Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Bakersfield Condors

Published on November 15, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME: Stockton Thunder at Bakersfield Condors

DATE: Tuesday, November 15, 2011

TIME: 10:30 a.m.

SITE: Rabobank Arena

RADIO: 1280 AM KWSX/StocktonThunder.com (AmericaOne)

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Bakersfield Condors: Independent

NEXT HOME GAME

Wednesday, Nov. 23 vs. Alaska Aces, 7:00 p.m.

FAMILY DAY (presented by Sutter Gould Medical Foundation)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder visits the Bakersfield Condors for the first of 13 meetings on Tuesday morning with a significant club milestone in reach for Garet Hunt. Upon suiting up for the game, he will tie Mark Adamek for the Thunder all time lead in games played (186). Thunder head coach Matt Thomas will face former Stockton assistant coach, defenseman and new Bakersfield head coach Matt O'Dette for the first regular season game since O'Dette was hired by the Condors during the previous summer. The Thunder went 4-5-2 against the Condors last season and last faced them at Rabobank Arena on Feb. 26, 2011, suffering a 4-1 defeat. The Thunder continues a season long six game road trip and is 3-0-2 in the last five games.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 0-0-0)

Tue. Nov. 15 at Bakersfield 10:30 a.m.

Fri. Dec. 9 at Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

Sat. Dec. 10 Bakersfield 7:30 p.m.

Sun. Dec. 11 Bakersfield 4:00 p.m.

Mon. Dec. 26 at Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

Fri. Jan. 6, 2012 at Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

Sat. Jan. 7 at Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

Wed. Feb. 1 at Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

Fri. Feb. 24 at Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

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

Sun. Feb. 26 Bakersfield 4:00 p.m.

Fri. Mar. 23 Bakersfield 7:30 p.m.

Sat. Mar. 24 Bakersfield 7:30 p.m.

ON THE HUNT

Thunder left winger Garet Hunt needs 2 games to surpass Mark Adamek as the club's career leader in games played. Hunt is in his fourth season as a member of the Thunder and last season, was named the team's "Unsung Hero" and "Fan Favorite." This season, he was named alternate captain on Oct. 13. By skating in today's game, he will tie Mark Adamek for the all-time lead.

ALL-TIME THUNDER GAMES PLAYED

Player GP

1. Mark Adamek 186

2. Garet Hunt 185

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 3 - LV 2 (SO) (11/13/11): Goaltender Thomas Heemskerk turned in a career high 38 save effort and stopped Adam Miller in the eighth round of the shootout, boosting the Stockton Thunder (4-3-3, 11 points) to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Las Vegas Wranglers before a crowd of 2,909 at Orleans Arena on Sunday. Heemskerk turned away six of eight attempts in the shootout and sealed the win when he denied Miller, who helped the Wranglers defeat the Thunder on Saturday night with an overtime goal, with a right pad save on Miller's wrist shot. Jordan Foreman and Bretton Cameron scored for the Thunder in the first and third periods, respectively.

LV 4 - STK 3 (OT) (11/12/11): Adam Miller's goal with 25.4 seconds left in sudden death overtime completed a three goal comeback by the Las Vegas Wranglers, who defeated the Stockton Thunder (3-3-3, 9 points), 4-3 in overtime, before 5,076 fans at Orleans Arena on Saturday. The Thunder surrendered a game-tying goal to Peter MacArthur, on an extra attacker situation with 9.2 seconds left in regulation. Miller and MacArthur each led Las Vegas with a goal and an assist, while Ryan Martindale and Kevin Baker paced the Thunder with two assists each.

STK 3 - UTA 2 (11/5/11): Goaltender Thomas Heemskerk made 27 saves and the Stockton Thunder (3-3-2, 8 points) never trailed, ending the Utah Grizzlies' seven game win streak in a 3-2 victory before a crowd of 9,012 at Stockton Arena on Saturday, concluding Thunder Goes Pink VI. The Thunder, wearing pink accented jerseys in support of the fundraising event against breast cancer, were aided offensively with goals from Gabriel Levesque, Jordan Foreman and Matt Foy, who victimized the same goaltender - Andrew Engelage - who beat the Thunder one night before on a 25-save shutout. The Thunder took three points in the two games against Utah, who entered the weekend with the best record in the Western Conference.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Matt Thomas is 25 wins away from 300 in his professional coaching career

- Matt Foy is 11 assists away from 100 in his professional career

- Garet Hunt is 2 games away from becoming the Thunder career leader in games played

THUNDER CROWDS ROLL IN

An exclusive club, the Thunder averaged over 6,000 fans per game and drew over 200,000 fans for the sixth straight year in 2010-11, ranking 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 "Teddy Bear Toss" game, the largest crowd at Stockton Arena for the season and the fourth crowd over 9,000 in the event's history. Stockton has 17 sellouts in the team's franchise history. They welcomed 12 crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena last season and had its highest attendance since 2007-08, a six percent increase from 2009-10.

The Thunder leads the ECHL attendance this season with an average of 7,017 fans per game.

TOP FIVE HOME CROWDS IN 2010-11

OPPONENT DATE ATTENDANCE

1. Ontario 1/22/11 9,482

2. Idaho 3/19/11 9,396 *

3. Bakersfield 11/6/10 9,015

T-4. Idaho 3/26/11 8,923*

Idaho 1/29/11 8,923*

* Denotes sellout

** Stockton Arena's base capacity for hockey is 8,923 and has capabilities of expansion to 9,737 with auxiliary seating.

GOAL ORIENTED

Thunder right winger Kevin Baker was signed as a free agent on Aug. 24 and brings a wealth of offensive accomplishments to the Thunder roster. He was named ECHL Most Valuable Player in 2008-09 and his 57 goals that season were most in the league since 2000-01. He ranks third in ECHL all-time goal scoring (since 2006-07) with 153 goals.

MOST GOALS, ECHL (SINCE 2006-07)

Rank Player Team GP PTS G A +/-

1 Wes Goldie AK 415 402 244 158 -1

2 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

3 Kevin Baker STK 276 314 153 161 22

4 Ryan Kinasewich UTA 205 292 131 161 -4

5 Marty Flichel IDH 375 350 128 222 -4

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

WELCOME TO THE SHOW

Two players, right winger Matt Foy and center Jason Morgan, have playing experience in the National Hockey League. Foy suited up for the Minnesota Wild from 2005-08 and Morgan has skated for five National Hockey League clubs (Los Angeles, Calgary, Minnesota, Nashville and Chicago). A total of 13 players are on the Thunder active roster who have skated in training camp or rookie camp with National Hockey League or American Hockey League teams this season: Cameron Brodie, Bretton Cameron, Thomas Heemskerk, Dan Ringwald, Gabriel Levesque, Brock Matheson, Ian O'Connor, Tony DeHart, Sebastian Owuya, Olivier Roy, Milan Kytnar, Ryan Martindale and Cameron Abney.

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