Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Colorado Eagles

Published on March 7, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER at COLORADO EAGLES

DATE: Wednesday, March 7, 2012

TIME: 6:05 p.m.

SITE: Budweiser Events Center

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

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Colorado Eagles: Winnipeg Jets

NEXT HOME GAME

Wednesday, March 14 vs. Idaho Steelheads, 7:00 p.m.

FAMILY DAY (presented by Sutter Gould Medical Foundation and 99.3 KJOY)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder continues a four game road trip against the Colorado Eagles tonight at Budweiser Events Center. The game will be the final matchup between the teams this season and the Thunder is 3-5-0 against Colorado. The Thunder last faced Colorado last night, and the Eagles defeated the Thunder 5-4 at Budweiser Events Center. The Thunder enters the game with a magic number of six to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth and is seven points behind Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 3-5-0)

Fri. Oct. 14 Colorado 5 at Stockton 2

Fri. Oct. 21 Stockton 1 at Colorado 3

Sat. Oct. 22 Stockton 5 at Colorado 4

Fri. Feb. 10 Stockton 2 at Colorado 5

Sat. Feb. 11 Stockton 1 at Colorado 4

Sat. Feb. 18 Colorado 2 at Stockton 4

Sun. Feb. 19 Colorado 1 at Stockton 3

Tue. Mar. 6 Stockton 4 at Colorado 5

Wed. Mar. 7 at Colorado 6:05 p.m.

LAST THREE GAMES:

COL 5 - STK 4 (3/6/12): Chad Costello had a hat trick and added an assist to provide enough offense to help the Colorado Eagles escape a furious rally by the Stockton Thunder (29-25-5, 63 points), in a 5-4 Thunder loss at Budweiser Events Center on Tuesday. The Thunder was stuck at a magic number of six to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth and nearly battled back four times from two goal deficits. Stockton outshot Colorado, 38-32 and were aided offensively by goals from Jason Morgan, Max Campbell, Chris D'Alvise and Jordan Fulton.

STK 4 - AK 3 (SO) (3/4/12): Captain Jason Morgan scored a goal in the fifth round of a shootout and Thomas Heemskerk made 35 saves to help the Stockton Thunder (29-24-5, 63 points) complete a come-from-behind rally and edge the Alaska Aces in a 4-3 shootout victory before 5,778 at Stockton Arena on Sunday. The win was Thunder head coach Matt Thomas' 300th of his ECHL career, becoming the eighth coach in league history to accomplish the feat. Stockton also reduced its magic number to six for a clinch of a playoff berth and took four points out of a possible six against Alaska - who entered the weekend with the league's best record.

STK 4 - AK 0 (3/3/12): Goaltender Olivier Roy made 36 saves and broke a Stockton Thunder (28-24-5, 61 points) record with his fourth shutout of the season, helping the Thunder sink the Alaska Aces in a 4-0 victory before a season high crowd of 9,398 at Stockton Arena on Saturday. With Roy sporting the ECHL's "Golden Goalie" jersey in lieu of the All-Star Game this season, the Thunder reduced its magic number to eight for a clinch of a Kelly Cup Playoff berth and Kevin Baker - wearing a special designed Thunder crest on his jersey as a "Silver Skater" - paced the offense with a three points (2g-1a). Jordan Fulton and Chris D'Alvise each chipped in with a goal while Gabriel Levesque earned an assist in his first game back from injury.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Kevin Baker is 14 goals away from 200 in his professional career

- Jody Pederson is 1 game away from 100 in his professional career

- Jordan Fulton is 1 game away from 100 in his Thunder career

- Chris D'Alvise is 1 game away from 100 in his Thunder career

GOING THE EXTRA MILE(STONE)

Thunder head coach Matt Thomas became the eighth coach in ECHL history to reach the 300 win plateau in his career on Sunday, when the Thunder defeated Alaska, 4-3 in a shootout at Stockton Arena. Thomas is currently in his fourth season as Thunder head coach and has never missed the playoffs since earning his first position with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in 2004-05. His 121 wins stand as the all time leader in Thunder career coaching wins.

ROAD RAGE

The Thunder has parlayed a record of 7-3-2 in one goal games on the road and also boasts a record of 7-1-1 when leading after one period on the road. In the last road win, the Thunder defeated Bakersfield, 4-3 in a shootout at Rabobank Arena on Feb. 24.

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 tied for second in ECHL all-time goal scoring (since 2006-07) with 174 goals. On Dec. 10 vs. Bakersfield, he collected his first hat trick of the season.

