Wichita Thunder youth hockey team wins league championship

High school hockey in Wichita?

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It’s a question Toby House receives often from his classmates at Campus high school who have never heard of the Wichita Jr. Thunder hockey team.

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“They usually think I play for the actual Wichita Thunder,” House said with a laugh, referring to the city’s professional hockey team.

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But the youth team’s success is no laughing matter, as the Jr. Thunder have begun to put Wichita on the map for hockey in the region.

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Wichita recently won its third straight Mid America High School Hockey League championship, this time with an undefeated record following 25 games. The team scored by far the most goals (107) and allowed by far the fewest goals (18) in what was the most dominant season in league history and also its first three-peat.

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“We’ve been together for a really long time and we’ve been battling together for a long time,” said House, who was named the tournament MVP. “All of that time together has really created a special bond between all of us.”

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Since hockey has never been offered as a sport by the Kansas State High School Activities Association, the Jr. Thunder organization was formed to teach and develop youth hockey players from around the metropolitan area at the Wichita Ice Center.

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Unlike other hockey-crazed areas, where one high school can have its own team, the Jr. Thunder team features players from Derby, Goddard, Valley Center, Clearwater and as far away as Marion. They compete against nine other teams, ranging from the Kansas City area to teams from Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

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Wichita’s youth hockey scene is relatively small but passionate. The program boasts an extraordinarily high retention rate for kids who begin with the program by learning to skate, then progressing to the Lil Thunder youth team, all the way up through to the high school varsity team.

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“The kids who give it a try almost always get hooked on it,” said Mike Galvan, who has been coaching with the program since 2004. “A lot of the kids who were on our team this year have been playing together since they first put on their skates at the age of 7 or 8.”

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Many kids find inspiration from watching the Wichita Thunder play ECHL games at Intrust Bank Arena.

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House said he wanted to become a hockey player after his dad took him to a Thunder game when he was 4. Peyton Novak, another star player on the team, idolized his father, Aaron, who played for the Thunder from 1998-00.

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“Hockey runs in my family,” said Peyton Novak, who led the MAHSHL in scoring with 42 points. “I’ve always wanted to be a hockey player and hopefully get myself to a higher level.”

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Many of the players on this season’s team have been playing together for as long as a decade.

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Novak, House, Nathan Zane and Dillon Roberts made up the No. 1 scoring offense in the conference this season, while Aiden Fyffe, Leonidas Epperly, Joron Glunt and Gavin Wasmuth comprised the toughest defense to score on with the best goaltender in the conference in the net with David Gifford. Other players on the team include Lucas Marks, Tucker Crowley, Gavin Inkelaar, Gavin Byers, Zachary Wharton, Gavin Hinckley, Clayton Rittel, Cavin Rundell, Zachary Bayliff and Devun Hinckley.

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“We all have such good chemistry together,” Novak said. “We all know how each other play and where to go and where to be when we’re out there on the ice together. It was a really cool experience (winning) with the people I grew up playing with.”

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A third straight league title was certainly a noteworthy accomplishment, but it was clear the team’s speed on the ice was too much for regional competition.

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That’s why perhaps the team’s best performance of the season came in January when the Jr. Thunder traveled to Blaine, Minn. for a tournament against top outside competition.

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Wichita’s players proved their speed and skill could translate even against elevated competition, as the Jr. Thunder took down teams from Minnesota and Texas and then pushed a Canadian team to the brink in the championship match.

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“After we had been playing the (Manitoba) team for a period or two, one of their kids said, ‘Are you guys really from Kansas?’” Galvan said. “A lot of people don’t expect much when they hear we’re from Kansas, so that was really cool.”

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Wichita made such an impression that scouts from One Hockey, the event organizer, selected four players — Novak, Fyffe, Zane and Byers — to represent Team USA West in an under-18 tournament held in Finland this coming summer.

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Opportunities like that are exactly why Devon Smith, who no longer has his own kids in the program, continues to coach the high school varsity team and try to help grow the sport in Wichita.

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“I just love the game and I grew up here in Wichita and I want to see the kids from here go on and do great things,” Smith said. “Wichita isn’t a hotbed for hockey, but our kids showed they can go anywhere and compete at a high level. I’m proud of them.”