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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Bakersfield Condors

December 9, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME: Stockton Thunder at Bakersfield Condors

DATE: Friday, December 9, 2011

TIME: 7:00 p.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

Saturday, Dec. 10 vs. Bakersfield Condors, 7:30 p.m.

THUNDER FLEECE BLANKET GIVEAWAY (presented by Stockton Police Officers, KHOP 95.1, Angelina's Spaghetti House and The Record)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder visits the Bakersfield Condors for the second of 13 meetings tonight, starting three matchups between the teams in three straight days. Thunder head coach Matt Thomas will face former Stockton assistant coach, defenseman and new Bakersfield head coach Matt O'Dette for the second time this season. The Thunder last faced Bakersfield on Nov. 15 and defeated the Condors, 4-2 at Rabobank Arena. The Thunder is 7-10-3 in the last five seasons at Rabobank Arena.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 1-0-0)

Tue. Nov. 15 Stockton 4 at Bakersfield 2

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.

LAST TIME OUT:

STK 4 - BAK 2 (11/15/11): Rookie center Gabriel Levesque scored two goals, added an assist and the Stockton Thunder (5-3-3, 13 points) never trailed, prevailing in a 4-2 victory over the Bakersfield Condors before a crowd of 6,145 at Rabobank Arena on Tuesday. The Thunder gave head coach Matt Thomas a victory in his first meeting against counterpart Matt O'Dette, a former Thunder assistant coach and defenseman from 2008-11. Goaltender Thomas Heemskerk improved to 5-0-0 with a 19 save performance. Bretton Cameron and Kevin Baker added goals for the Thunder.

LAST THREE GAMES:

LV 4 - STK 2 (12/6/11): Ash Goldie scored a goal, added an assist and goaltender Joe Fallon made 26 saves to help the Las Vegas Wranglers send the Stockton Thunder (10-8-3, 23 points) to a 4-2 defeat before 2,525 fans at Orleans Arena on Tuesday night. The Thunder were unable to recover from two separate two goal deficits in the second and third periods and fell to 1-1-0 on a three game road trip.

STK 2 - ONT 0 (12/4/11): Rookie goaltender Olivier Roy earned his second shutout of the season and made 32 saves to help boost the Stockton Thunder (10-7-3, 23 points) to a 2-0 victory over the host Ontario Reign, before an announced crowd of 4,644 at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Sunday. Roy helped the Thunder turn the tables on the Reign, who put up a 4-0 shutout at Stockton Arena two days prior. The win was bolstered by two third period goals from Jesse Fratkin and Jordan Fulton, moving the Thunder to a 9-2-2 mark in Ontario since the 2009-10 season. Fratkin earned a goal and an assist to lead the offense and the Thunder jumped back into sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division.

ONT 4 - STK 0 (12/2/11): Goaltender Chris Carrozzi ended a ten game winless skid dating back to last season and posted 40 saves for his third career shutout, helping the Ontario Reign send the Stockton Thunder (9-7-3, 21 points) to a 4-0 defeat before 5,041 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. Derek Couture scored a pair of goals and C.J. Stretch added a goal and an assist for the Reign, while the Thunder were blanked for the second time on home ice this season despite pouring 28 shots on goal in the final 40 minutes. They outshot Ontario 40-32.

ROY WORRY?

Goaltender Olivier Roy is 4-2-1 since Nov. 1, leading the ECHL with two shutouts in that span while compiling a .934 save percentage and 2.07 goals against average. He was named ECHL Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 22, most recently a runner up for the award on Dec. 6 and was also runner up for ECHL Goaltender of the Month for November. His two shutouts this season are one shy of the Thunder single season record, shared by Tim Boron (2007-08) and Andrew Perugini (2009-10).

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

Familiar faces spell the Bakersfield lineup for tonight's game. Bakersfield goaltender Bryan Pitton (2008-11), left winger Matt Marquardt (2009-10) and left winger Jesse Gimblett (2010-11) were former members of the Thunder and head coach Matt O'Dette served as assistant coach and played as defenseman for Matt Thomas with the Thunder and Fresno Falcons from 2005-11.

THE ROAD TO VICTORY

The Thunder is tied for the ECHL lead with seven victories on the road this season and carries a record of 7-3-2 away from Stockton Arena. Last season, Stockton broke a club record with 19 wins en route to 86 points during the season, which tied another franchise high. The Thunder is 6-2-1 in the last nine road games.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Matt Thomas is 19 wins away from 300 in his professional coaching career

- Matt Foy is 6 assists away from 100 in his professional career

- Jordan Foreman is 1 game away from 100 in his ECHL career

- Garet Hunt is 4 games away from 200 in his Thunder career

HUNTING DOWN A MILESTONE

Thunder left winger Garet Hunt has surpassed 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.

ALL-TIME THUNDER GAMES PLAYED

Player GP

1. Garet Hunt 196

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

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 6,091 fans per game.

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 158 goals.

MOST GOALS, ECHL (SINCE 2006-07)

Rank Player Team GP PTS G A +/-

1 Wes Goldie AK 424 412 249 163 3

2 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

3 Kevin Baker STK 287 320 158 162 16

4 Ryan Kinasewich UTA 205 292 131 161 -4

5 Marty Flichel IDH 382 358 131 227 -8

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

DID YOU KNOW?

There have been 18 penalty shots taken by the Thunder in their franchise history, dating back to 2005-06. The last to convert was Chris D'Alvise at Ontario on Feb. 13, 2010 against goaltender Curtis Darling.

PENALTY SHOTS BY THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON

(3 MADE, 15 MISSED)

1. MISSED - Nathan Martz vs. Yutaka Fukufuji vs. Reading 12/27/05

2. MISSED - Joel Irwin vs. Yutaka Fukufuji vs. Reading 12/28/05

3. MISSED - Nathan Martz vs. Chris Beckford-Tseu @ Alaska 1/20/06

4. MISSED - Joel Irwin vs. Ryan Munce vs. Bakersfield 4/7/06

5. MADE - Tim Sestito vs. Ryan MacDonald vs. Fresno 12/27/06

6. MISSED - Tim Sestito vs. Derek Gustafson @ Alaska 1/24/07

7. MISSED - Mike Lalonde vs. Jamie Hodson vs. Bakersfield 2/2/07

8. MISSED - Tom Zanoski vs. Michael Mole vs. Utah 2/6/08

9. MADE - Ryan Huddy vs. Jeff Zatkoff @ Ontario 11/12/08

10. MISSED - Stephane Goulet vs. Joe Fallon @ Fresno 11/14/08

11. MADE - Chris D'Alvise vs. Curtis Darling @ Ontario 2/13/10

12. MISSED - J.F. Caudron vs. Glenn Fisher vs. Victoria 3/5/10

13. MISSED - Kelly Czuy vs. Jimmy Spratt vs. Las Vegas 3/27/10

14. MISSED - Chris D'Alvise vs. Martin Jones vs. Ontario 10/16/10

15. MISSED - Mark Arcobello vs. Kellen Briggs vs. Ontario 10/23/10

16. MISSED - Chris D'Alvise vs. Peter Hirsch @ Bakersfield 10/29/10

17. MISSED - Garet Hunt vs. Joe Fallon vs. Las Vegas 12/29/10

18. MISSED - Garet Hunt vs. Andrew Engelage vs. Utah 11/4/11



ECHL Stories from December 9, 2011


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