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Game Preview: Stockon Thunder vs. Victoria Salmon Kings

January 27, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


2008-09 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

10/24/08 Thunder 5 at Victoria 2

10/25/08 Thunder 2 at Victoria 5

10/26/08 Thunder 3 at Victoria 1

11/7/08 Victoria 2 at Thunder 3 (SO)

11/8/08 Victoria 3 at Thunder 1

12/27/08 Victoria 4 at Thunder 1

12/28/08 Victoria 5 at Thunder 2

1/27/09 @ Victoria 7:05 p.m.

1/28/09 @ Victoria 7:05 p.m.

3/28/09 Victoria 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP The Thunder returns to the road for the first time since Jan. 8 with back-to-back games against the Victoria Salmon Kings, ending a stretch where the Thunder five games in six nights. . The Thunder is 10-14-3 lifetime against the Salmon Kings and is 3-4-0 against the Salmon Kings this season. In spite of losing two of their last three games, the Thunder have piled up an 8-2-0 record in January. Their obstacle is a red-hot Victoria team, who are tied with the Florida Everblades for the best record in the ECHL with 60 points (29-9-2 record) and have a league-best 16 wins at home.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES 1/25/09 - PHX 5 at STK 1: Phoenix RoadRunners goaltender Craig Kowalski made 29 saves while P.J. Fenton chipped in with a pair of goals, sending the Stockton Thunder (17-18-5, 41 points) to a 5-1 loss before 4,849 fans at Stockton Arena on Sunday. The Thunder, who are in the midst of playing five games in six nights, ended a six-game homestand with a 4-2-0 record and were supported by a goal from Adam Huxley, who broke a 16-game goal-scoring drought. Goaltender Bryan Pitton made 33 saves in the loss while both teams combined for 133 penalty minutes. A whopping total of 100 PIM's were issued to the Thunder in a third period melee, a new single-game club record.

1/24/09 - AK 4 at STK 5 (SO): Rookie James Bates scored in the fourth round of a shootout to cap the eighth win in the last nine games for the Stockton Thunder (18-18-5, 41 points), who survived a furious comeback by the Alaska Aces and won 5-4 in a shootout before 7,316 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder, who mounted a 4-1 lead in the third period with three goals in a span of 3:36 then saw it evaporate on three goals by Alaska in the final 5:14 of regulation, won their first shootout under Head Coach Matt Thomas and became the first team to hand the Aces a loss when trailing after one period this season, breaking Alaska's 9-0-0 mark. Last night was the finale of back-to-back games where the Thunder suited up in Reebok EDGE home jerseys of their NHL affiliate, the Edmonton Oilers (midnight blue and copper). The jerseys were auctioned off to the public after the game on the ice surface of Stockton Arena, with all proceeds benefiting the Stockton Thunder and Lightning Foundation.

1/23/09 - PHX 4 at STK 1: Craig Kowalski made 33 saves while Kimbi Daniels and Ashton Rome both scored a goal and an assist to help the Phoenix RoadRunners snap the Stockton Thunder's (17-18-5, 39 points) eight-game unbeaten streak in regulation, in a 4-1 Thunder loss before 5,745 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. The Thunder, who outshot Phoenix 34-18 and lost in regulation for the first time under head coach Matt Thomas (7-1-1), were aided by a goal from veteran center Cory Urquhart in his return to the lineup after the ECHL All-Star Game. Phoenix won for just the sixth time in 23 lifetime meetings against the Thunder and notched its third lifetime win in four seasons at Stockton Arena.

THUNDER STRIKES AT READING'S ALL-STAR GAME The Thunder were well represented at the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game in Reading, as veteran center Cory Urquhart scored a first period goal and was one of five goal scorers for the National Conference, who were defeated 11-5 by the American Conference at the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Guardian Wear before 5,693 at Sovereign Center. Urquhart ripped a one-timer past goaltender Kris Mayotte of Johnstown with 2:07 left in the first period on a feed by Alaska Aces forward Colin Hemingway, capping off a three-goal first period for the National Conference. The Thunder were also represented on the ice by rookie forward Ryan Huddy, who registered a team-leading seven shots-on-goal.

Thunder head coach Matt Thomas was behind the National Conference bench for the second ECHL All-Star coaching honor of his career.

