The Springfield Thunderbirds are the American Hockey League team based in Springfield and the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. The franchise was founded in 2016, when the Portland Pirates relocated to Springfield to take over the city’s long-running AHL slot after the Springfield Falcons moved to Tucson, and is owned by a local civic-investment group rather than the parent NHL club.
Home games are played at the MassMutual Center, the city-owned arena at 1277 Main Street in downtown Springfield. The hockey configuration seats roughly 6,800. Most weeknight games are family- priced and the team leans hard into between-period promotions, theme nights, and post-game skates.
The Thunderbirds reached the Calder Cup Finals in 2022, losing to the Chicago Wolves in five games, the deepest playoff run by a Springfield AHL club in decades.
Visiting
The regular season runs October through April, with playoffs into May or June. Single-game prices vary by seat location and opponent; group, family, mini-plan, and membership packages are usually the better deal. Schedule and tickets are on the team site.
The MassMutual Center is in the same downtown block as Symphony Hall Springfield and a short walk from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, so it’s easy to pair a game with dinner or a museum stop on the riverfront.