
Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Alaska Aces
February 4, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release
February 4, 2009 - Stockton Arena
FACEOFF: 7:00 p.m.
RADIO: 1420 KSTN
INTERNET: www.StocktonThunder.com (B2 Networks)
2008-09 HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHUP
11/28/08 Alaska 3 at Stockton 4
12/31/08 Stockton 2 at Alaska 3 (OT)
1/2/09 Stockton 4 at Alaska 1
1/3/09 Stockton 2 at Alaska 1 (OT)
1/24/09 Alaska 4 at Stockton 5 (SO)
2/4/09 Alaska 7:00 p.m.
2/8/09 Alaska 4:00 p.m.
TONIGHT'S MATCHUP
The Stockton Thunder finishes the head-to-head season season series with the Alaska Aces this Wednesday and Sunday at Stockton Arena, marking the sixth and seventh overall meetings between both clubs this year, respectively. The Thunder is 11-13-5 in the lifetime matchup vs. Alaska with five wins coming in sudden-death overtime in the last two seasons. The teams last met on Jan. 24 with the Thunder defeating the Aces 5-4 in a shootout at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 4-0-1 against Alaska this season and is guaranteed a series victory in 2008-09.
LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES
1/31/09 - PHX 1 at STK 3: Goaltender Andrew Perugini made 32 saves for his fifth consecutive victory in net and veteran Cory Urquhart scored the eventual game-winning goal at 2:20 of the third period to guide the Stockton Thunder (20-20-5, 45 points) to a 3-1 win over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 6,610 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder closed out January with a monthly record of 10-3-0 to reach the .500 mark and climbed to within five points of the Ontario Reign for first place in the Pacific Division, who lost 2-0 to the Alaska Aces tonight. The Thunder received additional goal-scoring support from defenseman Daryl Marcoux and Damian Surma. Forward Mark O'Leary tallied the only Phoenix goal in the third period, snapping Perugini's shutout streak of 110:25.
1/28/09 - STK 2 at VIC 0: Goaltender Andrew Perugini made 38 saves for the first shutout of his professional career and Geoff Paukovich and Mike Lalonde each scored a goal to lift the Stockton Thunder (19-20-2, 43 points) to a 2-0 victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings before 5,102 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Wednesday. The win capped a grueling schedule for the Thunder, who had just four available defensemen in the lineup, played five games in six days and went 2-3-0 in the stretch. In the process, the Thunder snapped Victoria's club-record tying 12-game winning streak at home, leaving the Salmon Kings winless on their own home ice for the first time since Nov. 22 (4-3 OT loss vs. Alaska).
1/27/09 - STK 3 at VIC 7: Wes Goldie and Scott Howes netted a pair of goals and the Victoria Salmon Kings parlayed a wire-to-wire lead, sending the Stockton Thunder (18-20-5, 41 points) to a 7-3 loss in front of 5,073 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Tuesday. The Thunder suffered their second straight defeat and received a goal each from Damian Surma, Sebastien Bisaillon and Mike Lalonde. Victoria goaltender Todd Ford improved to 10-0-1 in his last 11 games with the victory in net, making 27 saves.
THUNDER'S WISH IS 'GINI'S COMMAND
Andrew Perugini is on a season-best five game winning streak in net, lifting his record to 9-6-2 as of Feb. 2. The rookie goaltender, who was assigned to the Thunder from the Springfield Falcons, garnered the first shutout of his pro career on Jan. 28 at Victoria, stopping 38 shots. In his last five games, Perugini has a 1.97 goals-against-average. Perugini's efforts helped him finish runner-up for Reebok ECHL Goaltender of the Week (Jan. 26-Feb.1).
CROWDING OUT THE ECHL
The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 6,638 through 17 home games, has 13 sellouts in the team's franchise history and finished last year as the ECHL's attendance leader for the third consecutive season. It was the second straight year the Thunder 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). Stockton's crowd of 9,737 on Nov. 8 against Victoria was the team's first sellout of the year.
