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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Bakersfield Condors

February 25, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Stockton Thunder faces the Bakersfield Condors for the second of three consecutive games, continuing Friday at Rabobank Arena. It is the tenth of 11 meetings between both clubs and the last time both teams met, Bakersfield defeated Stockton, 5-3 at Stockton Arena on Feb. 22. The Thunder is 21-20-12 lifetime against the Condors through six seasons and is 4-3-2 in the head-to-head series.

LAST THREE GAMES:

BAK 5 ‚¬" STK 3 (2/22/11): Pascal Morency and Joel Broda each scored a pair of goals to help the Bakersfield Condors escape an early two goal deficit and rally, defeating the Thunder, 5-3 during a rare Tuesday night game in front of a home crowd of 3,210 fans at Stockton Arena. Goals from Fraser Clair, Chris Lawrence and Pierre-Andre Bureau, as well as a last minute rally in the third period were not enough to best the Thunder ‚¬â„¢s division rivals in the Pacific.

STK 4 ‚¬" VIC 0 (2/20/11): Rookie goaltender Zane Kalemba made 24 saves for his first career shutout and center Chris Lawrence added a pair of goals and an assist to lift the Thunder to 4-0 victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings, before a crowd of 5,556 at Stockton Arena on Sunday. Kalemba, who beat the team that once traded for him earlier this season and improved to 5-1-2 on the season, helped the Thunder improve to 7-3-0 in the head-to-head series and move into sole possession of third place in the Western Conference, four points behind first place Las Vegas. Kalemba has stopped the last 48 of 49 shots faced. Fraser Clair and Cameron Brodie each added a goal and assist.

STK 8 ‚¬" VIC 1 (2/19/11): Chris Lawrence collected a hat trick and goaltender Zane Kalemba made 24 saves as the Thunder posted a record setting night offensively, routing the Victoria Salmon Kings in a 8-1 victory before 7,549 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder, whose eight goals tied a franchise record for one game and broke another for most goals in a home game, scored six unanswered goals and chased goaltender David Shantz after 40 minutes. Lawrence led the charge with his first career hat trick plus an assist, to increase the Thunder ‚¬â„¢s record to 6-3-0 against Victoria this season. Steve Vanoosten (1g-1a, fight) and Jordan Fulton (1g-2a, fight) each recorded ‚¬Å“Gordie Howe Hat Tricks, ‚¬Â while Jarett Konkle and Garet Hunt also added two assists each during the victory.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 4-3-2)

Fri. Oct. 29 Stockton 4 at Bakersfield 5 (SO)

Fri. Nov. 5 Bakersfield 0 at Stockton 7

Sat. Nov. 6 Bakersfield 2 at Stockton 4

Sun. Nov. 7 Bakersfield 0 at Stockton 4

Fri. Dec. 10 Stockton 3 at Bakersfield 5

Sun. Dec. 26 Stockton 0 at Bakersfield 1

Mon. Dec. 27 Stockton 3 at Bakersfield 4 (OT)

Wed. Jan. 12 Bakersfield 3 at Stockton 5

Tue. Feb. 22 Bakersfield 5 at Stockton 3

Fri. Feb. 25 at Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

Sat. Feb. 26 at Bakersfield Noon

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

· Ryan Constant is 8 games away from 300 in his professional career

· Kelly Czuy is 3 points away from 100 in his professional career

· Bryan Pitton is 3 games away from 100 in his professional career

SHOOT TO THRILL

The Thunder rank third in average shots per game in the ECHL with 33.3, topped only by Trenton ‚¬â„¢s average of 35.8 and Toledo ‚¬â„¢s, of 34.0. There have been nine different occasions that Stockton has fired over 40 shots or more this season, and a Wednesday, Feb. 9 game (37-35, vs. Ontario) was the first time they were outshot by an opponent in 14 games, dating back to Jan. 7 at Victoria (24-34 in 4-2 defeat). Right winger Fraser Clair leads the Thunder individually with 179 shots.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

The Thunder also rank second in least shots allowed per game in the ECHL with 27.7, topped only by Alaska ‚¬â„¢s average of 25. Stockton has held an opponent to under 30 shots on goal in 11 of the last 13 games and they allowed a season-low 13 shots to Las Vegas on Nov. 24 (1-0 defeat).

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder is second in ECHL in attendance with 6,197 fans per game through 26 games. 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 15 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). There have been eight crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena this season.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The Thunder capped the month of January with a record of 10-5-1, ending the first month of the new year in second place in the Pacific Division. In total, the Thunder had two weekend, three-game series sweeps (Utah and Ontario) and won eight consecutive games, their longest win streak of the season (Jan. 8-23).Stockton scored 51 goals, averaging 3.2 per game. Goaltender Bryan Pitton ran a record of 7-2-1 during the month, returning from Oklahoma City of the AHL.

CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER

The Thunder enters the game with 86 major penalties, leading the ECHL. Entering Thursday, their average of 21.3 penalty minutes ranked fifth in the ECHL. Individually, the Thunder is led by Garet Hunt, who has 153 penalty minutes. Nine players on the Thunder have registered 60 penalty minutes or more this season.

LIKE A BROKEN RECORD

The Thunder broke a club record on Saturday, Nov. 20 in a 2-1 shootout loss to Idaho for a 12-game unbeaten streak in regulation (8-0-4). The previous standard was set with an 11-0-0 run in 2006-07. The Thunder began the streak with a 5-4 overtime loss to Ontario on Oct. 16 at Stockton Arena and tied the mark on Nov. 18, in a 3-2 shootout win over Idaho.

THUNDER ANSWERS ROAD RULES CHALLENGE

The Thunder owned a 6-0-2 streak on the road to begin the season, finishing as the last remaining team in the ECHL yet to lose a game in regulation on the road. Additionally, the streak to start the season broke the mark of five straight games without a loss in regulation (5-0-0), set back in 2006-07 (Mar. 17-31). The Thunder are 6-2-2 in the last ten road games.

HAIL TO THE CHIEF

Thunder head coach Matt Thomas ranks third in wins in the last decade in the ECHL (among active coaches), entering the year with a lifetime .606 win percentage (234-143-54 record) in six seasons as a head coach for Stockton, Fresno and Atlantic City. Thomas also has never missed the playoffs, won a Kelly Cup championship in 2002-03 as an assistant coach with Atlantic City, has been named coach for the ECHL All-Star Game twice (2005, 2009) and has been behind the bench in a coaching role for teams that advanced to the Conference Finals three times.

ALL-TIME WINS, REGULAR SEASON (2000-2010)

COACH WINS

1. Jeff Pyle (Gwinnett, Mobile) * 365

2. Malcolm Cameron (four teams) 317

3. Davis Payne (Alaska, Pee-Dee) 289

4. Matt Thomas (Stockton, Fre, A.C.) * 260

5. Glen Gulutzan (Las Vegas) 254

* Currently ECHL active



ECHL Stories from February 25, 2011


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