Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Ontario Reign

Published on February 9, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder hits the road for a five-game road trip, starting four games in five days. The Thunder is 5-1-1 against Ontario this season and in the last meeting, the Thunder defeated Ontario, 4-2 at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Sunday, Jan. 23. Through 26 regular season games in the all-time series, the Thunder is 16-9-2 against Ontario. Stockton has combined for 28 goals in the first seven games of the series. The final three games of the series will be played in Ontario, where the Thunder are 3-0-0 in the last three visits, dating back to 2009-10. Thunder forward Kelly Czuy makes his season debut after signing with the club on Monday.

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 3 ‚¬" UTA 2 (2/5/11): Playing in only his second game since coming over in a trade from Elmira, defenseman Jody Pederson scored a goal and added an assist while Bryan Pitton added 26 saves to help the Thunder knock off the Utah Grizzlies in a 3-2 victory, before 6,757 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday night. Thunder fans, who poured into the Central Valley to culminate a specialty jersey event where the Thunder donned teal jerseys of their co-NHL affiliate, the San Jose Sharks, and placed bids on the jerseys after the game in a live auction, enjoyed a wire-to-wire effort by Stockton where Garet Hunt added a goal, along with Fraser Clair ‚¬â„¢s game-winner.

UTA 2 ‚¬" STK 1 (2/4/11): Andrew Engelage denied two last-minute, game tying attempts by Jarrett Konkle and Jim McKenzie to preserve a 27-save effort and help the Utah Grizzlies defeat the Thunder, 2-1, before 4,888 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday night. The Thunder, who wore authentic teal jerseys of the San Jose Sharks in salute to their co-NHL affiliate, fell in regulation for only the second time in the head-to-head series (4-2-0). Jesse Gimblett scored a power-play goal in the second period, Stockton ‚¬â„¢s only marker, answered by Brett Parnham ‚¬â„¢s game-winning goal with 3:50 gone in the third period.

LV 6 ‚¬" STK 2 (2/1/11): Ryan Huddy and Blake Gallagher each scored a pair of goals to help the Las Vegas Wranglers defeat the Thunder, 6-2, before an announced crowd of 2,298 at Orleans Arena on Tuesday night. The Thunder, who surrendered the first four goals of the game in the opening 15 minutes of play, fell to 2-14-1 lifetime at Orleans Arena and picked up a goal each from Jordan Bendfeld (his first in the regular season since 2008-09) and Jim McKenzie. Joe Fallon earned his third win in the head-to-head series, stopping 39 shots.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 5-1-1)

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 at Ontario 7:00 p.m.

Wed. Feb. 16 at Ontario 7:00 p.m.

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

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

· Ryan Constant is 8 games away from 300 in his professional career

· Jim McKenzie is 3 games away from 200 in his professional career

THUNDER GONE TEAL

Saluting the growing co-affiliation with the San Jose Sharks, the Thunder wore teal home jerseys of the Sharks, just like the ones donned at HP Pavilion at San Jose, for last weekend ‚¬â„¢s games against Utah. The Thunder, who defeated Utah, 3-2 at Stockton Arena last Saturday before 6,757 fans, hosted a live ‚¬Å“Jersey Off Our Back ‚¬Â auction immediately following the game, where all fans are invited to bid on each game-worn jersey by the Thunder players, which will be facilitated on the ice of Stockton Arena. The two clubs signed an affiliation agreement on Aug. 2, 2010. As hockey neighbors 80 miles apart, both clubs also share similar honors in sports and entertainment. The Thunder is a two-time recipient of the ECHL ‚¬Å“Award of Excellence, ‚¬Â and San Jose finished as the 12th best overall franchise in ESPN ‚¬â„¢s ‚¬Å“Ultimate Standings ‚¬Â last year. Both teams advanced to their league ‚¬â„¢s Conference Finals last year.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

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. It helped keep the Thunder in second for ECHL attendance, attracting an average of 6,224 fans per game, through 21 home games. 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).

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 72 major penalties, leading the ECHL. Additionally, their average of 22.4 penalty minutes ranks third in the ECHL, eclipsed only by Bakersfield ‚¬â„¢s average of 23.4 and Utah ‚¬â„¢s average of 23.6 per game. Individually, the Thunder is led by Garet Hunt, who has 121 penalty minutes. Six 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). The Thunder won five straight games on the road, a season high, ending Feb. 1 at Las Vegas.

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) * 363

2. Malcolm Cameron (four teams) * 315

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

4. Matt Thomas (Stockton, Fre, A.C.) * 256

5. Glen Gulutzan (Las Vegas) 254

* Currently ECHL active



ECHL Stories from February 9, 2011


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