Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Victoria Salmon Kings

Published on October 24, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 7:05 p.m. PT
SITE: Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN
INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

2008-09 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES
10/24/08 @ Victoria 7:05 p.m.
10/25/08 @ Victoria 7:05 p.m.
10/26/08 @ Victoria 1:05 p.m.
11/7/08 Victoria 7:30 p.m.
11/8/08 Victoria 7:30 p.m.
12/27/08 Victoria 7:30 p.m.
12/28/08 Victoria 4:00 p.m.
1/27/09 @ Victoria 7:05 p.m.
1/28/09 @ Victoria 7:05 p.m.
3/28/09 Victoria 7:30 p.m.

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Marc-Andre Bernier is 18 games away from 200 in his professional career
o Milan Maslonka is three games away from 100 in his professional career
o Cory Urquhart is four games away from 200 in his ECHL career
o Nathan Saunders is nine games away from 100 in his ECHL career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder continue a six-game road trip with three games in three consecutive days against the Victoria Salmon Kings, the first of 10 meetings between both clubs for the season (tied for most with Fresno). The Thunder is 7-10-3 lifetime against the Salmon Kings and went 1-5-1 against the Salmon Kings last season. Stockton is looking to snap a six-game losing streak at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre and last won in Victoria on Nov. 17, 2006 (6-3 win).

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES

10/22/08 - STK 4 at BAK 7: Rookie Matt Pope scored a hat trick and collected four points (3g-1a) in his second pro game to spark a five unanswered goal rally by the Bakersfield Condors, who sent the Thunder (0-2-0, 0 points) to a 7-4 loss before a crowd of 3,716 at Rabobank Arena on Wednesday. The Thunder outshot the Condors 20-6 in the first period (37-26 for the game) and was led by Cory Urquhart's two-goal and three-point (2g-1a) effort while rookie Bryan Lerg registered three assists in his debut in a Thunder uniform. Bakersfield was aided by a two-goal game from Matt Caruana while Dave McKee made 33 saves.

10/18/08 - FRE 3 at STK 2: The Fresno Falcons scored three goals in a span of 2:42 in a second period rally, sending the Thunder to a 3-2 loss in the 2008-09 ECHL season opener before a crowd of 8,723 (largest weekend crowd in ECHL) at Stockton Arena on Saturday. In his return to Stockton Arena after playing the 2007-08 season in Europe, Mike Lalonde scored the first Thunder goal of the season and rookie defenseman Robbie Bina added the first goal of his professional career, as the Thunder went 2-for-6 on the power-play. Mike Radja, in his pro debut, netted two points (1g-1a) for Fresno and scored the eventual game-winning goal with 29 seconds left in the second period.

(PRESEASON) 10/11/08 - STK 3 at FRE 4: Peter MacArthur's game-winning goal with 2:08 remaining in regulation helped the Fresno Falcons send the Thunder (1-1-0 preseason) to a 4-3 preseason defeat at Gateway Ice Center. Urquhart and Petruic scored power-play goals for Stockton while Justin Chwedoruk added a shorthanded goal. The two power-play goals enabled the Thunder to end the pre-season with a 3-for-11 clip on the power-play.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"It's very exciting, because it's been like a month and a half of training camp and now we get to play," Pitton said. "A lot of us know each other from the other (Edmonton) camps, and this is a very good group."

- Goaltender Bryan Pitton on the Thunder roster, The Record, 10/18/08

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder finished last year as the ECHL's attendance champions for the third consecutive season and drew four capacity crowds of 9,737 this year at Stockton Arena. It is the second straight year the Thunder has surpassed the mark of 230,000 fans for one season. The Thunder's yearly attendance total finished at 239,337, an average of 6,648 fans per game. The Thunder became 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).

STEP UP TO THE MIKE

Returning to the lineup this season is left wing Mike Lalonde, who is the Thunder all-time leading goal scorer with 52 goals. Selected as the first player in Thunder history to the ECHL All-Star Game (2006), Lalonde led the ECHL with 308 shots and paced the Thunder with 29 goals as a rookie in 2005-06. Lalonde spent last season with Tilburg of the Netherlands League, guiding his team to the Dutch Cup and scoring 92 points (43g-49a) in just 34 games.

Below is a look at Lalonde's placing on the Thunder career scoring charts:

GOALS:
1. Mike Lalonde 52
2. Nathan Martz 29
Steve Slonina 29
3. Tim Verbeek 28
4. Joel Irwin 25

POINTS
1. Nathan Martz 122
2. Mike Lalonde 107
3. Joel Irwin 68
4. Stephane Goulet 54
5. Brandon Schwartz52

OILING UP THE SHIP

For the third straight season, the Thunder is serving as the proud ECHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League and is an affiliate of the AHL's Springfield Falcons. As an affiliate, the Thunder have made back-to-back appearances in the Kelly Cup Playoffs and two players with experience in a Thunder uniform (D Bryan Young, LW Liam Reddox) have played in the National Hockey League. Edmonton has won five Stanley Cups and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals six times in franchise history, additionally passing six players onto the Hockey Hall of Fame (Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey and Glenn Anderson).

This season, the farm system has been strengthened with scoring depth and toughness. A total of 18 players with an NHL or AHL contract are on the Thunder roster, an all-time franchise high in that category.

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