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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Las Vegas Wranglers

April 1, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder and the Las Vegas Wranglers will meet for the final two times this season, also concluding the regular season in pursuit of first place in the Pacific Division. The Thunder enter the week one point out of the top spot and are chasing their first division title. Through the lifetime series, the Thunder is 10-25-2 against the Wranglers and is 0-4-1 in the head-to-head series this season. The last time both teams met, Stockton was defeated by Las Vegas, 2-1 at Stockton Arena on March 30. The Thunder is 4-1-3 in the last seven games.

LAST THREE GAMES:

LV 2 ‚¬" STK 1 (3/30/11): Colin Long denied a third period comeback attempt by the Stockton Thunder (35-23-12, 82 points), scoring a go-ahead goal with 10.1 seconds left in regulation to boost the Las Vegas Wranglers to a 2-1 victory before 5,388 fans at Stockton Arena on Wednesday. Long provided Las Vegas ‚¬â„¢ offense with a pair of goals, denying the Thunder a chance to take over first place in the Pacific Division after Ontario defeated Bakersfield, 7-5 earlier in the evening. Stockton ‚¬â„¢s lone goal was scored by Jordan Fulton, who earned his 18th goal of the season. The win drew Las Vegas to within a point of the Thunder in the division, anchored by Michael Ouzas ‚¬â„¢ 34 stops. Thunder goaltender Tyson Sexsmith made 22 saves, absorbing his first defeat in regulation since returning from the AHL.

STK 8 ‚¬" VIC 4 (3/27/11): Jordan Foreman earned his first hat trick of the season and a career-high four points (3g-1a) as the Stockton Thunder (35-22-12, 82 points) demolished the Victoria Salmon Kings in an 8-4 victory before a home crowd of 7,974 fans at Stockton Arena on Sunday. The Thunder, who improved to 4-0-3 in the last seven games and closed the gap to one point behind first place Bakersfield, tied a franchise record for most goals in a home game and also received a career-high four points (1g-3a) from Steve Vanoosten receiving four points (1g-3a) while Jarrett Konkle picked up three points of his own (1g-2a) in his return to the lineup to replace an injured Fraser Clair. Goaltender Tyson Sexsmith made 18 saves, supported by an offense that erased a 3-0 deficit in the first period and scored eight of the game ‚¬â„¢s last nine goals

VIC 4 ‚¬" STK 3 (SO) (3/26/11): Matt Stefanishion ‚¬â„¢s shootout goal in the sixth round helped the Victoria Salmon Kings escape a wild third period rally by the Stockton Thunder (34-22-12, 80 points) in a 4-3 shootout win before 8,923 fans on Saturday night at Stockton Arena. Just one night after Victoria rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the third period, the Thunder turned the tables with three goals in the final 25 minutes, including a pair in the third period to move to 4-0-2 in the last six games. Bretton Cameron ‚¬â„¢s goal in the second period got the Thunder on the scoreboard, while last-minute goals in the third by both Jordan Fulton and Johan Motin put Stockton back into the game. The Thunder dropped its magic number to 2 for a clinch of home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

· Fraser Clair is 8 games away from 300 in his ECHL career

· Jim McKenzie is 5 points away from 100 in his professional career

· Kelly Czuy is 1 point away from 100 in his ECHL career

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 0-4-1)

Wed. Nov. 24 Las Vegas 1 at Stockton 0

Wed. Dec. 29 Las Vegas 4 at Stockton 2

Thur. Dec. 30 Las Vegas 4 at Stockton 3 (SO)

Tue. Feb. 1 Stockton 2 at Las Vegas 6

Wed. Mar. 30 Las Vegas 2 at Stockton 1

Fri. Apr. 1 at Las Vegas 7:05 p.m.

Sat. Apr. 2 at Las Vegas 7:05 p.m.

WINNING

On Tuesday, Steve Vanoosten earned the Sher-Wood Hockey ECHL Player of the Week award (for Mar. 21-27), becoming first defenseman in Thunder history and first in the ECHL this season to win the award. He scored two goals, added five assists and was a +10 as the ‚¬Ë†Thunder went 1-0-2 in a three-game series against Victoria to improve their unbeaten streak to eight games (5-0-3). Vanoosten is only the fourth defenseman in league history to receive the Player of the Week award since 2007-08.

EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

The Thunder clinched their fifth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth on Friday, Mar. 9 vs. Utah. It marked the earliest time in franchise history they clinched a berth and coincidentally, marked the second time they did it in Utah. In 2007-08, the Thunder earned a point in a 4-3 overtime loss at Maverik Center, clinching the final playoff spot in the Conference on the final day of the regular season.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder is second in ECHL in attendance with 6,382 fans per game through 36 games. A whopping crowd of 9,482 piled into Stockton Arena on Jan. 22 for the ‚¬Å“Teddy Bear Toss ‚¬Â game, the largest crowd at Stockton Arena this season and the fourth crowd over 9,000 in the event ‚¬â„¢s history. Stockton has 16 sellouts in the team's franchise history and in 2008-09, the Thunder became the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for four straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons - 2000-05). This season, 12 crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena were present and the Thunder had its highest attendance since 2007-08, a six percent increase from 2009-10. Last weekend, over 22,000 fans piled into Stockton Arena for three games against Victoria (Mar. 25-27).

FILLING THE NET

The Thunder have scored 45 goals in the last 11 games (4.1 average per game), additionally tying a franchise record for one game in an 8-4 win vs. Victoria on Mar. 27. In that game, Steve Vanoosten and Jordan Foreman had a career-high four points and Foreman had his first career hat trick. The Thunder also lead the ECHL with 86 goals in the third period this season.

CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER

The Thunder enters the game with 112 major penalties, leading the ECHL. Individually, the Thunder is led by Garet Hunt, who leads the ECHL with 248 penalty minutes and also leads the ECHL with 25 majors this season. Five players on the Thunder have registered 100 penalty minutes or more this season.

THUNDER ANSWERS ROAD RULES CHALLENGE

The Thunder owned a 6-0-2 streak on the road to begin the season, finishing as the last remaining team in the ECHL yet to lose a game in regulation on the road. Additionally, the streak to start the season broke the mark of five straight games without a loss in regulation (5-0-0), set back in 2006-07 (Mar. 17-31). They are guaranteed a winning record on the road this season and their 17 wins ties a club record, set in 2006-07.

HAIL TO THE CHIEF

Thunder head coach Matt Thomas ranks third in wins in the last decade in the ECHL (among active coaches), entering the year with a lifetime .606 win percentage (234-143-54 record) in six seasons as a head coach for Stockton, Fresno and Atlantic City. Thomas also has never missed the playoffs, won a Kelly Cup championship in 2002-03 as an assistant coach with Atlantic City, has been named coach for the ECHL All-Star Game twice (2005, 2009) and has been behind the bench in a coaching role for teams that advanced to the Conference Finals three times.

ALL-TIME WINS, REGULAR SEASON (2000-2010)

COACH WINS

1. Jeff Pyle (Gwinnett, Mobile) * 371

2. Malcolm Cameron (four teams) 317

3. Davis Payne (Alaska, Pee-Dee) 289

4. Matt Thomas (Stockton, Fre, A.C.) * 268

5. Glen Gulutzan (Las Vegas) 254

* Currently ECHL active

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 PIM

1 y *Alaska Aces 70 46 21 2 1 95 0.679 236 170 7-0-0-0 9-1-0-0 2-1 924

2 x *Bakersfield Condors 70 40 27 2 1 83 0.593 218 207 0-2-0-0 8-2-0-0 4-1 1458

3 x Stockton Thunder 70 35 23 5 7 82 0.586 225 205 0-1-0-0 5-2-1-2 6-7 1592

4 x Las Vegas Wranglers 70 38 27 3 2 81 0.579 211 196 2-0-0-0 3-7-0-0 5-2 969

5 x Idaho Steelheads 70 31 26 4 9 75 0.536 218 210 2-0-0-0 3-6-0-1 5-9 1111

6 x Utah Grizzlies 70 32 31 4 3 71 0.507 186 223 0-4-0-1 2-7-0-1 2-3 1619

7 x Victoria Salmon Kings 70 31 35 2 2 66 0.471 213 229 0-2-0-0 4-5-1-0 4-2 1430

8 Ontario Reign 70 26 38 2 4 58 0.414 188 262 1-0-0-0 5-5-0-0 2-4 1276

* 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 2 regular season games remaining.

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

· Las Vegas (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 Utah Grizzlies in the Western Conference Quarterfinal.

- 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.

- The Thunder has surpassed last season ‚¬â„¢s totals for wins (33), points (76) and has clinched home ice advantage in the Kelly Cup Playoffs ‚¬â„¢ first round.

- Last season, the Thunder clinched its fourth straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with the 6th seed in the National Conference and a 33-29-10 record (76 points)

- The Thunder clinched its fifth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth Mar. 11 at Utah and has surpassed the 30-win plateau for the fourth time in club history (2006-07, 2008-11)



ECHL Stories from April 1, 2011


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