The Thunder is under new management this season with 21-year-old Californian Garrett Driscoll taking over the coaching reins from Canadian Jenel Bode.
Driscoll, a goalie, was raised in South California and grew up playing ice hockey.
After high school he played in junior hockey leagues for three years.
He attends Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota and got the opportunity when his good friend, Thunder assistant coach and player Jens van Poucke, asked him if he was interested in coaching the team.
He leaped at the chance and is optimistic about the Thunder's prospects this year.
"We're looking for a major improvement," he said.
"But we've been working hard and our goal is to win it [the league]."
The Thunder entered the league last season with high hopes but got a reality check, winning just one of its 12 games and conceding 90 goals, while scoring just 30.
"We've made some changes and we're working really hard. Just in the last week that I've been here, I've seen a major improvement in the team, so I think anything is possible."
The Thunder has four imports, fewer than the five overseas players allowed to suit up for a game.
While more foreign players might improve the Thunder's chances of winning games, Driscoll believes less is more.
"It is a New Zealand league, so we don't want to pack our team with imports. We want to improve the league but . . . we'd rather have local players step up than have to bring in players from other countries."
The Thunder opens its campaign with a double-header against the Botany Swarm in Auckland on June 13 and 14.
French forward Jorane Fazende is expected to be one of the leading players for the Thunder this season, and Canadian Marc Pesant will head up the defence end.
"[Pesant] is pretty solid and we are expecting quite a lot out of him."
Fellow Frenchman Mathieu Combe had not arrived in Dunedin when the Otago Daily Times spoke to Driscoll earlier in the week, and Poucke completes the overseas playing roster.
Last season's leading goal-scorer James van Leeuwen has returned and, with Simon Christos also in the forward line, the Thunder should have ample strike power
Dunedin Thunder
For NZ league
Aaron Bryant, Blake Sinclair, Clay Caird, Darcy Knyvett, Duncan Sykes, Heath Dunlop, Israel Lewis, James Brinsdon, James van Leeuwen, Jens van Poucke (Belgium), Jorane Fazende (France), Marc Pesant (Canada), Mathieu Combe (France), Matthew Weir, Mike Wesseling, Phillip Bennett, Regan Wilson, Richard McCutcheon, Richard Sykes, Rick Parry, Scott Kvick, Simon Christos, Stefan King, Stephen Vlok, Tom Wilson.
Coach: Garett Driscoll (US).
Draw for Thunder
June 13-14 v Botany Swarm, Auckland
June 20-21 v Canterbury Red Devils, Dunedin
June 27-28 v Southern Stampede, Queenstown
July 4-5 v West Auckland Admirals, Auckland
July 11-12 v West Auckland Admirals, Dunedin
August 1-2 v Southern Stampede, Dunedin
August 8-9 v Canterbury Red Devils, Christchurch
August 15-16 v Botany Swarm, Dunedin