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 65 goals and ascended to the top perch as the Thunder all-time leading scorer with 137 points, scoring the milestone point on a goal on Dec. 21 at Ontario. 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 65
2. Nathan Martz 29
Steve Slonina 29
3. Tim Verbeek 28
Ryan MacMurchy 28
POINTS
1. Mike Lalonde 137
2. Nathan Martz 122
3. Joel Irwin 68
4. Stephane Goulet 63
5. Ryan MacMurchy 55
STREAK UPDATE: Lalonde returned to the Thunder lineup on Jan. 16 and has scored 11 points (5g-6a) in his last nine games. His four point effort (2g-2a) on Jan. 16 vs. Las Vegas tied a career-high for scoring and earned In Glas Co ECHL Player of the Week honors on Jan. 23.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"Rohlfs and (Adam Huxley) really stepped up, and everyone played hard," Perugini said. "It was nice to get it. But you never want to get too high or get too low. Hockey is one of those games where you can be on top of the world one day and the bottom the other."
- Thunder goaltender Andrew Perugini after the Thunder beat Victoria 2-0, The Record, 1/31/09
"It wasn't a shutout, but I think the wins are on par, and in some ways this was a better performance," Thomas said. "Mostly because of the late pressure. Genie just played great, and he had a lot of excellent stops."
- Head Coach Matt Thomas on goaltender Andrew Perugini, The Record, 2/1/09
PARTY LIKE IT'S 2009
Ever since New Year's Eve, the Thunder have enjoyed scoring in bunches from All-Star Ryan Huddy and rookie forward James Bates. Below is a look at how the Thunder duo ranks among the league's top scorers, since Dec. 31:
ECHL SCORING LEADERS (Since Dec. 31, 2008)
PLAYER
TEAM
GP
PTS
G
A
+/-
1)
* Bryan Ewing
Wheeling Nailers
16
30
17
13
8
2)
Ryan Kinasewich
Utah Grizzlies
13
29
11
18
9
3)
* Jimmy Kilpatrick
Cincinnati Cyclones
14
23
10
13
5
4)
Mark Lee
Florida Everblades
14
21
8
13
6
5)
Kevin Baker
Florida Everblades
15
21
16
5
6
6)
Travis Morin
South Carolina Stingrays
16
20
4
16
8
7)
* Mark Van Guilder
Cincinnati Cyclones
14
20
6
14
3
8)
* James Bates
Stockton Thunder
14
20
7
13
6
9)
Barret Ehgoetz
Cincinnati Cyclones
15
19
9
10
6
10)
Brock Hooton
Reading Royals
10
18
4
14
8
11)
Mike McLean
Dayton Bombers
15
18
5
13
3
12)
* Ryan Huddy
Stockton Thunder
15
18
9
9
3
13)
* Jordan Morrison
Wheeling Nailers
11
17
5
12
-1
14)
Ryan Lang
Florida Everblades
14
17
6
11
9
15)
* Rob Hennigar
Utah Grizzlies
11
17
4
13
6
* Denotes rookie
ECHL Stories from February 4, 2009
- Grizzlies Unbeaten Streak Hits 10; Fall 4-3 In Shootout - Utah Grizzlies
- Las Vegas Earns First Three-Game Winning Streak of the Year - Las Vegas Wranglers
- RoadRunners Edge Grizzlies 4-3 In A Shootout - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Blades push win streak to five with 4- 3 win over South Carolina - Florida Everblades
- Bombers Trump Reading 4-2 - Dayton Bombers
- Stingray's Comeback Falls Short, 4-3 to Everblades - South Carolina Stingrays
- Sea Wolves top Gwinnett, 5-3 - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Gladiators Fall 5-3 to Mississippi - Atlanta Gladiators
- Chiefs Announce Game Date Change - Johnstown Chiefs
- ECHL Transactions February 4th - ECHL
- Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Alaska Aces - Stockton Thunder
- Bakersfield Condors vs. Idaho Steelheads - Bakersfield Condors
- McKenna Makes NHL Debut With Tampa Bay - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Checkers Continue Community Outreach In February - Charlotte Checkers
- Looking for Old Time Hockey eh? Blades hosting "Canada Night!" - Florida Everblades
- Nailers Announce Valentine's Day Promotion - Wheeling Nailers
- Walsh Loaned To Grand Rapids; Grizzlies Host Phoenix Tonight - Utah Grizzlies
- South Carolina's Farynuk Fined - ECHL
- McKenna Is 392nd Player To Play In NHL After ECHL - ECHL
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Nailers Announce Weekend Promotions - Wheeling Nailers
- Royals Dropped By Cincy in OT, 3-2 - Reading Royals
- Reign Conquer Roadrunners, 2-1 - Ontario Reign
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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