In Tuesday's Skills Competition, Urquhart hit 3-of-9 targets (Ryan Cruthers of Mississippi and Kevin Baker of Florida) and hit a 1-for-1 mark in the tie-breaker event to defeat both players and win the individual Accuracy Shooting competition. Urquhart, who served as an alternate captain for the National Conference team, helped guide the National Conference to its fourth victory in five seasons in the Skills Competition.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 6,640 through 16 home games, has 13 sellouts in the team's franchise history and finished last year as the ECHL's attendance leader for the third consecutive season. It was the second straight year the Thunder surpassed the mark of 230,000 fans for one season. The Thunder's yearly attendance total finished at 239,337, an average of 6,648 fans per game. The Thunder became the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for three straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons). Stockton's crowd of 9,737 on Nov. 8 against Victoria was the team's first sellout of the year.

STEP UP TO THE MIKE Returning to the lineup this season is left wing Mike Lalonde, who is the Thunder all-time leading goal scorer with 63 goals and ascended to the top perch as the Thunder all-time leading scorer with 135 points, scoring the milestone point on a goal on Dec. 21 at Ontario. Selected as the first player in Thunder history to the ECHL All-Star Game (2006), Lalonde led the ECHL with 308 shots and paced the Thunder with 29 goals as a rookie in 2005-06. Lalonde spent last season with Tilburg of the Netherlands League, guiding his team to the Dutch Cup and scoring 92 points (43g-49a) in just 34 games.

Below is a look at Lalonde's placing on the Thunder career scoring charts:

GOALS:

1. Mike Lalonde 63

2. Nathan Martz 29

Steve Slonina 29

3. Tim Verbeek 28

Ryan MacMurchy 28

POINTS

1. Mike Lalonde 135

2. Nathan Martz 122

3. Joel Irwin 68

4. Stephane Goulet 63

5. Ryan MacMurchy 55

STREAK UPDATE: Lalonde returned to the Thunder lineup on Jan. 16 and has scored nine points (3g-6a) in his last six games. His four point effort (2g-2a) on Jan. 16 vs. Las Vegas tied a career-high for scoring.

RED HOT HUDDY Thunder rookie and 2009 ECHL All-Star Ryan Huddy amassed two more assists vs. Alaska last and has points in nine of his last 10 games, scoring 16 points (9g-7a) in that span. During that span, Huddy posted a six-game goal-scoring streak which is the fourth longest in the league this season.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING "I think we have a lot of confidence in our team right now, and even when we're down we can come back and win," Huddy said. "The whole game we thought we were going to win." - Thunder all-star forward Ryan Huddy after a 4-3 OT comeback win vs. Idaho, The Record, 1/19/09

"Well, we were getting a little tired and decided to jump in," Pitton said with a smile. "It looked like a big sofa." - Goaltender Bryan Pitton after assisting the Thunder and the United Way of San Joaquin County for "Teddy Bear Toss Night" with gathering of stuffed animals for local charity, The Record, 1/23/08

INSIDE THE NUMBERS - PENALTY SHOTS Entering the 2008-09 season, the Thunder has made 1 penalty shot and missed 7 penalty shots, while opponents had made 2 penalty shots and missed 7 penalty shots. Below is a look at Thunder and opposing penalty shots for this season:

PENALTY SHOTS BY THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON 1 MADE, 1 MISSED 1. MADE - Ryan Huddy vs. Jeff Zatkoff at Ontario 11/12/08

2. MISSED - Stephane Goulet vs. Joe Fallon at Fresno 11/14/08

PENALTY SHOTS VS. THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON 0 MADE, 1 MISSED 1. MISSED - Darryl Lloyd vs. Bryan Pitton at Victoria 10/26/08

OVERDUE IN OVERTIME The Thunder has an all-time record of 16-18 in sudden-death overtime and is 13-16 in shootouts. Below is a look at this year's Thunder game-winning goals in overtime and summaries of shootout winners:

THE THUNDER OVERTIME WINNERS (THIS SEASON: 3-3)

DATE OPPONENT SCORE GAME-WINNING GOAL

11/15 @Ontario W, 3-2 Kinley (1:50)

1/3 @Alaska W, 2-1 Huddy (1:19)

1/18 Idaho W, 4-3 Huddy (:27)

THE THUNDER IN SHOOTOUTS, THIS SEASON: 3-2 DATE OPPONENT SCORE SHOOTOUT GOALS GOALTENDER 11/7 Victoria W, 3-2 (Lalonde, Huddy, Kyrzakos) Perugini

11/12 @Ontario L, 2-3 (Urquhart) Perugini

11/14 @Fresno L, 4-5 (None) Pitton

12/19 @Fresno W, 3-2 (Lalonde, Rohlfs) Pitton

1/24 Alaska W, 5-4 (Lalonde, Huddy, Bates) Perugini



ECHL Stories from January 27, 2009


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