ECHL: Peter Bates Heads Overseas

ECHL Career

Bates was one of the two Thunder players (Jay Dickman) to play in all 72 games this season, putting up 23 goals and 42 assists for 65 points. The Evanston, Illinois, native has played in every game for Wichita over the course of the two-plus seasons. Over the course of his four years with the Thunder, he put up 99 goals and 139 assists for 238 points in 270 games. He had one assist in four games with Wichita during the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs. In 2025, he won the ECHL Sportsmanship Award.

Prior to joining Wichita, he began his ECHL career with the Atlanta Gladiators, where he had three goals and two assists for five points in 11 games during the 2021-22 season. Bates also played in three playoff games with the Gladiators.

NCAA Career

The 29-year-old forward played five years of Division III at St. Norbert College before going pro. Over the course of his time at St.Norbert, he put up 65 goals and 92 assists for 157 points in 123 games. In 2018, he won an NCAA Championship with the Green Knights in 2018 and was named the NCHA Player of the Year in 2020 and 2022. In 2022, he was also named the NCAA D III Player of the Year.