Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Ontario Reign

March 21, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER at ONTARIO REIGN

DATE: Wednesday, March 21, 2012

TIME: 7:00 p.m.

SITE: Citizens Business Bank Arena

RADIO: 1280 AM KWSX/StocktonThunder.com (AmericaOne)

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Ontario Reign: Los Angeles Kings

NEXT HOME GAME

Friday, Mar. 23 vs. Bakersfield Condors, 7:30 p.m.

FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT (presented by Jackson Rancheria, AT&T/yp.com, University Plaza Waterfront Hotel, AM 970 ESPN Radio, KAT Country 103, 104.1 The Hawk)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder battles the Ontario Reign in the final meeting of the season at Citizens Business Bank Arena. The Thunder is 5-4-2 this season against the Reign and in the last meeting Ontario defeated Stockton, 3-1 at Stockton Arena on Feb. 15. Through 41 regular season games in the all-time series, the Thunder is 23-13-5 against Ontario. The game will be the first time the teams meet in Ontario since Dec. 4, when Stockton defeated Ontario 2-0.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 5-4-2)

Sat. Oct. 15 Stockton 2 at Ontario 3 (SO)

Fri. Oct. 28 Stockton 2 at Ontario 4

Wed. Nov. 16 Stockton 2 at Ontario 4

Fri. Nov. 18 Stockton 3 at Ontario 2

Sat. Nov. 19 Stockton 3 at Ontario 1

Wed. Nov. 30 Stockton 4 at Ontario 3 (SO)

Fri. Dec. 2 Ontario 4 at Stockton 0

Sun. Dec. 4 Stockton 2 at Ontario 0

Fri. Dec. 30 Ontario 4 at Stockton 3 (SO)

Sat. Dec. 31 Ontario 3 at Stockton 4 (SO)

Wed. Feb. 15 Ontario 3 at Stockton 1

Wed. Mar. 21 at Ontario 7:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:

ONT 3 - STK 1 (2/15/12): Goaltender Chris Carrozzi made 30 stops and his Ontario Reign never trailed, sending the Stockton Thunder (23-21-5, 51 points) to a 3-1 defeat at Stockton Arena on Wednesday. The Thunder, who nearly rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period for the second consecutive game, fell to 5-4-2 in the head to head series against Ontario and received its only goal in the game from Ian O'Connor.

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 4 - UTA 2 (3/18/12): Chris D'Alvise buried two goals and goaltender Olivier Roy stopped 38 shots in his return from the American Hockey League to guide the Stockton Thunder (32-29-5, 67 points) to a 4-2 victory over the Utah Grizzlies before 6,016 fans at Stockton Arena on Sunday. The Thunder, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first period, moved to within three points of Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference. Jordan Fulton also chipped in with a goal and assist, Mike Little collected two assists and Matt Foy stashed a key insurance goal in the third period.

UTA 5 - STK 2 (3/17/12): Mitch Wahl, Colin Vock and Chris Donovan each collected a goal and an assist to help the Utah Grizzlies clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth and send the Stockton Thunder (31-29-5, 67 points) to a 5-2 defeat before 7,537 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder earned a pair of power play goals in the second period by Chris D'Alvise and Max Campbell, storming back from a 2-0 deficit. Utah broke the 2-2 tie late in the period on a goal by Ross Carlson and finished the game with three unanswered goals.

STK 3 - LV 1 (3/16/12): Kevin Baker scored two goals to bookend a three goal rally in a span of 3:55 and Thomas Heemskerk made 24 saves to lead the Stockton Thunder (31-28-5, 67 points) to a 3-1 victory over the Las Vegas Wranglers before a crowd of 6,017 at Stockton Arena on Friday. The Thunder, who snapped a four game losing skid and kept pace at five points behind Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference, broke a 1-1 tie on Gabriel Levesque's eventual game winner with 8:17 left in regulation. Heemskerk broke a personal three game losing streak and the Thunder improved to 12-4-1 in the last 17 home games.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Kevin Baker is 11 goals away from 200 in his professional career

- Kevin Baker is 2 games away from 400 in his professional career

- Matt Foy is 13 goals away from 100 in his professional career

NET GAINS

Goaltender Olivier Roy was reassigned to the Thunder from Oklahoma City (AHL) last Saturday, currently ranking third in the ECHL with a .928 save percentage and sixth with a 2.40 goals against average. His four shutouts are tied for second in the ECHL and have established a new Thunder single season record.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

The Thunder has parlayed a record of 17-12-3 against opponents from the Pacific Division this season and is 5-4-2 against Ontario. Their last game against a division opponent was last Friday and the Thunder defeated Las Vegas, 3-1 at Stockton Arena.

