Kentucky Thoroughblades

Kentucky would not be considered a natural environment for hockey expansion, but Lexington hosted an AHL team for five seasons.

The story starts before the Thoroughblades existed.

The San Jose Sharks partnered with the Kansas City Blades (IHL) for their inaugural 1991-92 NHL campaign.

The affiliation would last for five years.

In the spring of 1996, the Blades sold the team to Richard DeVos, who owned stakes in the Grand Rapids Griffins and the Orlando Solar Bears.

Due to the new owner’s outlandish new ideas and a decline in attendance, San Jose and Kansas would part ways.

During this period, many NHL teams severed ties with their IHL affiliates over concerns that the IHL was trying to challenge the NHL as the premier hockey league. An ill-fated move as the IHL would fold a few years later.

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, the Thoroughblades were being born.

A name-the-team contest was responsible for the team name and the final choice was unsurprising given the rich thoroughbred history in Lexington.

Interest was high from a fanbase who purchased 2,700 season tickets for the 1996-97 opening campaign.

It was a perfect fit for both organisations as San Jose jumped on board to make the first professional team in Kentucky their second farm team and first in the American Hockey League.

Things began well off the ice as Kentucky set an AHL attendance record with 17,503 fans for the home opener.

The Thoroughblades struggled to compete on the ice in their first two seasons.

Respective records of 36-35-9-0 and 29-39-9-3 resulted in third-place finishes in the Mid-Atlantic Division.

Kentucky would go no further than the first round of the post-season, losing to Hershey 3-1 and 3-0 in consecutive seasons.

Despite the lack of success, the crowds flocked to see the first professional hockey team in town, posting average crowd numbers approaching 8,000.

The appointment of Roy Sommer as Head Coach in 1998 led to an immediate turnaround in results.

A 44-win regular season was followed by defeating Hershey 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite losing 4-3 to Philadelphia in the second round, it spelt success in the following two campaigns.

A pair of 42-win campaigns were good enough to top the Mid-Atlantic and South Divisions.

Hershey would end play-off runs in 2000 (second round) and 2001 (first round), the latter signalling the end of the Kentucky Thoroughblades.

With attendance diminished to under 4500 after such a promising beginning, San Jose purchased the franchise to set it up in a different location.

The finances dictated the Kentucky owners had to sell.

With lower costs and the expectations of larger crowds outside of Lexington, it was little surprise when San Jose placed the franchise in Cleveland, Ohio for the 2001-02 season as the Barons.

Fans in Lexington would not be immediately left in the lurch as far as professional hockey was concerned.

The Lexington Men O’ War entered the ECHL but lasted just one season before being folded.

Home for the Thoroughblades was the home court for the University of Kentucky men’s basketball programme.

Located in downtown Lexington, the Rupp Arena (at Central Bank Center) is named after legendary former Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. It continues to be the primary host of the basketball team to this day.

Notable Players

Steve Guolla holds the franchise records for goals (88), assists (132) and points (220).

The Ontario native was selected third overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 1994 NHL Supplemental Draft, limited to the ten teams that missed the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Guolla would sign for San Jose as a free agent in 1996. In his sophomore campaign, the centreman registered one hundred points in 69 games for Kentucky, finishing joint second in league scoring.

Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff was a two-time AHL All-Star for the Thoroughblades, posting a 0.925 SV% through 83 games. The Finnish native would have a stellar NHL career in Calgary.

Evgeni Nabokov featured heavily in two campaigns for Kentucky, though his statistics were distorted by playing in the pre-Roy Sommer era.

The Russian netminder would play over 700 career NHL games, the majority with San Jose, before moving on to the New York Islanders and finishing with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He holds the Sharks’ franchise record with fifty shutouts.

Upon retirement from playing, Nabokov returned to San Jose in 2015 and remains with the organisation as Goaltending Coach and the Director of Goaltending.

Drafted 29th overall by San Jose in 1998, Jonathan Cheechoo made an immediate impact when turning professional.

The right-winger registered thirty-two goals and 66 points through 75 games for Kentucky in his rookie season. A native of Moose Factory, Ontario, Cheechoo would feature in 501 NHL games, scoring 170 goals with all but five for San Jose.

He still holds Sharks’ records for goals in a season (56), power-play goals in a season(24), hat-tricks in a season (5) and hat-tricks in a career (9).

Goaltenders Vesa Toskala and Johan Hedberg both played a single season in Kentucky before going on to have NHL careers. The latter has moved behind the bench and is currently Head Coach of Swedish team Örebro HK of the SHL.

Zdeno Chara and Dan Boyle each played a single season for the Thoroughblades, though their paths did not cross. The legendary defencemen went on to establish long and successful NHL careers and each would win a Stanley Cup. Chara with Boston and Boyle with Tampa. Including play-off games, the pair combined for over 3000 NHL games.

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