Eight Thunder Tendered Qualifying Offers

Published on July 1, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, the proud ECHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League and Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League, announced eight players from its 2008-09 roster have been issued qualifying offers.

Teams were not required to protect players who signed a Standard Players Contract prior to July 1. Players that were not signed by July 1 or extended a qualifying offer by July 1 became unrestricted free agents. Each team was entitled to reserve rights to a maximum of eight players from the season ending roster list of 20.

Season-ending rosters could not include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2008-09 (i.e. players who were under contract to teams in either the National Hockey League or the American Hockey League).

Players issued a qualifying offer by the Thunder are:

FORWARDS

Judd Blackwater (C) Oren Eizenman (C) Igor Gongalsky (RW) Mike Lalonde (LW)

DEFENSEMEN

Mark Adamek (D) Kenny MacAulay (D) Daryl Marcoux (D) Neil Petruic (D)

Adamek, 27, is the all-time leader in Thunder history for games played (186), scoring 30 points (6g-24a) while posting 137 penalty minutes during three seasons (2006-09) in a Thunder uniform. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound defenseman has suited up in 197 career games as a pro for Stockton and San Diego, totaling 32 points (6g-26a) and 145 penalty minutes. In 26 career Kelly Cup Playoff games for Stockton, Adamek has added two goals and two assists.

Blackwater, 22, scored 22 points (7g-15a) and tallied 48 penalty minutes in 49 games during his rookie season with the Thunder and Fresno Falcons, adding 21 games in two separate call-ups to the AHL with Rockford and Rochester where he scored five points (4g-1a) and posted 18 penalty minutes. The 6-foot, 193-pound notched eight assists in 10 Kelly Cup Playoff games this year for the Thunder.

Eizenman, 24, split the 2008-09 season between five teams at the AHL and ECHL level, posting 14 points (3g-11a) and 14 penalty minutes in 14 combined games with the Thunder and Fresno Falcons while adding seven points (2g-5a) and four penalty minutes in 31 AHL games with Manitoba, San Antonio and Milwaukee. The 6-foot, 190-pound pivot, an ECHL All-Star in 2007-08, finished third in ECHL Rookie of the Year voting with Fresno that season and has tallied 80 points (30g-50a) and 42 penalty minutes in 67 career ECHL games while adding five points (4g-1a) in six career Kelly Cup Playoff games.

Gongalsky, 22, scored 30 points (10g-20a) and posted 138 penalty minutes in 52 ECHL games with the Thunder and Fresno in 2008-09 while adding nine penalty minutes in six games at the AHL level with San Antonio. The 6-foot, 225-pound forward was an ECHL All-Star in 2007-08 and has suited up in 115 career ECHL games, scoring 73 points (28g-45a) while posting 287 PIM's. In 17 career Kelly Cup Playoff games, Gongalsky has scored nine points (2g-7a).

Lalonde, 28, is the Thunder all-time leader in points (156) and goals (72), suiting up in 182 career games throughout three seasons (2005-07, 2008-09) in Stockton while posting 81 penalty minutes. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound forward was an ECHL All-Star in 2005-06 for the National Conference and scored 51 points (20g-31a) while posting 16 PIM's in 62 games last season.

MacAulay, 25, has competed in two seasons at the ECHL level on the blueline with Stockton and Fresno and in the AHL with Rockford and Portland, scoring 54 points (8g-46a) and tallying 208 penalty minutes while adding six points (2g-4a) in 17 career postseason games. A two-time ECHL all-star (2008-09) selection to the National Conference, the 5-foot-10, 195-foot defenseman had 23 points (3g-20a) and 74 penalty minutes in 38 combined ECHL games for the Thunder and Fresno last season.

Marcoux, 25, was the recipient of the Thunder "Defensive Player of the Year" award last season and suited up in 71 combined games for Stockton and Fresno, totaling 19 points (3g-16a) and 44 penalty minutes from the blueline. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound defenseman notched two assists in 14 Kelly Cup Playoff games last season and has scored 40 points (7g-33a) while posting 126 penalty minutes in 135 career games with the Thunder, Fresno, and Trenton Devils.

Petruic, 26, skated in 14 games for the Thunder last season, posting four points (2g-2a) and 12 penalty minutes before signing a professional tryout agreement (PTO) with the Binghamton of the AHL for the remainder of the season in November, scoring eight points (1g-7a) and adding 62 penalty minutes in 64 games. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound defenseman was selected in the eighth round (235th overall) by the Ottawa Senators in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft and suited up in 213 career games in the ECHL and AHL with Stockton, Charlotte and Binghamton, registering 35 points (7g-28a) and 200 PIM's.

INFORMATION ON QUALIFYING OFFERS, FREE AGENCY Of these eight (8) Qualified Players, no more than four (4) of the Qualified Players shall be Veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2009-10 season). Players will have until August 1 to accept a qualifying offer. Players on open Qualifying Offers can not be traded.

Teams are not allowed to sign more than 24 players to contracts during the summer.

A Member extending a valid Qualifying Offer to a Veteran retains the Rights to that Veteran until August 1. After August 1, if the Veteran is not signed to a Standard Player Contract by the Member, the Veteran shall be deemed a Restricted Free Agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other Members. Restricted Free Agents may not be traded.

When a Restricted Free Agent receives an offer to sign a Standard Player Contract from an Offering Member other than the Member with Rights and the Restricted Free Agent desires to accept the Offer, the Restricted Free Agent and the Offering Member must, within 24 hours, deliver a completed Offer Sheet to the Member with Rights, the League Office and the PHPA. The Member with Rights shall then have seven (7) days after the date it receives the Offer Sheet to exercise its Right to Match. The Right to Match shall expire seven (7) days from the date the Offer Sheet was received but not counting the day of receipt.

If a Restricted Free Agent is not signed to either an Offer Sheet or a Standard Player Contract by a Member by August 31, he shall be deemed an Unrestricted Free Agent.

The Thunder return to the ice for preseason play on Thursday, Oct. 8 against the Bakersfield Condors, starting at 7:00 p.m. at Stockton Arena. The 2009-10 season, the fifth year anniversary for the team, launches on Friday, Oct. 16 at Qwest Arena against the Idaho Steelheads at 6:10 p.m. and the Thunder home opener is Friday, Oct. 23 against the Ontario Reign at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena.

The Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew 223,854 fans to Stockton Arena in 2008-09. Season tickets for 2009-10 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

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