GOAL ORIENTED

Thunder right winger Kevin Baker was signed as a free agent on Aug. 24, 2011 and brings a wealth of offensive accomplishments to the Thunder roster. He was named ECHL Most Valuable Player in 2008-09 and his 57 goals that season were most in the league since 2000-01. He ranks second in ECHL all-time goal scoring (since 2006-07) with 177 goals. On Dec. 10 vs. Bakersfield, he collected his first hat trick of the season.

MOST GOALS, ECHL (SINCE 2006-07)

Rank Player Team GP PTS G A +/-

1 Wes Goldie AK 468 451 274 177 9

2 Kevin Baker STK 332 363 177 186 16

3 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

4 Olivier Labelle REA 305 250 133 117 -17

5 Marty Flichel IDH 391 363 132 231 -6

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

CHRIS CONTROL

Chris D'Alvise, named runner up for ECHL Player of the Week on Tuesday, enters tonight's game ranking fourth on the Thunder's all time scoring chart with 102 points. He was named Thunder Rookie of the Year in 2009-10 and has collected four hat tricks in less than two full seasons in the ECHL. Below is where D'Alvise ranks on the Thunder all time scoring list:

ALL TIME THUNDER SCORING

Player PTS

1. Mike Lalonde 156

2. Nathan Martz 122

3. James Bates 121

4. Chris D'Alvise 102

5. Garet Hunt 75

LITTLE DETAILS

Since Jan. 1, Thunder defenseman Mike Little has soared to a +18 rating, which is tied for second in the league. His +19 rating this season ranks second among all ECHL rookies. Currently competing in his first full season, Little has also registered 25 points (6g-19a) in 36 games since New Year's Day.

HUNTING DOWN A MILESTONE

Thunder left winger Garet Hunt has surpassed Mark Adamek as the club's career leader in games played. Hunt is in his fourth season as a member of the Thunder and last season, was named the team's "Unsung Hero" and "Fan Favorite." This season, he was named alternate captain on Oct. 13. He played in his 200th career game with the Thunder on Dec. 16 vs. Idaho.

ALL-TIME THUNDER GAMES PLAYED

Player GP

1. Garet Hunt 238

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

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

1 y * - Alaska Aces 66 41 16 2 7 91 0.689 211 152 1-0-0-0 6-2-0-2 3-7

2 x * - Ontario Reign 65 39 18 5 3 86 0.662 223 178 2-0-0-0 6-2-1-1 6-3

3 x Las Vegas Wranglers 67 40 22 1 4 85 0.634 218 182 1-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 4-4

4 x Colorado Eagles 65 33 26 1 5 72 0.554 229 232 0-2-0-0 3-7-0-0 3-5

5 x Stockton Thunder 66 32 29 1 4 69 0.523 188 196 1-0-0-0 5-5-0-0 6-4

6 x Utah Grizzlies 67 30 32 0 5 65 0.485 164 214 0-1-0-0 5-5-0-0 7-5

7 Idaho Steelheads 66 27 30 2 7 63 0.477 179 219 0-1-0-1 4-4-0-2 7-7

8 Bakersfield Condors 66 22 37 4 3 51 0.386 183 222 3-0-0-0 6-3-0-1 2-3

* 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 clinched a Kelly Cup Playoff berth for the sixth consecutive season.

- They clinched a Kelly Cup Playoff berth on Mar. 14, the second fastest pace in club history.

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

- Idaho (3)

- Ontario (1)

- Bakersfield (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 Colorado Eagles in the Western Conference Quarterfinal.

- The Thunder has surpassed the 30-win plateau for the fifth time in club history (2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11)

- 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.

- Last season, the Thunder clinched its fifth straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with the 3rd seed in the Western Conference and a tied a club record in points for one season with a 37-23-12 record (86 points)



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