Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Idaho Steelheads
November 21, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release
FACEOFF: 6:10 p.m. PT
SITE: Qwest Arena
RADIO: 1420 KSTN
INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)
2008-09 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES
11/19/08 Stockton 2 at Idaho 3 (OT)
11/21/08 @ Idaho 6:10 p.m.
11/22/08 @ Idaho 6:10 p.m.
1/18/09 Idaho 4:00 p.m.
2/8/09 Idaho 4:00 p.m.
2/27/09 Idaho 7:30 p.m.
3/1/09 Idaho 4:00 p.m.
MILESTONE TRACKER
o Mike Lalonde is 9 points away from surpassing Nathan Martz as
the Thunder career scoring leader
o Ryan MacMurchy is 5 games away from 100 in his professional
career
o Cory Urquhart is 17 goals away from 100 in his ECHL career
TONIGHT'S MATCHUP
The Stockton Thunder and Idaho Steelheads meet for the second time this season on Friday, continuing a three-game series in Boise and marking the second of seven matchups against the Steelheads. The Thunder is 10-13-2 lifetime against the Steelheads and finished with a record of 3-6-0 in the season series last year. The last Thunder regular season win at Qwest Arena was Jan. 6, 2007 when the Thunder defeated Idaho 5-2, a winless streak of six straight games.
LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES 11/19/08 - STK 2 at IDA 3 (OT): Marty Flichel scored two goals to help rally the Idaho Steelheads out of a 2-0 hole after two periods, upending the Thunder in a 3-2 overtime decision before 2,830 at Qwest Arena on Wednesday. Idaho scored all three goals on the power-play and got the game-tying goal by Steve Gainey with less than four minutes left in regulation. Mike Lalonde and Ryan MacMurchy scored for the Thunder, who were guided to an overtime point in the standings with rookie Andrew Perugini's 32 saves. Perugini remained unbeaten in regulation with a 3-0-2 record.
11/16/08 - BAK 6 vs. STK 5: A third period comeback for the Thunder fell short as the Bakersfield Condors capitalized on four power-play goals en route to a 6-5 win over the Thunder in front of 6,375 fans at the Stockton Arena on Sunday. Three separate players attained two-point games for the Thunder, who were led by Ryan Huddy (1g-1a), rookie Jordan Bendfeld (1g-1a) and Bryan Lerg (two assists). Three separate Condors tallied two-point games and goaltender Ryan Nie stopped 31 shots for his second straight win.
11/15/08 - STK 3 at ONT 2 (OT): Cleve Kinley scored his first goal of the season as the Thunder knocked off the Ontario Reign in overtime with a final score of 3-2 in front of 6,271 at Citizens Business Bank Arena. The Thunder were led by Ryan Constant, scoring his first two goals of the season and notching his first career multi-goal game, scored both Thunder goals in regulation time. Kinley scored the game winning goal with a long slap shot from the left wing 1:50 into the extra period. Also registering two points for the Thunder in the overtime victory were Kinley (1g-1a) and Ryan Huddy (two assists).
ALUMNI UPDATE: REDDOX SCORES FIRST NHL GOAL
Edmonton Oilers rookie forward Liam Reddox became the first former player in Thunder history to score an NHL goal, garnering third star honors in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche last Saturday at Rexall Place. Reddox, who scored the goal in front of a national audience on CBC's "Hockey Night In Canada," scored in the second period at 7:25. After Avalanche goaltender Peter Budaj stopped Fernando Pisani's initial shot, Reddox caught the rebound off the boards, cut towards the net, and deflected the puck off the goalie and into the mesh to score his first NHL goal and put the Oilers up 2-1. Reddox skated in 70 games with the Thunder in 2006-07, scoring 26 points (8g-18a) while tallying 49 penalty minutes.
CROWDING OUT THE ECHL
The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 8,216 through four 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 has 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
"It was exciting to see him play again, and nice to see him in a Oilers jersey during those rookie games," Charlie Huddy said. "I played in that jersey for a long time."
- Former NHL defenseman and Edmonton Oilers assistant coach Charlie Huddy on his son, Thunder forward Ryan Huddy, The Record, 11/16/08
"It was perfectly placed by Cleve, a nice shot," Thunder coach Chris Cichocki said. "It was a tight-checking, hard-working game."
- Head Coach Chris Cichocki on Cleve Kinley's overtime goal (3-2 Thunder win vs. Ontario, The Record, 11/16/08
HARDCORE CORY
Forward Cory Urquhart is the Thunder scoring leader with 15 points (5g-10a) in 11 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 five multi-point games this season.
HUDDY HEATING UP
Rookie forward Ryan Huddy is tied for 11th in ECHL rookie scoring with 12 points (4g-8a) in 14 games, adding an assist in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime loss at Idaho. Huddy has a point in five consecutive games, scoring 8 points (3g-5a) in that span. Huddy's +6 rating is tied for the team's plus/minus lead with rookie left winger Garet Hunt.
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 56 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.
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ECHL Stories from November 21, 2008
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