The Carolina Thunderbirds were a professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...

, USA. The Thunderbirds played their home games at the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum

Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum

Winston–Salem Memorial Coliseum was a multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The arena, which opened in 1955, held 8,500 people and was eventually replaced by the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 1989...

 before the arena was demolished in 1989. The team played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League

Atlantic Coast Hockey League

The Atlantic Coast Hockey League was a minor league hockey organization that operated between 1981 and 1987. The league was founded by Bill Coffey....

 from 1982 to 1987, the All-American Hockey League

All-American Hockey League

The All-American Hockey League was a minor league hockey organization formed in 1972 with teams based in the Upper Midwest and Great lakes regions of the United States as the Continental Hockey League. In 1986 the league folded and the Danville, Dayton, Troy went on to form the All-American Hockey...

 during 1987-88 and finally moved into the newly created East Coast Hockey League in 1988.

The Carolina Thunderbirds were one of five teams that played during the inaugural season of East Coast Hockey League. In an effort to protect the league's image, ECHL commissioner Pat Kelly

Patrick J. Kelly

Patrick J. Kelly was one of the founders and the first commissioner of the East Coast Hockey League in 1989. Kelly was named Commissioner Emeritus of the ECHL following the 1995–96 season, after serving as Commissioner for the first eight seasons of the ECHL. The league playoff champions wins a...

 had suspended several of the Thunderbirds' players and, as a result, the Thunderbirds were forced to face the Johnstown Chiefs

Johnstown Chiefs

The Johnstown Chiefs were a minor league ice hockey team located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania that played in the ECHL. The team was founded in 1988 in the All-American Hockey League, and moved to the East Coast Hockey League when that league was formed...

 for the seventh and deciding game in the league's finals with just 11 skaters. In spite of this hardship, the Carolina Thunderbirds won the first ever league championship, and were awarded the Riley Cup for the 1988-89 ECHL season. John Torchetti

John Torchetti

John Torchetti is the head coach of the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros and a former professional ice hockey player. Previously, he was the head coach of the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League , and the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL for the 2006–2007 season...

, who would go on to become the head coach of the NHL's

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 Florida Panthers

Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and are the...

, was a member of that championship squad.

The team changed its name to the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds before the start of 1989-90 season, and the team remained in the ECHL until after the end of the 1991-92 season when it was announced that the Winston-Salem club would be moving to West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 to play as the Wheeling Thunderbirds.

Championships

• 1982-83: ACHL
  Atlantic Coast Hockey League
  The Atlantic Coast Hockey League was a minor league hockey organization that operated between 1981 and 1987. The league was founded by Bill Coffey....
  
   regular season champions
• 1982-83: ACHL play-off champions
• 1983-84: ACHL regular season champions
• 1984-85: ACHL regular season champions
• 1985-86: ACHL regular season champions
• 1985-86: ACHL play-off champions
• 1987-88: AAHL
  All-American Hockey League
  The All-American Hockey League was a minor league hockey organization formed in 1972 with teams based in the Upper Midwest and Great lakes regions of the United States as the Continental Hockey League. In 1986 the league folded and the Danville, Dayton, Troy went on to form the All-American Hockey...
  
   play-off champions
• 1988-89: ECHL play-off champions (Riley Cup)