Evansville, In.: The Evansville Thunderbolts and Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes, in coordination with the SPHL, are pleased to announce that goaltender Kristian Stead has been named the inaugural Warrior Hockey SPHL Goaltender of the Month for the month of October/November. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, December 5th against the Macon Mayhem at 7:00pm CT.
Stead has been off to a terrific start to his Thunderbolts career, starting with a record of 10-2-1, a goals against average of 1.75, and a .945% save percentage. His 10 wins are tops amongst all SPHL goaltenders, and his goals against average and save percentage rank second in both categories. Stead became the quickest goaltender in Thunderbolts franchise history to record 10 wins, doing so in only 12 games played. The previous record for fewest games required was 14 games, accomplished by Tomas Sholl (2017-18), Trevor Gorsuch (2022-23), and Cole Ceci (2023-24). The native of Merritt, British Columbia previously played parts of three seasons with the Knoxville Ice Bears between 2021-2024, while also playing stints in the ECHL with South Carolina, Tulsa, and most notably with the Norfolk Admirals. With the Ice Bears, Stead was also named to the SPHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2021-22.
Stead has once previously earned Warrior Hockey SPHL Player of the Week honors, doing so in the 2021-22 season with Knoxville.
