Bloomington Thunder (SPHL)

The Bloomington Thunder were a minor professional ice hockey team that was a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League. Based in Bloomington, Illinois, the Thunder played their home games at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum, located in downtown Bloomington. After two years in the Central Hockey League as the Bloomington Blaze, the Thunder played under new ownership and in the Southern Professional Hockey League in the 2013–14 season.

Although the Blaze played at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum, they were not a continuation of the former Bloomington PrairieThunder franchise, who failed to reach an operating agreement with the Coliseum and folded on July 3, 2011. Their first season, the Blaze were coached by Paul Gardner.

On May 15, 2013, it was announced that the Thunder, along with a new Peoria Rivermen team, would join the Southern Professional Hockey League for the 2013–14 season. The Peoria Rivermen of the AHL had been notified that the Vancouver Canucks, who had purchased the team a month earlier, would not keep them in Peoria. The two teams will reportedly be owned by two former Rivermen executives, John Butler, Bart Rogers and David Holt with financial backing from former Rivermen owner Bruce Saurs.