Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Ontario Reign (2-27-11)

Published on February 27, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder concludes a season series against the Ontario Reign at Citizens Business Bank Arena today. The Thunder is 6-1-2 against Ontario this season and in the last meeting, Ontario defeated the Thunder, 2-1 in sudden death overtime at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Feb. 16. Through 28 regular season games in the all-time series, the Thunder is 18-9-2 against Ontario. Stockton has combined for 33 goals in the first nine games of the series. The Thunder are 4-0-1 in the last five visits, dating back to 2009-10.

LAST THREE GAMES:

BAK 4 ‚¬" STK 1 (2/26/11): Goaltender Josh Tordjman made 36 saves and was helped by a power-play that scored three times, helping the Bakersfield Condors send the Stockton Thunder (27-19-9, 63 points) to a 4-1 defeat before a crowd of 4,303 at Rabobank Arena on Saturday. The Thunder, who finished 4-5-2 in the head-to-head series against Bakersfield this season, were anchored by Chris Lawrence ‚¬â„¢s first period goal, before surrendering the last three in the game. The Condors cashed in with a 3-for-5 effort on the power play, leaving both teams separated by two points in the Pacific Division.

BAK 4 ‚¬" STK 1 (2/25/11): Joel Broda bookended a four-goal rally by the Bakersfield Condors in the second period with two of his own, enough to help send the Thunder to a 4-1 defeat before 5,534 fans at Rabobank Arena on Friday night. Garet Hunt chipped in with the only Thunder goal of the evening and were held to 26 shots ‚¬" seven below their average this season. Brian Stewart made 25 saves for the win in net, stopping the final 19 shots he saw in the last two periods. Zane Kalemba, who came up with 28 saves, took his second straight defeat this season.

BAK 5 ‚¬" STK 3 (2/22/11): Pascal Morency and Joel Broda each scored a pair of goals to help the Bakersfield Condors escape an early two goal deficit and rally, defeating the Thunder, 5-3 during a rare Tuesday night game in front of a home crowd of 3,210 fans at Stockton Arena. Goals from Fraser Clair, Chris Lawrence and Pierre-Andre Bureau, as well as a last minute rally in the third period were not enough to best the Thunder ‚¬â„¢s division rivals in the Pacific.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 6-1-2)

Fri. Oct. 15 Ontario 6 at Stockton 3

Sat. Oct. 16 Ontario 5 at Stockton 4 (OT)

Fri. Oct. 22 Ontario 1 at Stockton 3

Sat. Oct. 23 Stockton 3 at Ontario 2 (SO)

Fri. Jan. 21 Ontario 2 at Stockton 7

Sat. Jan. 22 Ontario 1 at Stockton 4

Sun. Jan. 23 Stockton 4 at Ontario 2

Wed. Feb. 9 Stockton 4 at Ontario 2

Wed. Feb. 16 Stockton 1 at Ontario 2 (OT)

Sun. Feb. 27 at Ontario 5:00 p.m.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

· Ryan Constant is 6 games away from 300 in his professional career

· Kelly Czuy is 2 points away from 100 in his professional career

· Bryan Pitton is 3 games away from 100 in his professional career

SHOOT TO THRILL

The Thunder rank third in average shots per game in the ECHL with 33.2, topped only by Trenton ‚¬â„¢s average of 36.1 and Toledo ‚¬â„¢s, of 33.7. There have been nine different occasions that Stockton has fired over 40 shots or more this season, and a Wednesday, Feb. 9 game (37-35, vs. Ontario) was the first time they were outshot by an opponent in 14 games, dating back to Jan. 7 at Victoria (24-34 in 4-2 defeat). Right winger Fraser Clair leads the Thunder individually with 185 shots.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

The Thunder also rank second in least shots allowed per game in the ECHL with 27.7, topped only by Alaska ‚¬â„¢s average of 25.6. Stockton has held an opponent to under 30 shots on goal in 12 of the last 15 games and they allowed a season-low 13 shots to Las Vegas on Nov. 24 (1-0 defeat).

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder is second in ECHL in attendance with 6,197 fans per game through 26 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 15 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). There have been eight crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena this season.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The Thunder capped the month of January with a record of 10-5-1, ending the first month of the new year in second place in the Pacific Division. In total, the Thunder had two weekend, three-game series sweeps (Utah and Ontario) and won eight consecutive games, their longest win streak of the season (Jan. 8-23).Stockton scored 51 goals, averaging 3.2 per game. Goaltender Bryan Pitton ran a record of 7-2-1 during the month, returning from Oklahoma City of the AHL.

CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER

The Thunder enters the game with 88 major penalties, leading the ECHL. Individually, the Thunder is led by Garet Hunt, who has 153 penalty minutes. Nine players on the Thunder have registered 60 penalty minutes or more this season.

LIKE A BROKEN RECORD

The Thunder broke a club record on Saturday, Nov. 20 in a 2-1 shootout loss to Idaho for a 12-game unbeaten streak in regulation (8-0-4). The previous standard was set with an 11-0-0 run in 2006-07. The Thunder began the streak with a 5-4 overtime loss to Ontario on Oct. 16 at Stockton Arena and tied the mark on Nov. 18, in a 3-2 shootout win over Idaho.

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).

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) * 367

2. Malcolm Cameron (four teams) 317

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

4. Matt Thomas (Stockton, Fre, A.C.) * 260

5. Glen Gulutzan (Las Vegas) 254

* Currently ECHL active

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