Tri-City Storm  The Tri-City Storm is a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Confence of the United States Hockey League (USHL). On May 15, 1999, the USHL unanimously voted to allow then Omaha Lancers' owner, Ted Baer, to place a new team in Kearney, Nebraska, for the 2000–01 season. In June 1999, Jim Hillman was named the team's first head coach. The Tri-City Storm won their first game on September 30, 2000. The Storm finally played their first home game on November 18, 2000, after eight months of construction on the Tri-City Arena. The Storm were named USHL Organization of the Year in their first year of operation. The Storm narrowly missed the playoffs in their second season. In the following 2002–03 season, during the midst of a 10-game losing streak in mid-December, Jim Hillman resigned as coach and general manager. He was replaced by former Topeka Scrarecrows head coach, Bliss Littler, in January. The Storm rallied to make the playoffs with a seven-game win streak down the stretch. The team had their best season in 2003–04 and won the Anderson Cup for the best regular season record, finishing with a record of 43–12–5 and 91 points. The team featured future National Hockey League players Bill Thomas, Mark Van Guilder, and Peter Mannino. The Storm made their first Clark Cup final, but were eliminated in four games by the Waterloo Black Hawks. The USHL named Tri-City Organization of the Year for the second time. Tri-City made the division finals again in the following season despite a fourth place finish in the division. They qualified for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, narrowly beating out Sioux City for the final spot in the division. The Storm lost in the opening round playoff series three-games-to-two against the Sioux Falls Stampede. On May 3, 2006, owner Ted Baer sold the Storm to Joel Wiens after seven years. The Storm finished the 2006–07 regular season with 78 points, good for second place in the West Division. They then won a seven-game series against Sioux City, but were knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual Clark Cup champions, the Sioux Falls Stampede. The Storm failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in six seasons in 2007–08. After the season, head coach and general manager Bliss Littler resigned to accept the head coaching position with the Omaha Lancers.