Sports stats



Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Fresno Falcons

December 7, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 5:05 p.m. PT
SITE: Selland Arena
RADIO: 1420 KSTN
INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

2008-09 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES
10/18/08 Fresno 3 at Stockton 2
11/14/08 Stockton 4 at Fresno 5 (SO)
11/29/08 Fresno 4 at Stockton 2
12/7/08 Stockton @ Fresno
12/16/08 Stockton @ Fresno
12/19/08 Stockton @ Fresno
12/20/08 Stockton @ Fresno
2/6/08 Stockton vs. Fresno
2/7/08 Stockton vs. Fresno
3/20/08 Stockton vs. Fresno

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Mike Lalonde is 6 points away from surpassing Nathan Martz as the Thunder career scoring leader
o Ryan MacMurchy is 1 game away from 100 in his professional career
o Cory Urquhart is 15 goals away from 100 in his ECHL career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder faces their Pacific Division rival Fresno Falcons in the finale of three games in three nights, the fourth of 10 meetings between the clubs in 2008-09 and the third at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 7-20-5 lifetime against the Falcons and last faced the Falcons in Fresno on Nov. 14, a 5-4 shootout win for the Falcons. Both teams last met on Oct. 29 in Stockton, when Fresno defeated the Thunder 4-2.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES

12/6/08 - ONT 4 at STK 0: John Murray made 26 saves for the first shutout in Ontario Reign history and helped send the Thunder to a 4-0 loss before a crowd of 8,174 at Stockton Arena on Saturday night. It was the first time the Thunder suffered a shutout in the 2008-09 season, who were victimized by two-point efforts from Geoff Walker (1g-1a) and Dusty Collins (1g-1a). Thunder rookie goaltender Andrew Perugini countered with a 21-save effort in the defeat.

12/5/08 - STK 3 at ONT 2: Thunder goaltender Bryan Pitton made 35 saves and received support from a career-high two-goal night by Adam Huxley, helping the Thunder sink the Ontario Reign in a 3-2 victory at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Friday. Huxley scored two goals, aided by a game-winning goal from Stephane Goulet.

11/29/08 - FRE 4 at STK 2: Jarrett Konkle and Kyle Hagel scored two goals each to help rally the Fresno Falcons out of a two-goal hole and send the Thunder to a 3-2 loss before a crowd of 6,224 at the Stockton Arena on Saturday. Ryan Huddy scored his fourth point in two games with a goal and Adam Huxley tallied his third goal of the season. Fresno's Michael Ouzas earned the win in net with a 16-save effort, countered by rookie Andrew Perugini's output with 23 saves in the loss.

SEASON SERIES RECAP (THUNDER ARE 0-3-0 VS. FRESNO)

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 October 18 ... Mike Lalonde and Robbie Bina each scored for the Thunder ... Fresno Falcons goaltender Joe Fallon made 26 saves and kept the Thunder blanked in five rounds of a shootout, helping Fresno edge the Thunder in a 5-4 shootout decision before 4,033 at Selland Arena on November 14 ... the Thunder were led by a three point game each by Cory Urquhart (1g-2a) and Bryan Lerg (three assists) ... the Thunder received additional goals from Jeff Kyrzakos, Ryan Huddy and Neil Petruic ... Jarrett Konkle and Kyle Hagel scored two goals each to help rally the Fresno Falcons out of a two-goal hole and send the Thunder to a 3-2 loss before a crowd of 6,224 at the Stockton Arena on November 29. Ryan Huddy and Adam Huxley each scored for the Thunder.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 6,887 through seven games, has 13 sellouts in the team's franchise history and finished last year as the ECHL's attendance leader for the third consecutive season. It was the second straight year the Thunder 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). Stockton's crowd of 9,737 on Nov. 8 against Victoria was the team's first sellout of the year.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"I'm just working hard," Huxley said. "I've learned to move my feet more and to get in position to get chances."

- Left winger Adam Huxley after his two-goal game on Friday, a 3-2 Thunder win at Ontario, The Record, 12/6/08

WEEKEND TRANSACTIONS

The Thunder acivated right wing David Rohlfs off the three-day injured reserve list on Friday. Rohlfs has scored five points (3g-2a) in 14 games this season. Defenseman Cleve Kinley was re-assigned to the Thunder on Tuesday after appearing in one game for the Springfield Falcons. On Saturday, leading scorer Cory Urquhart earned a call-up to Springfield after scoring 19 points in 18 games.

HARDCORE CORY

Forward Cory Urquhart, on recall to Springfield of the American Hockey League, leads the Thunder in scoring with 19 points (7g-18a) in 18 games. Urquhart was runner-up for In Glas Co ECHL Player of the Week honors for the week of Oct. 20 with eight points (3g-5a) in four games. Urquhart, who was originally selected in the second round (40th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, has six multi-point games this season.

HUDDY HEATING UP

Rookie forward Ryan Huddy enjoyed his first multi-goal game of the season in last Friday's 4-2 win vs. Alaska, when he also earned a season-high three points (2g-1a). Huddy, who was recalled to Springfield of the AHL on Tuesday, has points in 9 of his last 10 games and for his efforts in the week of Nov. 23, garnered runner-up honors for ECHL Player of the Week and ECHL Rookie of the Month.

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 58 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.



ECHL Stories from December 7, 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.

OurSports Central