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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Utah Grizzlies (4-3-08)

April 3, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 6:05 p.m. PT

RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

RECORDS:

Stockton Thunder (26-39-4, 56 pts) - 4th, Pacific/8th National

Utah Grizzlies (30-29-10, 70 pts) - 4th, West/6th National

2007-08 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

11/24/07 Utah 8 at Stockton 3

11/28/07 Stockton 4 at Utah 3 (SO)

11/30/07 Stockton 2 at Utah 3 (SO)

12/01/07 Stockton 0 at Utah 4

02/06/08 Utah 6 at Stockton 4

02/29/08 Utah 3 at Stockton 1

04/03/08 Stockton at Utah

04/04/08 Stockton at Utah

04/05/08 Stockton at Utah

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Tim Verbeek is 5 games away from 400 in his professional career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The final three regular season games for the Thunder will take place at suburban Salt Lake City's E-Center, facing the Utah Grizzlies. The Thunder is 1-4-1 this season against Utah and the teams last met on Feb. 29 at Stockton, with Utah taking a 3-1 victory. The Kelly Cup Playoffs are still in the balance for the Thunder on the road trip, who are 1-1-1 this season at The E-Center and can clinch a playoff spot tonight with a win combined with a Phoenix loss, or an overtime/shootout loss combined with a Phoenix loss in regulation.

LAST GAME RECAP

Goaltender Tim Boron made 38 saves and Lance Monych scored two goals to help the Thunder gain a point in the standings and settle for a 4-3 shootout loss to the Fresno Falcons before 4,639 at Save-Mart Center on Tuesday night. The Thunder moved to a point ahead of the Phoenix RoadRunners in eighth place in the National Conference and reduced its magic number to three points to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth. David Rohlfs added a power-play goal for the Thunder.

FIRST THING'S FIRST

Of the 26 wins the Thunder has accumulated this season, 23 have come when the Thunder scores the first goal of the game. The Thunder is 23-12-2 when scoring the first goal of the game. Lance Monych leads the Thunder with nine "first goals."

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder announced that last Saturday's home game against the Victoria Salmon Kings was officially a sellout, marking the fourth capacity crowd of 9,737 that the Thunder has drawn this year at Stockton Arena. The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance and it is the second straight year the Thunder has surpassed the mark of 230,000 fans for one season. Saturday's crowd raised the Thunder's yearly attendance total to 239,337, an average of 6,648 fans per game. The Thunder is vying to become the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for three straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons).

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"When I was a player, I loved this time of year," Cichocki said. "There's pressure, but it can be a lot of fun, and we need to have fun with it and do what we have to do."

- Chris Cichocki, The Record, 3/26/08 on playing in games with playoff implications

SIR LANCE-A-LOT SETS THE PACE

Lance Monych's arrival to the Thunder roster has put him atop the team's scoring lead with 50 points (30g-20a), leading the team in goal-scoring with 30 goals. Monych is the first player in Thunder history to hit the 30-goal plateau.

GOAL(TENDING) ORIENTED

Goaltender Tim Boron has provided some of the most prolific goaltending in the Thunder's three-year history, recently breaking the single-season club record with three shutouts and made a career-high 50 saves against Las Vegas in a 1-0 win at Stockton Arena on January 20. Boron is tied for second in the ECHL with three shutouts. Meanwhile, Thunder rookie netminder Glenn Fisher, a fifth round selection (148th overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, has parlayed his two best months of the season in February and March. Fisher had a season-best 2.52 goals-against-average and .933 save percentage in February and has a.908 save percentage in March.

HI, MY NAME IS ...

The Thunder made two additions to its roster this week, claiming defenseman Joe Dustin off waivers from the Bakersfield Condors on Monday. Dustin made his debut in a Thunder uniform on Tuesday and has scored 27 points (7g-20a) in 58 games with the Condors earlier this season. Scheduled to make his professional debut tonight at Utah is left wing Luke Lynes, signed by the Thunder as a free agent today after a four-year junior hockey career with the Brampton Battalion (OHL). Lynes had Lynes had a career-high 65 points (34g-31a) and 34 goals in 68 games with Brampton in 2006-07, leading the team in scoring, goals and power-play goals (20).

IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER ...

The Thunder has five wins this season when trailing after two periods, including four on home ice at Stockton Arena.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS - PENALTY SHOTS

Entering the 2007-08 season, the Thunder has made 1 penalty shot and missed 6 penalty shots, while opponents had made 0 penalty shots and missed 4 penalty shots.

ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES

The Utah Grizzlies are the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's New York Islanders and the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers and are in their third season of ECHL play. Jason Christie is in his third season as head coach for the Grizzlies and has been with the team since their inception into ECHL. Prior to joining the Grizzlies, Christie played ten years professionally and coached Peoria Rivermen to the Kelly Cup Championship in the 1999-2000 campaign. Christie is the all time franchise leader for wins with Peoria. Utah did not qualify for the Kelly Cup Playoffs last season, tallying a 22-42-8 record (52 points).

2008 Playoff March Notes -

- The Thunder has 3 regular season games remaining.

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

● Utah (3)

- The top eight teams in the National Conference will qualify for the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs and will be seeded by conference ranking (exception - division winners, who will be seeded #1 and #2) in the first round of the playoffs. The #1 seed will play #8, the #2 seed will play #7, the #3 seed will #6, and the #4 seed will play the #5 seed. First round winners will be reseeded again in the second round.

- If the Kelly Cup playoffs began today, the Thunder would face the Las Vegas Wranglers in the National Conference quarterfinal round.

- Currently, 60 points guarantees a playoff spot as the 9th place Phoenix RoadRunners can only amass 59 points this season.

Stockton can clinch a berth in the Kelly Cup Playoffs on Thursday if:

Stockton wins AND Bakersfield wins

OR

Stockton loses in overtime/shootout AND Bakersfield wins in regulation

- TIE-BREAKER: If two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, the following are the tie-breakers: wins, points (head-to-head), wins (head-to-head), goal differential (head-to-head), winning percentage within division (if in the same division), winning percentage within conference, goals for, goals against, and then coin toss.

- Last season, the Thunder clinched its first Kelly Cup Playoff berth in club history with the 5th seed and a 38-24-10 record (86 points)



ECHL Stories from April 3, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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