Halifax Thunderbirds

The Halifax Thunderbirds (known colloquially as the T-Birds) are a Canadian professional box lacrosse team based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The Thunderbirds play their home games at Scotiabank Centre, which they share with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

Halifax Thunderbirds

Sport	Box lacrosse
Founded	2019
League	National Lacrosse League
Team history	Rochester Knighthawks (1995–2019)
Location	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Arena	Scotiabank Centre
Colours	Purple, Orange, White, Black
Owner	Curt Styres
Head coach	Mike Accursi
Division titles	1 (2020)
Playoff berths	4 (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Website	halifaxthunderbirds.com
Current season

History

On September 13, 2018, the NLL approved a franchise relocation to the city of Halifax. ^[1] Curt Styres, the previous owner of the NLL's Rochester Knighthawks, moved the Knighthawks' franchise to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Knighthawks intellectual property (name and logo) was sold to Pegula Sports and Entertainment, owners of the Buffalo Bandits, which founded a new expansion franchise that started play in the 2019–2020 season under the Knighthawks moniker.^[2][3] While located in Rochester the franchise won 5 championships.

The Halifax Thunderbirds made their league debut on December 7, 2019, defeating the New York Riptide 12–4 in front of a crowd of 6,847 at the Scotiabank Centre.^[4]

The Thunderbirds made their first playoffs in the 2022 season but were defeated in the first round in overtime 14–13 by their rival, the Toronto Rock.

Team name and logo

According to the Toronto Star, Curt Styres got the idea for the team's name when he saw a lacrosse stick made from the wood of tree that had been struck by lightning and wanted to reflect the "one in one thousand odds" that was the lacrosse stick's embodiement.^[5]

Previous location

Main article: Rochester Knighthawks (1995–2019)

The franchise was founded in 1995 during the Major Indoor Lacrosse League era and first played their home games at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. The team made the playoffs their first 13 seasons in a row and won 5 championships between 1997 and 2014. In 2018 after losing to the Saskatchewan Rush in the NLL finals, it was announced the franchise would move to Halifax. Franchise owner, Curt Styres sold the team's original name and logo to Terry and Kim Pegula (Owners of Pegula Sports and Entertainment) and relocated the franchise to Halifax. PSE founded a new expansion franchise with the same name but different logo that started play the following season. The new franchise based in Rochester is not a continuation of original franchise as all of the original team's championships and records were transferred to Halifax as part of the relocation.

Current roster

Halifax Thunderbirds roster view talk edit
Active (21-man) roster				Inactive roster		Coaches
Goaltenders 37 Drew Hutchinson 30 Warren Hill Defensemen 4 Graeme Hossack 9 Max Wilson 15 Johnny Pearson 18 Jake Withers 45 Luc Magnan 68 Trevor Smyth 94 Tyson Bell		Forwards 24 Clarke Petterson 83 Randy Staats 85 Wake:Riat "Bo" BowHunter 88 Cody Jamieson Transition 34 Ryan Terefenko 44 Colton Armstrong		Practice Squad 19 Nonkon Thompson 51 Dawson Theede		Head Coach {{{Head Coach}}} Legend * Suspended list (C) Captain (A) Alternate captain Roster updated 2023-01-14 NLL Transactions

Awards and honours

Year	Player	Award
2020	Graeme Hossack	Defensive Player of the Year
	John Catalano	Executive of the Year
2022	Pat Gregoire	Tom Borrelli Award
2024	Jake Withers	Transition Player of the Year
	John Catalano	Executive of the Year

All-time record

Season	Division/Conference[a]	W–L	Finish	PCT	Home	Road	GF	GA	Avg Attendance	Coach	Playoffs
2020	North	8–4	1st	.667	6–1	2–3	139	126	7,642	Mike Accursi	No playoffs held
2021	Eastern	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Eastern	11–7	3rd	.611	7–2	4–5	198	195	5,439	Mike Accursi	Lost Conference Semi-Final
2023	Eastern	10–8	3rd	.556	5–4	5–4	238	210	8,512	Mike Accursi	Lost Conference Semi-Final
2024	Unified	10–8	6th	.556	6–3	4–5	223	200	9,164	Mike Accursi	Lost Quarterfinals
2025	Unified	11–7	3rd	.611	6–3	5–4	239	213	9,789	Mike Accursi	Lost Semifinals
Total	5 Seasons	50–34		.595	30–13	20–21	1,042	944	7,878
Playoff Totals	4 Appearances	1–5		.167	1–1	0–4	59	76	10,595	0 Championships

Playoff results

Season	Game	Visiting	Home
2022	Eastern Conference Semi-Finals	Halifax 13	Toronto 14
2023	Eastern Conference Semi-Finals	Halifax 11	Toronto 15
2024	Quarterfinals	Halifax 3	Albany 9
2025	Quarterfinals	Calgary 12	Halifax 16
	Semi Final 1	Saskatchewan 16	Halifax 7
	Semi Final 2	Halifax 9	Saskatchewan 10 (OT)

Draft history

NLL entry draft

First-round selections

• 2019: Clarke Petterson (5th overall), Trevor Smyth (14th overall)
• 2020: Ethan Riggs (11th overall)
• 2021: Max Wilson (12th overall)
• 2022: Wake:Riat "Bo" Bowhunter (12th overall)
• 2023: None

Notes

1. Conference play began in the 2022 season