Two Manteca natives will be featured Saturday in the home opener for the revived Stockton Thunder minor league professional ice hockey team.

Kyle Kruenegel and Nolan Mix are set to play against the Oceanside Shock on Saturday starting at 6:11 p.m. at Adventist Health Arena. It’s a rematch of their season opener played this past Sunday at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside. Mix contributed a goal on two shots to with two assists in the Thunder’s 5-4 loss. Kruenegel recorded two shots on goal.

The two teams are among the three expansion franchises, along with the Fresno Falcons, added this year to the Single-A Federal Prospects Hockey League. The FPHL is a fourth-tier professional league alongside the Southern Professional Hockey League and below the Double-A ECHL, Triple-A American Hockey League and top-tier NHL.

Both Kruenegel and Mix are products of the Stockton Colts youth hockey program.

Kruenegel, a 2012 graduate of Sierra High, has taken the long road to the professional ranks. Now 32, he tried out for the Thunder over the summer after spending the last several seasons with the semi-pro Santa Rosa Growlers.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound defenseman previously played on junior hockey league teams Idaho Jr. Steelheads, Aberdeen Wings, Minnesota Wilderness, Minot Minotauros and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees from 2011-2015 before taking a break from the sport.

The Thunder announced Kruenegel’s signing on Aug. 21. He’s one of three players to make it out of the Thunder’s free agent tryout camp.

A 2023 East Union alumnus, Mix came up through the San Jose Jr. Sharks youth ranks, competing for the Tier 1 Triple-A 15U, 16U and 18U squads.

The 6-1, 180-pound forward made the leap to Tier III junior hockey in 2023-24, landing with the Wisconsin Woodsmen. He made five appearances for the Tier II Amarillo Wranglers in 2024-25 before returning to Wisconsin last season, when he got traded to the West Bend Power.

Mix totaled 70 goals and 54 assists in 123 games over three regular seasons in the North American 3 Hockey League. He also made nine postseason appearances, scoring six goals and one assist.

The Stockton Thunder are part of the five-team Frontier Division — including the Topeka Scarecrows, Minnesota Northern Lights, Fresno and Oceanside — of the FPHL, which is comprised of 17 teams. The league has started its 17th season.

The original Stockton Thunder existed from 2005-2015 and was part of the ECHL, serving as an affiliate to NHL franchises Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks and New York Islanders. The Calgary Flames purchased the Thunder’s ECHL franchise rights in 2015 and moved the team out of Stockton to New York.

The Thunder was replaced by the Stockton Heat, the AHL affiliate for the Flames. After seven years, the Flames relocated the Heat to Calgary in 2022.

Tickets for the home opener may be purchased through TicketMaster and the Adventist Health Arena box office.

Promotional deals, with a nod to the 209 area code, are available but can only be purchased by contacting the ticket department at tickets@stocktonhockey.com. ABC 10 is presenting $10 seats in section 209. Black Oak Casino is presenting a package deal for a group of 20 tickets worth $209 on opening night only.