Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Las Vegas Wranglers

April 2, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder and the Las Vegas Wranglers meet for the final time this season in the final night of ECHL regular season play. Seeking its first Pacific Division title in franchise history, the Thunder is one point out of first place, chasing the Bakersfield Condors, who visit Utah tonight. Through the lifetime series, the Thunder is 11-25-2 against the Wranglers and is 1-4-1 in the head-to-head series this season. The last time both teams met, Stockton defeated Las Vegas, 3-2, at Orleans Arena last night. The Thunder is 6-1-3 in the last ten games.

THE STAKES

The Thunder will clinch its first Pacific Division title in franchise history with a win this evening, combined with Condors loss in regulation. Bakersfield owns a tie-breaker with the Thunder in the head-to-head series. The Thunder are guaranteed to finish no lower than third place in the Western Conference and will face either the Victoria Salmon Kings or Utah Grizzlies in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 3 ‚¬" LV 2 (4/1/11): Center P.A. Bureau scored a goal, added an assist and Tyson Sexsmith made 31 stops in net to lift the Stockton Thunder (36-23-12, 84 points) to a 3-2 victory over the Las Vegas Wranglers before a crowd of 4,408 at Orleans Arena on Friday night. The critical win kept the Thunder within one point of the first place Bakersfield Condors, who defeated Utah, 3-1 earlier in the evening. The Thunder also earned its first win of the season against Las Vegas, defeating the Wranglers for the first time since March 28 of last season and broke a franchise record with its 18th road win this season. Sexsmith outdueled counterpart Michael Ouzas, who took the loss with 22 stops.

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

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 1-4-1)

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 Stockton 3 at Las Vegas 2

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

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

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 48 goals in the last 12 games (4.0 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 leads the ECHL with 88 goals in the third period this season.

CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER

The Thunder enters the game with 115 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

Setting a club record with its 18th win on the road last night, 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).

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.) * 269

5. Glen Gulutzan (Las Vegas) 254

* Currently ECHL active

BRINGING SEXY BACK

Since his return from the American Hockey League, Tyson Sexsmith has posted a 4-1-1 record, 2.47 goals-against-average and .912 save percentage. He posted his first shutout of the season, a 4-0 win vs. Idaho on Mar. 20 in that stretch, to earn his second ECHL Goaltender of the Week honors this season on Mar. 22.

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 yz *Alaska Aces 71 46 22 2 1 95 0.669 237 173 0-1-0-0 8-2-0-0 2-1 934

2 x *Bakersfield Condors 71 41 27 2 1 85 0.599 221 208 1-0-0-0 8-2-0-0 4-1 1502

3 x Stockton Thunder 71 36 23 5 7 84 0.592 228 207 1-0-0-0 6-1-1-2 6-7 1623

4 x Las Vegas Wranglers 71 38 28 3 2 81 0.570 213 199 0-1-0-0 3-7-0-0 5-2 992

5 x Idaho Steelheads 71 31 27 4 9 75 0.528 219 213 0-1-0-0 2-7-0-1 5-9 1111

6 x Utah Grizzlies 71 32 32 4 3 71 0.500 187 226 0-5-0-1 2-7-0-1 2-3 1664

7 x Victoria Salmon Kings 71 32 35 2 2 68 0.479 216 230 1-0-0-0 5-4-1-0 4-2 1438

8 Ontario Reign 71 27 38 2 4 60 0.423 191 263 2-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 2-4 1278

* 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 1 regular season game remaining.

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

· Las Vegas (1)

The Thunder can clinch the Pacific Division title and #2 seed in the Western Conference tonight if:

· STOCKTON WINS

AND

· BAKERSFIELD LOSES IN REGULATION

- 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 2, 2011


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