The Queenstown powerhouse opened its New Zealand Ice Hockey League campaign with a pair of relatively comfortable wins at the Dunedin Ice Stadium at the weekend.
The 8-2 and 6-2 scorelines are at least an early signal to the retooled Dunedin Thunder that plenty of work is needed in the coming weeks to get up to speed.
Notable was the sheer dominance of the Stampede when it came to shots on goal.
The Stampede fired in 63 shots to the Thunder’s 30 in the opening game, and a whopping 66 to 20 in the second clash.
New American import Brendan Walkom made quite the splash in his debut for the Stampede, scoring four goals and adding two assists in the opening game.
Fellow forward Colin McIntosh added a goal and no fewer than five assists, the other goals coming from Lachlan Frear, Callum Burns and — it had to happen — Dylan Devlin against his old team.
The Thunder held its own in the first period, giving up a single goal, but found the pressure overwhelming in the second and third.
William Ellis scored for the home team in the second period and Ian Audas scored on the power play in the third.
On Saturday night, the Stampede raced to a 4-0 lead through McIntosh (two goals), CJ Kemp and Mitchell Frear before Ellis replied for the Thunder.
New import Ryan Wonfor opened his account as the Thunder scored the only goal of the second period, but Mitchell Frear and Walkom sealed victory in the final period.
The Thunder is on the road to play the Botany Swarm this weekend, while the Stampede is at home to the development Mako team.
