The Twin City Thunder will begin their fifth season in the United States Premier Hockey League’s National Development Conference against the Rockets Hockey Club on Sept. 30 at the Boston Junior Bruins Shootout in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

The USPHL released the 2023-24 NCDC schedule this week, and the Thunder will play 52 games. In previous seasons, except 2020-21 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the league played 50 games.

There are plenty of other changes this season, including the NCDC adding a new six-team Mountain Division in the Western part of the United States, which will play 53 games. The other two divisions will have new names. The Thunder’s division, previously, the North, has been renamed the New England Division, and the South Division is now the Atlantic Division.

The New England Division lost two franchises. The New Hampshire Junior Monarchs and the Boston Advantage no longer have junior hockey teams in the Tier II-level league.

New Hampshire Hockey Club, LLC bought Tri-Town Arena in Hooksett, New Hampshire, which was the Monarchs’ home rink. Now it will be home to the New Hampshire Mountain Kings, an expansion North American Hockey League team owned by New Hampshire Hockey Club. Cam Robichaud, the former Twin City Thunder co-owner and NCDC associate head coach, will be the Mountain Kings’ head coach.

During the 2022-23 season, the Advantage violated league rules and therefore weren’t accumulating points in the standings for a month and a half. That resulted in the Thunder and Advantage meeting at Auburn’s Norway Savings Bank Arena for in a play-in game for the final playoff spot in the North Division. The Thunder won 3-2 in overtime.

The Utica Jr. Comets are now in the New England Division after being in the South Division the past three seasons.

After opening 2023-24 with three games at the Junior Bruins Shootout, the Thunder will play its next three contests at the Jersey Hitmen Classic from Oct. 5-7. Five of Twin City’s six season-opening showcase games are against Atlantic Division opponents.

The Thunder’s first home game is Saturday, Oct. 14, against the Islanders Hockey Club at 2:30 p.m. at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

Twin City will face off against each of the other New England Division teams — Junior Bruins, Northern Cyclones, South Shore Kings, Islanders Hockey Club and Utica — eight times this season.

The Thunder will playe the six Atlantic Division squads — Connecticut Jr. Rangers, Mercier Chiefs, Jersey Hitmen, P.A.L. Jr. Islanders, Rockets Hockey Club, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights — twice apiece. Most of those games will be at the Boston Junior Bruins Shootout, Hitmen Classic and South Shore Kings Presidents Day showcase events.

However, the Thunder travel to Connecticut to face the Rangers Jan. 27-28, while the Jr. Islanders, the defending league champions, visit the Norway Savings Bank Arena Feb. 24-25.

Twin City won’t play any Mountain Division teams.

The Thunder will play one Sunday home game during the NFL season. They host the Jr. Comets on Sunday, Nov. 12, at 1 p.m. The New England Patriots play in Germany that day against the Indianapolis Colts at 9:30 a.m.

The Thunder’s final home game is March 9 against the Cyclones at 7:30 p.m. They end the season with road games versus the Jr. Bruins on March 16-17 in Marlborough.

The playoffs begin March 25 with the New England and Atlantic Divisions’ No. 4 vs. No. 5 play-in games. New England and Atlantic best-of-three semifinals will be held March 27-29, with each division’s top seed hosting its play-in game winner, and the No. 2 seeds hosting the No. 3 seeds. The winners advance to the best-of-five series divisional finals March 31-April 10. The Atlantic and New England champions will face off in a best-of-five series from April 12-21.

The Dineen Cup Finals (best-of-three) will run April 26-28, with the winner of the New England-vs.-Atlantic series hosting the Mountain Division champion.

FRIESEN TO DIVISION I

Colton Friesen, who played briefly with the Thunder during the 2020-21 season, has transferred from Division III University of Wisconsin-Superior to Augustana University, which makes its NCAA Division I debut this upcoming season.

The Thunder acquired Friesen late in the 2020-21 season from the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs. He put up a goal and three assists in five regular season games and added three goals and an assist in five playoff games.

In 2021-22 Friesen played for the Anchorage Wolverines of the NAHL, tallying 11 goals and 25 assists in 60 games then adding adding six goals and four assists in 10 playoff games.

Last season with Wisconsin-Superior, he had 11 goals and 11 assists in 29 games. His 22 points led the team in scoring.

Friesen will be the third member of the 2020-21 Thunder team to play Division I Hockey this season, joining Talon Sigurdson, a freshman at Clarkson University, and Joey Potter, who is entering his freshman season at Union College.

Augustana is a school in Augustana, South Dakota, and will play in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association conference. The Vikings become the 63rd team in Division I hockey.

FORMER NORDS IN NHL DEVELOPMENT CAMPS

Two former goalies in the Maine Nordiques organization spent the past week at the NHL development camps.

Connor Androlewicz, who played for the Maine Nordiques in 2019-20, attended St. Louis Blues camp. Androlewciz just finished his junior season at the University of Maine, where he appeared in three games.

Thomas Kiesewetter, a goalie with the Maine Nordiques Academy 18U during the 2021-22 season, attended the Columbus Blue Jackets Development camp. Kiesewetter split the 2022-23 season between the Corpus Christi IceRays and the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks of the NAHL. He’s committed to Princeton University for the 2004-25 season.

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