In 2003/04, the Thundercats, with Reed behind the bench again, would plough their way through the regular season and then carry-on to win another Senior "AA" championship, defeating the Clinton Radars in the league final. 2004/05 proved to be an interesting season. With the 2004–05 NHL lockout looming, the Thundercats openly allowed the Ottawa Senators Chris Neil to practice with the team. With the cancellation of the season, Neil joined his three older brothers and signed with the Thundercats. Unfortunately he signed without permission from the WOAA. In the only game he played, Neil recorded one assist in a 5-4 win over the Mildmay Monarchs. Asked about Neil playing against his team, Monarchs coach's mentioned that it was unfortunate they were unaware Neil was playing, or they would have promoted it better. Mildmay's feelings however were not universal and soon after, the WOAA announced that they would not allow actively professional players compete in the WOAA regardless of the NHL lockout. For playing Neil without league permission, the win was taken away and awarded to Mildmay and Durham's coach Rob Reed was suspended. Without the ability to play with his brothers, Neil soon shipped off to the American Hockey League's Binghamton Senators, and they T-Cats were unable to duplicate the success of the previous year.