Brampton Thunder open season against the Calgary Inferno

The Brampton Thunder open up the 2016-17 CWHL season tonight against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year.

Looking back

Last season marked the end of Brampton’s three year playoff drought. The team went from last in the league in 2014-15 to third place and played well enough to challenge for a spot in the Clarkson Cup. They bowed out in Calgary, losing the exciting best-of-three series in two games.

Despite not reaching the final, the campaign was fairly successful. They surprised a lot of people with their success (including themselves) and played an exciting, fast, high-event style of hockey while doing it. They were also the biggest team in the league and played a…