MOST GOALS, ECHL (SINCE 2006-07)

Rank Player Team GP PTS G A +/-

1 Wes Goldie AK 463 448 272 176 5

2 Kevin Baker STK 325 358 174 184 17

3 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

4 Olivier Labelle REA 299 247 133 114 -14

5 Ryan Kinasewich UTA 205 292 131 161 -4

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

CHRIS CONTROL

Chris D'Alvise, assigned on Thursday from Springfield (AHL), enters the game ranking fourth on the Thunder's all time scoring chart with 93 points. He was named Thunder Rookie of the Year in 2009-10 and has collected four hat tricks in less than two full seasons in the ECHL. Below is where D'Alvise ranks on the Thunder all time scoring list:

ALL TIME THUNDER SCORING

Player PTS

1. Mike Lalonde 156

2. Nathan Martz 122

3. James Bates 121

4. Chris D'Alvise 95

5. Garet Hunt 75

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. He played in his 200th career game with the Thunder on Dec. 16 vs. Idaho.

ALL-TIME THUNDER GAMES PLAYED

Player GP

1. Garet Hunt 231

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

PLAYOFF NOTES

ECHL WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF STANDINGS

(Top-7 in the conference qualify for Kelly Cup playoffs)

Rank Western Conference GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA STK P10 SO

1 x * - Alaska Aces 61 37 15 2 7 83 0.680 194 145 0-1-0-1 4-3-0-3 3-7

2 x * - Ontario Reign 59 37 16 4 2 80 0.678 210 164 5-0-1-0 8-1-1-0 5-2

3 x Las Vegas Wranglers 61 37 19 1 4 79 0.648 200 166 2-0-0-0 7-3-0-0 3-4

4 x Colorado Eagles 58 32 20 1 5 70 0.603 217 204 1-0-0-0 5-4-0-1 3-5

5 Stockton Thunder 59 29 25 1 4 63 0.534 167 175 0-1-0-0 6-4-0-0 6-4

6 Utah Grizzlies 60 25 30 0 5 55 0.458 141 195 0-5-0-0 3-7-0-0 7-5

7 Idaho Steelheads 59 23 29 2 5 53 0.449 161 200 0-8-0-2 0-8-0-2 6-5

8 Bakersfield Condors 59 18 35 4 2 42 0.356 160 201 1-0-0-0 6-3-0-1 1-2

* Division leader

x Teams who have clinched a playoff spot.

y Teams who have clinched the division title

z Team who has clinched the conference title, 1st round bye

2011 Playoff March Notes -

- The Thunder has 13 regular season games remaining and has a magic number of 6 to clinch a playoff berth.

- Stockton has regular season games remaining against the following teams:

- Colorado (1)

- Utah (4)

- Idaho (4)

- Las Vegas (1)

- Ontario (1)

- Bakersfield (2)

- The top seven teams in the Western Conference will qualify for the 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs and will be seeded by conference ranking in the first and second round of the playoffs. The #1 seed will receive a bye through the first round and the #2 seed will play #7, the #3 seed will play #6, and the #4 seed will play #5. Home ice advantage will be determined by points.

- If the Kelly Cup Playoffs began today, the Thunder would face the Colorado Eagles in the Western Conference Quarterfinal.

- Currently, 69 points guarantees a playoff spot as the 8th place Bakersfield Condors can only amass 68 points this season.

- The Thunder is looking to surpass the 30-win plateau for the fifth time in club history (2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11)

- TIE-BREAKER: The tiebreaker for the Western Conference if two teams tie will be: 1. Wins (regulation and OT only), regular season; 2. Points, head-to-head; 3. Wins, head-to-head; 4. Goal differential, head-to-head; 5. Winning percentage, division (if tied teams are from same division; if not, skip to 6); 6. Winning percentage, conference; 7. Goals for, regular season; 8. Goals against, regular season; 9. Coin toss

The tiebreaker for the Western Conference if three teams are tied will be: 1. Wins (regulation and OT only); 2. Winning percentage, games between the teams; 3. Goal differential, games between the teams; 4. Winning percentage, division; 5. Winning percentage, conference; 6. Goals for, regular season; 7. Goals against, regular season; 8. Coin toss. When two teams remain after the third or other teams are eliminated during any step above, the tiebreaker reverts to Step 1 of the two-team format.

- Last season, the Thunder clinched its fifth straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with the 3rd seed in the Western Conference and a tied a club record in points for one season with a 37-23-12 record (86 points)

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