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Former Thunder Goalie Bunz Makes NHL Debut

April 3, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


Stockton, Calif - The Stockton Thunder, owned by the Calgary Flames and proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Islanders and AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, are honored to announce that former Thunder goaltender Tyler Bunz debuted in the NHL last night for the Edmonton Oilers.

Bunz, 23, played 37 games with the Stockton Thunder in 2012-13, helping the team to the Kelly Cup Finals after posting a 16-16-4 record during the regular season and appearing in 4 games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The next season, Bunz followed the Edmonton Oilers affiliation change and played 13 games for the Bakersfield Condors and 5 games with the Oilers AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons. This season, the former Thunder man has suited up for the Wichita Thunder and once again in Oklahoma City.

Last night Bunz became the 11th player to make his NHL debut after playing for the Stockton Thunder when he suited up for the Edmonton Oilers in their game against the Anaheim Ducks.

The St. Alberta, Alberta native was called up to the Edmonton Oilers after Richard Bachman left the team due to a death in his family, leaving Bunz as the backup to Ben Scrivens. However, Scrivens allowed 5 goals in two periods of work, prompting the team to make a change and putting Bunz in the net for the final 20 minutes where he stopped 9 of 12 shots.

Bunz follows Bryan Young (Edmonton), Liam Reddox (Edmonton), Troy Bodie (Anaheim), Tim Sestito (Edmonton), Devan Dubnyk (Edmonton), Ryan O'Marra (Edmonton), Colin McDonald (Edmonton), Milan Kytnar (Edmonton), Mark Arcobello (Edmonton) and Brandon Davidson (Edmonton) as players who made their NHL debut after playing for the Thunder. Theo Peckham (Edmonton) suited up for a preseason game with the Thunder in 2007-08 but never played an official game for the Thunder.

In total the Thunder have 24 players who have played in the NHL and for the ECHL side. Matt Foy (Minnesota), Sebastien Bisaillon (Edmonton), Damian Surma (Carolina), Colin Hemingway (St. Louis), Johan Motin (Edmonton), Alex Stalock (San Jose), Jason Morgan (Los Angeles), Philippe Cornet (Edmonton), Brayden Irwin (Toronto), Brian Foster (Florida) and current Thunder players Kent Simpson (Chicago) and Mario Larocque (Tampa Bay) have all played for the Thunder after making their NHL debuts.

The team returns to Stockton Arena for the final ever Stockton Thunder game on April 11, a 7:30 p.m. start against Bunz' former squad, the Bakersfield Condors. For tickets to the 10-year finale, call (209) 373-1500 or visit StocktonThunder.com .

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