Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Victoria Salmon Kings

October 26, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 1:05 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 Thunder 5 at Victoria 2
10/25/08 Thunder 2 at Victoria 5
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 one games away from 100 in his professional career
o Cory Urquhart is two games away from 200 in his ECHL career
o Nathan Saunders is seven 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 third of 10 meetings between both clubs for the season (tied for most with Fresno). The Thunder is 8-11-3 lifetime against the Salmon Kings and went 1-5-1 against the Salmon Kings last season. Both teams are playing two games in a span of less than 18 hours.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES

10/25/08 - STK 2 at VIC 5: Wes Goldie scored two goals while linemate Dan Gendur tallied two points (1g-2a), helping the Victoria Salmon Kings send the Thunder (1-3-0, 2 points) to a 5-2 defeat before a crowd of 4,192 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Saturday. The Thunder were outshot 42-20 in the game. Victoria goaltender Jonathan Boutin made 18 saves to garner his first win of the season. Cory Urquhart and Neil Petruic were the Thunder goal-scorers, while Urquhart registered his third straight multi-point game.

10/24/08 - STK 5 at VIC 2: Rookie Garet Hunt scored the first two goals of his pro career and Justin Chwedoruk tallied a three-point night (1g-2a) to help guide the Stockton Thunder (1-2-0, 2 points) to its first victory of the regular season in a 5-2 win over the host Victoria Salmon Kings, before a crowd of 6,602 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night. Rookie goaltender Bryan Pitton made 30 saves for the first victory of his professional career, spoiling Victoria's home opener where the club raised its 2008 West Division championship banner in a pre-game ceremony.

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.

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 53 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 53
2. Nathan Martz 29
Steve Slonina 29
3. Tim Verbeek 28
4. Joel Irwin 25

POINTS
1. Nathan Martz 122
2. Mike Lalonde 108
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.



ECHL Stories from October 26, 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.

OurSports Central