Game 4 Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Utah Grizzlies

April 10, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS ‚¬" WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINAL

GAME 4: Stockton Thunder vs. Utah Grizzlies

DATE: Sunday, April 10, 2011

TIME: 4:00 p.m.

SITE: Stockton Arena

RADIO: 1280 KWSX/StocktonThunder.com (AmericaOne)

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Utah Grizzlies: Calgary Flames

HOME GAME PROMOTIONAL NOTES

Public Address Announcer: Mike McKnight

In-Arena Emcee: Jungle Jim

National Anthem Singer: Rosa Parks Academy

NEXT HOME GAME

2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs ‚¬" Western Conference Quarterfinals

GAME 5: Tuesday, April 12 vs. Utah Grizzlies ‚¬" 7:00 p.m. *

* If necessary

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE (Utah leads, 2-1)

Game 1: Stockton 2 at Utah 5

Game 2: Stockton 3 at Utah 2 (OT)

Game 3: Utah 4 at Stockton 2

Game 4: Utah at Stockton ‚¬" Sunday, April 10 - 4:00 p.m. (Stockton Arena)

Game 5: Utah at Stockton ‚¬" Tuesday, April 12 - 7:00 p.m. (Stockton Arena) *

* If necessary

TONIGHT ‚¬â„¢S MATCHUP

The third-seeded Thunder continues the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the sixth-seeded Utah Grizzlies, a best-of-five series that follows a ‚¬Å“2-3 ‚¬Â format. Utah leads the series, 2-1 and the Thunder was defeated by Utah, 4-2, in Game 3 last night. The matchup is the first time the Thunder and Grizzlies are meeting in the playoffs. Last season, the Thunder advanced to the Conference Final and Utah advanced to the second round. It marks the Thunder ‚¬â„¢s fifth straight playoff appearance and five in six seasons since joining the ECHL. The Grizzlies are making their fourth straight playoff appearance. The Thunder finished 7-3-1 against the Grizzlies this season and 5-1-1 at Maverik Center. The Thunder have eight players returning from last year ‚¬â„¢s playoff roster. The Thunder are 3-4 when facing elimination and have never been eliminated on home ice.

SERIES RECAP

(GAME 3): UTA 4 at STK 2 (4-9-11): Matt Reber ‚¬â„¢s third period goal and an empty-netter by Marcus Carroll solidified a gradual three goal rally by the Utah Grizzlies, who defeated the Stockton Thunder, 4-2 Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals on Saturday night in front of 4,559 fans at Stockton Arena. Despite tallying first on the scoreboard, Stockton lost two separate one-goal leads before the Grizzlies, who lead 2-1 in the best-of-five series, tied up the game on a key shorthanded goal by Hugo Carpentier in the second period. Jordan Fulton notched his second goal of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, while Ryan Constant earned his first of the post-season.

(GAME 2): STK 3 at UTA 2 (4-6-11): Kelly Czuy ‚¬â„¢s goal, 3:54 into sudden death overtime, capped a third period rally that lifted the Stockton Thunder to a dramatic, 3-2 victory in overtime against the Utah Grizzlies before 2,647 fans at Maverik Center on Wednesday, in Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal, in the 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Czuy ‚¬â„¢s blast from the right circle, which leveled the series, 1-1 and beat Lamoureux past his blocker, was the fourth straight overtime win in Thunder playoff history which completed a comeback from a 1-0 deficit after two periods. Jordan Fulton and Craig Valette chipped in with third period goals to start the rally, while Tyson Sexsmith made 32 saves for his first playoff win.

(GAME 1): STK 2 at UTA 5 (4-5-11): Simon Ferguson bagged a pair of goals, added two assists and rookie Matt Reber had a goal and assist in his playoff debut to help the Utah Grizzlies send the Stockton Thunder to a 5-2 defeat in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal of the 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs, before 2,167 fans at Maverik Center on Tuesday. Utah took a 1-0 series lead, hosting their first Game 1 since 2000 as a member of the International Hockey League. The Thunder fell to 4-4 lifetime in Game 1 scenarios and received goals from Kelly Czuy and Jody Pederson.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder ranked second in ECHL in attendance with 6,382 fans per game. A whopping crowd of 9,482 piled into Stockton Arena on Jan. 22 for the ‚¬Å“Teddy Bear Toss ‚¬Â game, the largest crowd at Stockton Arena this season and the fourth crowd over 9,000 in the event ‚¬â„¢s history. Stockton has 16 sellouts in the team's franchise history and in 2008-09, the Thunder became the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for four straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons - 2000-05). This season, 12 crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena were present and the Thunder had its highest attendance since 2007-08, a six percent increase from 2009-10.

