Thunderbirds land Conway in trade, add more in dispersal draft

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- The Carolina Thunderbirds, proud members of the Federal Prospects Hockey League and defending west division champions, announced their acquisition of forward Declan Conway from the Mentor Ice Breakers on Monday. 

"We expect big things from Declan," said head coach Andre Niec, "We feel as though we've added scoring and have created good opportunities for ourselves to put the puck in the net."

The Thunderbirds traded forward Daniel Martin and defenseman Jason Stone to Mentor in the move. 

Conway is the all-time leading goal-scorer (39) in Ice Breakers team history and is tied for the all-time lead in franchise points with Mark Essery. 

The Painseville, Ohio-native has never played pro hockey outside of his home state. Prior to breaking in to the FPHL with Mentor in 2018, Conway skated two seasons in the ACHA with John Carroll University. 

Conway and Thunderbirds forward Jon Buttitta were lynchpins in Mentor's early season success in 2019-2020. Buttitta joined the Thunderbirds in February and logged 15 points in seven games. 

The Thunderbirds also added Noah Wild, Kieran Devine and Cameron Wirick in the FPHL dispersal drafts for the Delaware Thunder and the Motor City Rockers. 

Wild comes from Post University where he was an alternate captain his sophomore through senior season with the Eagles. 

A bruising forward, Wild played 76 games at the NCAA D-III level before signing with the Thunder. He never played a game for Delaware because of the coronavirus stoppage. 

Devine skated in 35 games for Delaware last season and notched 12 points. His 11 assists were tied for second on the team among defensemen. 

Wirick finished his final season of collegiate eligibility last year. He skated three seasons at Finlandia before transferring to Indiana Tech. The Ft. Wayne, Ind.-native logged 28 pts. last season. 

The Thunderbirds are set to hold free agent camp and a free agent goalie clinic from November 4 through November 8. You can find the registration link on our website homepage.

The FPHL has set a start date of December 18. More information regarding tickets and scheduling will be available in the coming weeks.