The Bloomington PrairieThunder were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Bloomington, Illinois. They were a member of the Central Hockey League in the Turner Conference. The team was originally a member of the United Hockey League (later known as the International Hockey League) prior to its merger into the CHL in 2010. They played their home games at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. History On September 12, 1999, John Butler and Mike Nelson, both of Bloomington, began formulating a plan to bring a minor league hockey team to Central Illinois. On August 18, 2004, ground was broken for the $37-million U.S. Cellular Coliseum, the arena that would become the home of the PrairieThunder. On September 20, 2005, the United Hockey League (UHL) awarded Butler and Nelson a membership to obtain a franchise. On February 1, 2006, a contest was announced to name the new hockey franchise and on February 23, 2006, the official name was announced. "PrairieThunder" refers to a train called "Prairie Thunder" that passed through Bloomington in its early history. On July 20, 2006, the PrairieThunder unveiled their team logo, which featured a charging bison smashing its hooves into a sheet of ice. The team's colors were navy, silver, old gold, and white. October 13, 2006: the PrairieThunder played their first game in franchise history, against the Muskegon Lumberjacks. They lost the contest 7–3. October 14, 2006: the PrairieThunder played their first home game at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum against the Fort Wayne Komets. This was also the PrairieThunder's first regular season victory, as they won the contest 4–2 before a crowd of 5,102. Andre Neic scored the first goal at the US Cellular Coliseum, at 4:20 of the first period. February 17, 2007: Trevor Baker records the first hat trick in franchise history. January 27, 2007: Largest crowd in team history in attendance to see Lucas Horn, 5,488 (as of March 26, 2009) January 12, 2008: Rookie goalie Loic Lacasse posts first shutout in franchise history in 2–0 win over Port Huron at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. April 5, 2008: The PrairieThunder establish a professional hockey league record at all levels by scoring four goals in a 35-second span, during the first period in a 9–4 win at Flint. Scoring the goals were Jon Booras, John Nail, Neil Clark, and Brett Holmberg. The team was then featured in the April 21, 2008, edition of Sports Illustrated for