Thursday Bloody Thursday: New Era Begins

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Web Hockey League season ended yesterday for the Scranton Thunderbolts, and thus, their stay in Scranton has come to an end, beginning their relocation to Burlington, Vermont.

With new owners in tow, Thursday was a day of change for the newly-relocated franchise, and a bloodbath for the existing front office and coaching staff.

First of all, the team's rebrand. As part of the relocation and no real electrical history in Burlington, the Thunderbolts name had to be left behind. GM Locria Fox wanted a more traditional, European-style name, and ultimately the ownership groups settled on making it a multi-department athletic club, named Champlain Athletic. The club intends on adding women's hockey, along with men's and women's soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, all united under the Champlain Athletic banner.

The club's crest was also revealed:

The crest, which will be used for all Champlain Athletic teams, features the State Bird of Vermont, the Hermit thrush. The team colors will be blue and green, in tribute to the flag of the Green Mountain Boys.

Alternate logos and jerseys will be revealed as time goes on.

Second of all, the new owners fired literally everyone except Fox. The coaching staff, including  head coach Olegs Znaroks - gone. The scouts - gone. The front office - gone, except Fox. The Other Half, who is in charge of personnel, has made no secret that they want to include many women in day to  day operations, starting with a female GM. The team expects to name new personnel by Monday.

In the meantime, Champlain Athletic will be waiting for the draft lottery and awards ballots, in which Jiří Tlustý will almost certainly be in the race for the Chairman's Cup.