Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Springfield Thunderbirds president Nathan Costa had a goal coming into October – give his fans some much-welcome news and get the season off to a good start.
On Friday, the Thunderbirds and St. Louis Blues announced a long-term extension of their affiliation, shooing away any concerns about the team’s long-term future.
“It’s exciting to get it done right before we start our season,” Costa said. “That was the goal on both sides. We were able to get there.”
Costa acknowledges there was some anxiety within his fan base. The city of Springfield has a history in the American Hockey League dating back to its founding in 1936, but the market has been tested frequently. Recently, too. The Thunderbirds themselves were born when the Springfield Falcons were sold and became the Tucson Roadrunners in 2016.
Being an independently owned franchise – in a league with 20 teams owned by their NHL parents – is another challenge.
“We obviously get questions about what the future looks like and what the current relationship looks like,” Costa said. “We’ve always been very positive, but without a firm extension, without certainty, there are a lot of questions. We wanted to put a lot of that to bed because of what has gone in this city over the years, not only changing affiliates but changing ownership groups.”
The affiliation, which will now run through at least 2030-31, ensures stability from the St. Louis perspective as well. The Blues’ relationship with the Thunderbirds began in 2020; their previous partnership with the San Antonio Rampage ended when that franchise was sold and relocated to Henderson. Springfield has provided an established fan base along with one of the most convenient travel schedules in the AHL. Trips to visit Bridgeport, Hartford and Providence all clock in under two hours. That means more practice and less time spent in hotels and airports.
“We all wanted it to work,” Costa said. “It was prudent on both ends to lock something down long-term so there’s some certainty here for our fans and our city, but also for St. Louis.”
The Thunderbirds sat out the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season, then went to the Calder Cup Finals in 2021-22. It was the city’s first Finals appearance since 1991, and the first ever by a Blues AHL affiliate. Off the ice, the Thunderbirds won the President’s Award for team excellence in 2022. They have increased their attendance every year of existence, climbing from 30th in the league in 2015-16 to 13th in 2023-24, when they had a team-record 20 sellouts.
There are clear lines in the relationship between the Thunderbirds and Blues. With his staff, Costa, a Springfield native who previously led the league office’s Team Business Services department, handles the business dealings for the Thunderbirds, who are led by managing owner Paul Picknelly. The Blues, with Thunderbirds general manager Kevin Maxwell on the ground in Springfield, manage the hockey product.
The task for both sides is to build and grow a solid environment for St. Louis prospects, with a competitive team on the ice and fan support built on a strong community presence off it. With the team’s future on solid ground, both sides can solely focus on those goals. Rather jumping out to a quick start as a franchise in 2016 and then sagging, Costa has emphasized slow, steady growth.
“From a business side, as long as the team’s competitive and putting a fun product on the ice and developing players and winning games,” he said, “that’s all I can ask for.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.