Thunderbirds Take Oakes Brothers to Training Camp

Winston-Salem, NC - The Carolina Thunderbirds concluded their free agent camp in Richmond, VA and have invited two players to attend training camp in October. Those two players might be carpooling to North Carolina to attend the camp.

Cody Oakes and Culley Oakes are brothers from the Aurora, CO area and have been invited to training camp by the coaching staff in Richmond. "Both of them made a really good impression throughout camp" Head Coach Andre Niec said. "At first, I worried what would happen if we invited one and not the other, but as camp went on, it was clear that both were very skilled and worthy of the invite [to training camp]."

Both Cody and Cullen attended Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, CO where they played high school hockey. Cody would continue his hockey career past high school with three seasons in the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) with the now-defunct RoughRiders franchise out of Superior, CO.

"They are both promising forwards and I think if they work hard, they can make an impact on this team" Niec said. "I'm very excited as we get closer to camp, seeing the kind of talent we are going to have this season."


The Carolina Thunderbirds are proud members of the Federal Hockey League, now in its ninth season. Carolina will be starting its second season of play, looking to build on the success of its inaugural season where the Thunderbirds posted an 87-point season with a record of 25-24-5-2 (W-L-OTW-OTL). The Thunderbirds also set an FHL record with over 65,000 fans through the doors in their first season and six sellout crowds. Season and group tickets are on sale now by calling (336) 774-GOAL(4625).