The Adirondack Thunder announced their eighth signing of the offseason and second straight signing of a defensemen as Blake Thompson has been signed to a standard player contract. “Stallworth on the defensive end, we’re thrilled to we get him back he’s done his job excellently for the past 2+ seasons,” said head coach Alex Loh during the announcement via Facebook live.
What Does Thompson Bring To The Thunder?
The 27-year-old defensemen will be entering his third season with the Thunder. Before joining the ECHL, Thompson spent four years at Norbert College where they won the DII NCAA Championship. He was also given all-conference honours in his sophomore and junior year.
Thompson has skated in a total of 171 ECHL games as he’s spent time with the Orlando Solar Bears and Cincinnati Cyclones before joining the Thunder. This of course was prior to the 2017-2018 season. Over those 171 games, he’s managed to rack up nine goals and 32 assists for 41 points.
Thompson had a career year during the 2018-19 season where he managed to rack up six goals and 15 assists for 21 points. He put up these numbers in 72 games. Despite this impressive showing, I still believe that when the season begins, he will be put on the Thunder’s third pairing. As mentioned before, I expect the Adirondack Thunder to go with Charlie Curti on the team’s top pairing. On the second pairing, you add a guy in Steven Ruggerio who can play big minutes this season for the hockey club.
The signing of Thompson leaves Jake Linhart as the only other defensemen still yet to be signed. Linhart, received a qualifying offer, but has yet to agree to new contract with Adirondack.