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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Bakersfield Condors

October 22, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 7:00 p.m. PT
SITE: Rabobank Arena
RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN
INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

2008-09 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES
10/22/08 @ Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.
11/1/08 @ Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.
11/16/08 Bakersfield 4:00 p.m.
12/26/08 @ Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.
2/14/09 Bakersfield 7:30 p.m.
3/6/09 Bakersfield 7:30 p.m.
3/13/09 @ Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.
3/14/09 @ Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.
3/21/09 Bakersfield 7:30 p.m.

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Marc-Andre Bernier is 18 games away from 200 in his professional career
o Milan Maslonka is three games away from 100 in his professional career
o Cory Urquhart is one assist away from 100 in his professional career and five games away from 200 in his ECHL career
o Nathan Saunders is 10 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder starts a six-game road trip, the second longest of the 2008-09 season, tonight against the Bakersfield Condors from Rabobank Arena. The trek begins a stretch of four games in five nights for the Thunder and it is the first of nine games against the Condors for the 2008-09 season. Stockton carries at lifetime record of 10-8-7 against Bakersfield and went 4-4-1 in the season series last year. Mike Lalonde has scored 13 points (7g-6a) in 13 games (all-time) against Bakersfield.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES

10/18/08 - FRE 3 at STK 2: The Fresno Falcons scored three goals in a span of 2:42 in a second period rally, sending the Thunder to a 3-2 loss in the 2008-09 ECHL season opener before a crowd of 8,723 (largest weekend crowd in ECHL) at Stockton Arena on Saturday. In his return to Stockton Arena after playing the 2007-08 season in Europe, Mike Lalonde scored the first Thunder goal of the season and rookie defenseman Robbie Bina added the first goal of his professional career, as the Thunder went 2-for-6 on the power-play. Mike Radja, in his pro debut, netted two points (1g-1a) for Fresno and scored the eventual game-winning goal with 29 seconds left in the second period.

(PRESEASON) 10/11/08 - STK 3 at FRE 4: Peter MacArthur's game-winning goal with 2:08 remaining in regulation helped the Fresno Falcons send the Thunder (1-1-0 preseason) to a 4-3 preseason defeat at Gateway Ice Center. Urquhart and Petruic scored power-play goals for Stockton while Justin Chwedoruk added a shorthanded goal. The two power-play goals enabled the Thunder to end the pre-season with a 3-for-11 clip on the power-play.

(PRESEASON) 10/9/08 - STK 5 vs. FRE 1: Veteran Cory Urquhart scored three points (2g-1a) in his debut and rookie Andrew Perugini made 32 saves as the Thunder notched a 5-1 preseason win over the Fresno Falcons in front of 2,048 fans at Stockton Arena on Thursday, Oct. 9. David Rohlfs, Milan Maslonka and Neil Petruic each chipped in with a goal. Stockton, who finished last in the league in penalty kill percentage last year, held Fresno to a 0-for-7 clip on the power-play.

ALL THE WAY TO THE (RABO)BANK

The Thunder carries a lifetime record of 10-8-7 against Bakersfield and has established a stranglehold on the series as it moves south, which includes a 5-2-1 record at Rabobank Arena in the last two seasons (eight games). The Thunder has outscored the Condors 32-24 in the last eight games in Bakersfield. Below is a look at the head-to-head series in the last two seasons:

SERIES AT RABOBANK ARENA, 2006-08 (Thunder leads 5-2-1)
10/20/06 Stockton 6 at Bakersfield 1
02/09/07 Stockton 1 at Bakersfield 2 (OT)
03/17/07 Stockton 4 at Bakersfield 1
03/31/07 Stockton 4 at Bakersfield 3 (SO)
10/19/07 Stockton 2 at Bakersfield 3
12/29/07 Stockton 5 at Bakersfield 4
02/23/08 Stockton 5 at Bakersfield 2
03/17/08 Stockton 5 at Bakersfield 8

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"It's very exciting, because it's been like a month and a half of training camp and now we get to play," Pitton said. "A lot of us know each other from the other (Edmonton) camps, and this is a very good group."

- Goaltender Bryan Pitton on the Thunder roster, The Record, 10/18/08

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder finished last year as the ECHL's attendance champions for the third consecutive season and drew four capacity crowds of 9,737 this year at Stockton Arena. It is the second straight year the Thunder has 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).

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 52 goals. 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 52
2. Nathan Martz 29
Steve Slonina 29
3. Tim Verbeek 28
4. Joel Irwin 25

POINTS
1. Nathan Martz 122
2. Mike Lalonde 106
3. Joel Irwin 68
4. Stephane Goulet 54
5. Brandon Schwartz52

OILING UP THE SHIP

For the third straight season, the Thunder is serving as the proud ECHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League and is an affiliate of the AHL's Springfield Falcons. As an affiliate, the Thunder have made back-to-back appearances in the Kelly Cup Playoffs and two players with experience in a Thunder uniform (D Bryan Young, LW Liam Reddox) have played in the National Hockey League. Edmonton has won five Stanley Cups and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals six times in franchise history, additionally passing six players onto the Hockey Hall of Fame (Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey and Glenn Anderson).

This season, the farm system has been strengthened with scoring depth and toughness. A total of 18 players with an NHL or AHL contract are on the Thunder roster, an all-time franchise high in that category.



ECHL Stories from October 22, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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