have lived for the last four years.
“I’m taking a sabbatical year, working on finishing my finance degree, taking online classes,” said the native of St.-Elzear, Quebec, near Quebec City. “All my time and focus is on school and spending time with my wife.”
A right wing, Carrier played for the Thunder in 2015-16, their first season, then bounced around the ECHL for two seasons before returning to the team in 2018.
Less than two weeks shy of his 30th birthday, Carrier knows his time in hockey is nearing an end. He has applied for his Permanent Resident Card and is hoping to land an internship with a financial firm.
“I’m waiting for my green card application to be finalized,” he said. “Obviously I can’t work until that happens.”
Also, being a veteran player in a developmental league can limit one’s opportunities.
“They didn’t change the amount of veterans each team can have — you can only have four veterans on a roster,” Carrier said. “That means there’s less chance for veterans to find new places to go.”
So when the North Division opted out of the season, he chose to look at the short term.
“I just looked at what I can control now — what can I put my focus and energy into?” he said.
Carrier said the initial disappointment of having the 2019-2020 season end early had turned to cautious optimism by the time fall rolled around.
“You put your mind to come back in November, you start working out, skating, getting a good mindset for the season,” he said. “Then being told you’re not going to be given a season, it was very disappointing.”
Like other players, Carrier said he could see the writing on the wall, even as he worked out with some of his teammates before the decision was announced.
“I was in close contact with coach (Alex) Loh about what was going on with all of the restrictions in the state,” he said. “At some point, it was obvious the restrictions were going to be too hard to work through. It’s too bad because the community really backs the team.”
Carrier said the players had been in touch before the season and were looking forward to playing together.
“We made a group on GroupMe, we were already setting our expectations to high standards,” he said. “Not being able to see this team on the ice was one of the hardest parts of the whole thing.”
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