The first Las Vegas hockey team to make a splash on the national scene, the Thunder stormed their way into the International Hockey League in 1993.
Averaging more than 8,000 fans per game at the Thomas and Mack Center in their inaugural season, the Thunder iced some of the best and most interesting personalities in the game, either before or in the midst of their NHL careers. (Watch Below: Thunder commercials featured lots of stick throwing)
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Radek Bonk and Alexei Yashin, both high first-round NHL draft picks of the Ottawa Senators (Bonk was No. 3 overall in 1994; Yashin No. 2 in 1992), played some of their first North American pro games with the Thunder.
Curtis Joseph, the fourth winningest goalie in NHL history, briefly tore up IHL competition in 1995-96, when he was in a contract dispute with the St. Louis Blues. Manon Rheaume, the only woman to ever play in an NHL (preseason) game (1992 for Tampa Bay), played for the Thunder in 1994-95.
By the time they exited the IHL in 1999, the Thunder never won a championship, but captured a pair of division championships.