Pete MacArthur knew his first year as a head coach – after a lengthy, successful playing career – would be full of learning experiences, but the Adirondack Thunder bench boss wasn’t really sure if he was going to be able to get his group over the hump after several disappointing years for the franchise.

However, their fortunes may have changed with the 37-year-old at the helm, having overcome a slow start to the season to get themselves to within one point of the Worcester Railers for the fourth, and final, spot in the North Division, which would mean advancing to the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

If you're having a bad Monday, keep in mind we're just 1⃣ point out of a playoff spot!

Back home Friday against Maine ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/Zb4pQoxudN

— Adirondack Thunder (@ECHLThunder) April 3, 2023

After being written off by many early this year, the Thunder now have two games in hand on Worcester, which they play three times in their final six games this season. The Thunder are in the driver’s seat for that fourth spot.

The core group of returning veterans perhaps found some inspiration from their naysayers after a sluggish October and November.

“I think they were very motivated,” MacArthur told FloHockey via cell phone. “Especially guys like Jeff Taylor, Shawn Weller, Colin Long, Shane Harper – veterans of the team who have experienced a lot of pro hockey. They saw how bad it was last year, and how it started this year, and I think they took it upon themselves to not let it happen again. You need people like that in your room, and kudos to them, because they’ve done an unbelievable job leading the group in the right direction.”

Once the Thunder had some success and gain a little momentum, MacArthur noticed a change in the team. It’s as if they realized how talented they were and how much potential there was, especially if they could minimize the things they were doing to hurt themselves.

When did things change?  

MacArthur looks all the way back to a game on Dec. 27, when his team had to travel to play the Trois-Rivieres Lions for what he calls a “day trip” after a hotel issue, with his team not having skated or practiced at all during the Christmas break.

The result? 

A character-building 3-2 win and one that slowly got the ball rolling on their late-season run.

“We battled back from down one or two, tied it up in the third, and then won that game late in the third,” he said. “From that moment, you could feel something click. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it was, but from that game, we really started to play better. 

“We didn’t start stringing the wins together directly after that, but you could feel the change in the room, where the guys knew they didn’t even skate for the last week, drove (the same day) and had the wherewithal to win this game. You could see it building from that point forward.”

Adirondack is 8-0-2-1 in its last 11 contests and hasn’t lost in regulation since March 10, which was, ironically enough, to Worcester. 

Now the league’s hottest team, MacArthur says his team essentially has been playing playoff games since that win in December, and the group is confident they’ll be able to keep it going to earn a postseason berth.

“That was literally what we talked about (after that game), is we’ve got to start playoffs now, if we want to play (in the postseason),” he said. “We’ve put ourselves in a position to have this opportunity, so now it’s our job to go and seize it. It’s our spot right now to be had, so if we do our job and play the same way, which is team choices, team-first defensive mindset, we’ll have at least a chance to win all these games coming up.”

The remainder of Adirondack’s schedule starts Friday night with a home game against the Maine Mariners, followed by back-to-back games on the road against Worcester and then Maine again.

The Thunder wrap up their regular season with an April 14 road game in Trois-Rivieres, followed by back-to-back home games against the Railers on the weekend.

While it’s the Railers they’re chasing, MacArthur knows his veteran-heavy group isn’t overlooking the games against Maine or Trois-Rivieres, given how much every point still matters, regardless of who they get them against.

“They’ve figured out that it’s a period-by-period thing,” he said. “We’ve been unbelievable in the third period all year, so that’s one thing that these guys have been pretty good, not looking too far ahead. If they did, we wouldn’t be in the spot we’re in right now.”

Another big part of where they are right now? Jake Theut, who was named the ECHL’s Goalie of the Week back on March 28, but hasn’t played since suffering an undisclosed injury.

MacArthur has had to piece it together from a goaltending standpoint since then – Isaac Poulter, Mike Robinson and Vinnie Purpura all played this past week – and he has been complimentary of their effort and performance, but he’s hopeful he’ll be able to get his workhorse back before the end of the season.

Isaac Poulter is returning to us after playing last night with @ECHLThunder! https://t.co/NcuDBMHPGX

— Utica Comets (@UticaComets) April 2, 2023

“Jake is still a week away from getting off the IR, and then we’ll see where he’s at with his injury,” MacArthur said. “It’s not as bad as we thought, but it’s one of those things where he could hop back in there and re-injure it right away. We will have Poulter down intermittently, because he’s going to stay up in Utica and help them and New Jersey with their playoff run.  We’re hitting the phones looking for somebody to come here and be here permanently, and we’ll probably go with three goalies if we do end up making it into the playoffs.”