the accomplishment. July 12, 2008: PrairieThunder defenseman Rob Guinn was killed in auto accident in Iowa. This led the team to honor him on their jerseys and the ice during the 2008–09 season. December 27, 2008: PrairieThunder center Don Parsons breaks the minor league career goals scored record by an American player with his 678th, passing Flint General Kevin Kerr. December 3, 2009: PrairieThunder re-sign Erie Otters forward Michael Liambas following his suspension from the OHL for severely injuring Kitchener Rangers defenceman Ben Fanelli. June 1, 2010: The IHL makes major announcement that the IHL will merge with the Central Hockey League for the 2010–2011 season along with four other teams from the IHL (Fort Wayne Komets, Quad City Mallards, Evansville IceMen, Dayton Gems). April 28, 2011: After the PrairieThunder was swept in the first round of the Central Hockey League playoffs, team owner Tim Leighton failed to contact the U.S Cellular Coliseum for a lease extension after their five-year lease ended. May 23, 2011: East Coast investors Gary DelBuono and Sandra Hunnewell were approved of a new CHL expansion franchise to play in Bloomington for the 2011–12 season. They also announced that former PrairieThunder players would play for the new Bloomington CHL franchise. Former PrairieThunder general manager Jim Riggs would also be the GM of the new CHL franchise in Bloomington, the Bloomington Blaze. Season by season records Mascot The team held a name-the-mascot contest, sponsored by the Bloomington Pantagraph, to find a name for the mascot. Megan Fish, a 12-year-old sixth-grader at Chiddix Junior High School, was the first of 12 individuals to submit the name Chip. The next most popular entry was "Boomer", which had seven submissions. Chip the Buffalo made his first public appearance at the open house and public scrimmage held by the PrairieThunder on October 4, 2006, interacting with fans and signing autographs. References External links PrairieThunder Hockey Defunct Central Hockey League teams International Hockey League (2007–2010) teams Professional ice hockey teams in Illinois Ice hockey teams in Illinois Defunct ice hockey teams in Illinois Ice hockey clubs established in 2006 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2011 Prairie 2006 establishments in Illinois 2011 disestablishments in Illinois