KEARNEY, Neb. – The 2014-15 season will go down as one of the best in the 15-year history of the Tri-City Storm. After finishing the regular season with an overall mark of 37-17-6 and 80 points, the Storm qualified for the Clark Cup Playoffs as the second seed in the USHL’s Western Conference.
Tri-City finished just one point behind the first-place Sioux City Musketeers in the standings, and swept the third-seeded Omaha Lancers in the opening round of the postseason three games to none.
In its first Western Conference Final appearance since 2005, the Storm were defeated by the Sioux Falls Stampede three games to one.
Head coach Jim Hulton’s first full season behind the bench had plenty of highlights, including the team’s first postseason victory since 2007. Hulton made several in-season trades to bolster the roster including deals for goaltender Jared Rutledge, defenseman Vince Pedrie and forward Christopher Brown.
But Hulton’s roster also included 11 players from the 2013-14 squad that finished in seventh place in the west with a 21-35-4 record.
Forward Chris Wilkie led the way offensively all season for Tri-City, tying a team record with 35 regular season goals. The Omaha native was also tied for the USHL goal scoring lead.
In addition, Wilkie led the USHL in power play goals with 17, and shots on net, finishing his 59 game season with an even 300 SOG. Both of those totals broke individual Storm records.
Headed to play collegiately at the University of North Dakota next season, Wilkie finished fourth all-time in Storm history with 52 total goals over two seasons, and ninth all-time with 91 total points.
Another name that was cemented in the team record book this season was that of defenseman Bobby Nardella. Coming to Tri-City as a player to be named later in one of Hulton’s first trades during the 2013-14 season, Nardella had an outstanding offensive season on the blue line, scoring 10 goals and 32 assists.
Nardella’s 42 points was third-best among USHL defenseman, while his 22 power play assists was first among blue liners and third-best among all skaters.
The Notre Dame commit broke single season Storm records for most assists by a defenseman (32), most points by a defenseman (42) and tied Storm alum Jaden Schwartz for most power play assists (22). Nardella also finished 19th all-time among Storm skaters with a +15 rating.
Alec Dillon led the way in net in his first USHL season. The Los Angeles Kings draft pick played in 41 games and had a 23-11-4 record with three shutouts.
The goaltender also led the USHL in goals against average, with a mark of 2.27, and finished fourth in the league with a .914 save percentage.
The team’s captain Garrett Gamez had another outstanding season, finishing second on the roster with 44 points on 15 goals and 29 assists, while playing just 44 games due to injuries. Playing in all situations, Gamez had 10 power play goals and six man-advantage assists and also logged time on the penalty kill.
Gamez will head to Providence College this fall in the top 10 all-time in Storm history in three categories after three full seasons with the team. The forward is third all-time in assists with 67, fifth best with 96 total points and tenth with 147 games played.
Other players who have entered the team record books include assistant captain Kyle Eastman, who is 13th all-time in both games played (147) and penalty minutes (163) after three seasons, and Jalen Schulz, who is fifth all-time with 231 penalty minutes after two seasons.
In his first season in Kearney, forward Nick Master was second on the team with 23 goals, and led the squad with a +20 rating that is 11th best in Storm history. Master plans to play for UMass-Lowell in the Hockey East next season.
Tri-City tied the team record for longest winning streak, set in March of 2004, winning 10 consecutive games between Jan. 9 and Feb. 7. The Storm earned wins over Waterloo, Bloomington, Omaha, Sioux Falls and Lincoln during the stretch.
Six of the 10 victories came in Kearney at the Viaero Event Center. The line of Gamez, Master and Matthew Freytag scored a combined total of 35 points during the streak, with Master accounting for 13 on six goals and seven assists.
As a team, Tri-City finished the regular season No. 1 in defense, only allowing 158 total goals for an average of just 2.63 per game. The Storm were also second-best in the league on the power play, scoring 25.1% of the time with the man-advantage.
14 members of the roster have commitments to play Division I college hockey next season.
Tri-City is now preparing for the team’s annual tryout camp, which will be held in Las Vegas June 15-21.