Evansville, In.: The Evansville Thunderbolts and Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes are pleased to announce the re-signing of forward Myles Abbate for the 2025-26 season. The Thunderbolts will raise their President’s Cup Championship banner prior to their 2025-26 home opener at Ford Center on Saturday, October 25th against the Quad City Storm.
Abbate, now entering his third professional season, joined the Thunderbolts early in the 2023-24 season following a two-game stint with the Peoria Rivermen and has become an important piece of the Thunderbolts’ forward group, amassing 25 goals and 59 points in 92 regular season games, including 10 goals and 27 points in 48 games in 2024-25. In the 2025 Playoffs, Abbate scored two goals and added an assist to aid the Thunderbolts in their run to the President’s Cup Championship. The native of Norwell, Massachusetts has also become an important piece of the Thunderbolts’ leadership corps, recognized with his appointment to an alternate captaincy position late in 2024-25. Prior to 2023-24, Abbate played four seasons of college hockey at Plymouth State University, many of his games played alongside recent Thunderbolts signings Connor Tait and Colin Tracy. Abbate scored 54 goals and 115 points in 86 games of regular season college play between 2019-2023, winning three MASCAC Conference Championships, was twice the MASCAC Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year in 2019-20, twice a First-Team All-Conference member, and in 2022-23 was also a First-Team ACHA All-American member.
“Going into my second professional season (in 2024-25), I felt comfortable with the group that we had and how we played. Going into the playoffs, we knew we had no pressure on us as a lower seed and that we just needed to stick to our game plan,” commented Abbate when asked to reflect on this past season. He continued by saying: “We had a close team, and I think that is a huge reason why we overcame the adversity, we were up to the challenge to prove everyone wrong. Winning the President’s Cup was an unbelievable feeling, just to see the grind of a long season pay off and celebrating with your best friends was something I’ll never forget.” Looking ahead to his third season with Evansville, Abbate commented: “The main goal is definitely to repeat as President’s Cup Champions. I feel like we have established a strong culture here, we have some great players returning and some new players who will contribute to our success. I personally want to contribute more offensively, and to contribute more to our penalty kill. The penalty kill was great for us in the playoffs and to continue that into this season would be huge.” Abbate also welcomed his Plymouth State teammates Connor Tait and Colin Tracy, saying: “I was ecstatic seeing them sign with us, playing with them in college was great and I feel that they can contribute to our team in multiple areas. We made some good memories in college, and I am looking forward to creating more good memories with them as Thunderbolts!” In closing, Abbate finished by saying: “I can’t wait to get back to Evansville and play in front of our great fans at Ford Center again!”
On re-signing Abbate, Head Coach Jeff Bes commented: “Returning for his third season, Myles was an important player for me to get signed. He is an absolute nail gun and comes ready to work every day with a smile on his face. He is without question one of our best penalty killers, which showed in the playoffs. Myles was a bit snakebitten last season around the net, but he didn’t let that affect the way he played the game, and I know this season he will definitely contribute more in the scoring department. Myles has become a leader on our team, which has given him more confidence and will only help his game soar to new levels this season.”
