Tri - City Storm The Tri - City Storm is a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team playing in the West Division of the United States Hockey League ( USHL ) . History . St . Paul . The team ' s origins trace back to 1971 when the Minnesota Jr . Stars joined the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League and the league was renamed the Thunder Bay - Minnesota Junior A Hockey League for the 1971 - 72 season . A new league was formed for 1972 - 73 with the Can - Am Hockey League ; the league would help form the Midwest Junior Hockey League for 1973 - 74 . During this period the team became the St . Paul Stars and then the St . Paul Vulcans . The MJHL would merge with the United States Hockey League for 1977 - 78 as a mixed level Senior - junior league which would last until the league went all junior with the 1979 - 80 season . The team would last as the St . Paul Vulcans until 1995 when they were renamed the Twin Cities Vulcans in an attempt to broaden their audience in the area . The team would be sold and relocated for the 2000 - 01 sesaon . Kearney . The Storm have been Kearney , Nebraska ' s franchise in the USHL since 2000 . The 2003 - 04 season was the best in the team ' s 13 - year history , as Tri - City went 43 - 12 - 5 , finishing in first place and winning the Anderson Cup with 91 points . 1999 May 15 , 1999 - The USHL voted 100 percent to allow then Omaha Lancers ' owner , Ted Baer , to place a new team in Kearney . In June , Jim Hillman was named the team ' s first head coach . 2000 - 01 Sept . 30 , 2000 - The Tri - City Storm win their first game in franchise history . Nov . 18 , 2000 - Following eight months of construction , the $ 10 . 5 million , 5 , 000 - seat Tri - City Arena opens when the Tri - City Storm plays its first home game against Des Moines . The Storm were named USHL Organization of the Year in their first year of operation . 2001 - 02 The Storm narrowly missed the playoffs . Konrad Reeder and Patrick Borgestad represented the team in the USHL All - Star game . 2002 - 03 Dec . 20 , 2002 - In the midst of a 10 - game losing streak , Storm coach and GM Jim Hillman steps down . Jan . 19 , 2003 - Former Topeka coach Bliss Littler becomes the teams ' new head coach and GM . The Storm rallied to make the playoffs with a seven - game win streak down the stretch . 2003 - 04 The team won the league ' s Anderson Cup , finishing with a record of 43 - 12 - 5 and 91 points . The USHL named Tri - City Organization of the Year for the second time . 2004 - 05 The Storm celebrated their fifth - year anniversary , making a deep run in the playoffs and reaching the Clark Cup semifinals for the second consecutive season . 2005 - 06 Tri - City beat out Sioux City for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference , finishing with a 28 - 23 - 9 record . However , they dropped their opening round playoff series three games to two . 2006 - 07 May 3 , 2006 - Ted Baer sells the Tri - City Storm to Joel Wiens , ending seven years of ownership . The Storm finished the regular season with 78 points , good for second place in the Western Conference . They then won an exciting seven - game series against conference foe Sioux City , but were knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual Clark Cup champions , the Sioux Falls Stampede . 2007 - 08 Tri - City misses the playoffs for the first time since the 2001 - 02 season . After the season , head coach and GM Bliss Littler resigns to accept the head coaching position with the Omaha Lancers . 2008 - 09 Owner Joel Wiens promotes assistant coach Tom Rudrud to head coach . The Storm suffered a major setback on the ice , winning just 11 out of 60 games . In April 2009 , Wiens sold the arena and team to Las Vegas businessman Kirk Brooks . Brooks later announced that Drew Schoneck would replace Tom Rudrud as head coach . 2009 - 10 Led by standout forward Jaden Schwartz , the Storm finished in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 29 - 25 - 6 record . 2010 - 11 Things took a turn for the worse as the Storm dropped to the basement of the Western Conference standings . 2011 - 12 After a slow start , owner Kirk Brooks relieved head coach Drew Schoneck of his duties and promoted assistant coach Josh Hauge . Hauge ' s group rallied late in the season and despite the poor start , the Storm were able to clinch a playoff spot , finishing in sixth in the Western Conference . Tri - City was defeated by the Waterloo Black Hawks in the first round of the postseason . 2012 - 13 In Hauge ' s first full season behind the bench , injuries plagued Tri - City and the team was unable to reach their high expectations . Captain Brian Ward had a strong season offensively , scoring 54 points in just 42 games . Michael Vecchione led the team with 26 goals . 2013 - 14 Owner Kirk Brooks relieved Josh Hauge of his duties and hired Jim Hulton . Alumni . Notable former players who have continue to play professionally include Jaden Schwartz , Jarod Palmer , Scott Parse , Christian Hanson , Jack Hillen and Bill Thomas . Thomas and Konrad Reeder are tied for the most goals in team history , each scoring 60 during their careers in Kearney . Mario Lamoureux , who played four seasons for the Storm , has the all - time assists record with 85 . Schwartz , who played for the Storm during the 2009 - 10 season , owns most of the team ' s single season records including assists ( 50 ) , points ( 83 ) , power play goals ( 16 ) , power play assists ( 22 ) , power play points ( 38 ) , shorthanded points ( 8 ) , multi - point games ( 24 ) , consecutive multi - point games ( 6 ) and total shots on goal ( 242 ) .