SEASON SERIES RECAP

The Thunder finished 7-3-1 this season against Utah, going unbeaten in five of the seven games at Maverik Center, including a three-game sweep from Jan. 14-17 where the Thunder combined to score 14 goals. Before that series, both teams split two games at Stockton Arena in November and December. Both teams split a two-game series in Stockton Feb. 4-5. The Thunder then went 2-1-1 in a four-game series, spread through five days at Maverik Center from Mar. 9-13. In Stockton ‚¬â„¢s two wins in the series, they combined to score 11 goals. Fraser Clair led the Thunder with 13 points (5g-8a) in 11 games in the series.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder went 7-3-1)

Fri. Nov. 26 Utah 3 at Stockton 2

Sat. Dec. 11 Utah 2 at Stockton 3

Fri. Jan. 14 Stockton 4 at Utah 2

Sat. Jan. 15 Stockton 4 at Utah 1

Mon. Jan. 17 Stockton 6 at Utah 3

Fri. Feb. 4 Utah 2 at Stockton 1

Sat. Feb. 5 Utah 2 at Stockton 3

Wed. Mar. 9 Stockton 5 at Utah 1

Fri. Mar. 11 Stockton 2 at Utah 4

Sat. Mar. 12 Stockton 6 at Utah 1

Sun. Mar. 13 Stockton 2 at Utah 3 (OT)

THUNDER PLAYOFF NOTES

It is the first time the Thunder meets the Utah Grizzlies in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Last season, the Thunder advanced to the Conference Final for the first time in team history, losing in a best-of-seven series, 4-2 to the Idaho Steelheads. The Thunder took that path by defeating the defending Conference champion (Alaska Aces), 3-1 in the first round and the Pacific Division champion (Bakersfield Condors), 4-1 in the second round.

GAME FOUR

DATE ROUND OPP. LOCATION SCORE OT GOALIES (STK/opp) GWG

Apr. 15, 2007 NQF Idaho Stockton Arena W, 3-2 - Dubnyk/Silverthorn Tim Sestito

Apr. 18, 2008 NQF Las Vegas Stockton Arena L, 3-4 (OT) 19:40 Boron/Lalande Adam Cracknell

Apr. 17, 2009 PSF Ontario Stockton Arena W, 5-4 (OT) 2:28 Van Buskirk/Zatkoff James Bates

May 2, 2009 PF Las Vegas Stockton Arena L, 2-3 (OT) 0:28 Van Buskirk/DeCaro Mick Lawrence

Apr. 10, 2010 NQF Alaska Stockton Arena W, 8-5 - Perugini/Sauer-REID Garet Hunt

Apr. 23, 2010 NSF Bakersfield Stockton Arena W, 6-2 - Perugini/Levasseur Bryan Young

May 7, 2010 NCF Idaho Stockton Arena W, 7-2 - Pitton/BACHMAN-Beauchemin Jason Pitton

All-time game four record: 5-2

NEARLY A BANNER YEAR

The Thunder consistently played to the top of the standings and finished in a first place tie with Bakersfield in the Pacific Division, edged by a tie-breaker on the final day of the regular season. The Thunder went 7-1-3 in the final 11 games, tied a season record for most points (86) and broke another for most road wins (19). Among the milestones achieved in the season were:

Wins, 35 (second highest in Thunder history)

Points, 86 (tied Thunder single-season record)

Road wins, 19 (broke Thunder single-season record)

13 separate double-digit goal-scorers

Ryan Constant, 11 goals and 34 points (T-8, ECHL and career-high)

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED'

Thunder head coach Matt Thomas leads the playoff experience resume with a pro championship under his belt ‚¬" he helped guide the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to a Kelly Cup championship title in 2003 as assistant coach. Additionally right wing Kelly Czuy (Las Vegas, 2007-08) helped guide the Las Vegas Wranglers to a berth in the Kelly Cup Finals. Eight other players return from last year ‚¬â„¢s Thunder team that advanced to the Conference Final.

Below is a list of the top-5 Thunder players who have the most pro playoff experience in games:

PLAYER GAMES

1. KELLY CZUY 55

2. RYAN CONSTANT 40

3. GARET HUNT 28

4. FRASER CLAIR 23

5. CRAIG VALETTE 23

ALL TIME PLAYOFF SCORING (Thunder active players)

# Player GP G A PTS

34 Kelly Czuy 55 19 24 43

9 Fraser Clair 23 9 6 15

22 Ryan Constant 40 5 10 15

17 Jason Pitton 18 7 7 14

14 Craig Valette 23 7 7 14

WE CAN BE HEROES

The Thunder improved to 4-0 in the last four overtime games in the playoffs on a Kelly Czuy game winning goal on Apr. 6 vs. Utah. A look below at the all-time list of Thunder game-winning goals in the Kelly Cup Playoffs:

THUNDER OVERTIME PLAYOFF GAME WINNERS (4)

DATE Series/game # VS. SITE GWG TIME SCORE SERIES WINNER

4/17/09 PSF/4 ONT Stockton Arena James Bates 2:28 5-4 W Stockton, 4-3

4/16/10 NSF/1 BAK Rabobank Arena J.F. Caudron 10:18 3-2 W Stockton, 4-1

4/17/10 NSF/2 BAK Rabobank Arena Oren Eizenman 9:01 4-3 W Stockton, 4-1

5/5/10 NCF/3 IDH Stockton Arena Ryan Constant 40:36 1-0 W Idaho, 4-2

4/6/10 WQF/1 UTA Maverik Center Kelly Czuy 3:54 3-2 W TBD



ECHL Stories from April 10, 2011


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