Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Alaska Aces

Published on March 2, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER vs. ALASKA ACES

DATE: Friday, March 2, 2012

TIME: 7:30 p.m.

SITE: Stockton Arena

RADIO: 1280 AM KWSX/StocktonThunder.com (AmericaOne)/92.5 FM (in house feed)

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Alaska Aces: St. Louis Blues

HOME GAME PROMOTIONAL NOTES

Tonight's Promotions:

MATT FOY POSTER GIVEAWAY (presented by In-Shape Health Clubs)

National Anthem Singer: Nancy Martin

Public Address Announcer: John Taylor

In-Arena Emcee: DJ Walker

NEXT HOME GAME

Saturday, March 3 vs. Alaska Aces, 7:30 p.m.

ADULT GOLD REPLICA JERSEY GIVEAWAY (presented by Jackson Rancheria, Financial Center Credit Union, 97.7/98.3 KWIN and Ray Morgan Company)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

Coming off a 4-1-1 record at home in February, the Thunder hosts the defending Kelly Cup champion Alaska Aces for a three game series starting tonight at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 24-24-14 all time against the Aces and tonight's game marks the eighth game of ten this season between the teams. In the last meeting, the Thunder defeated Alaska 2-1 at Stockton Arena on Jan. 29. The series will feature two of the league's top three goal scorers in the last five years - Kevin Baker (Stockton) and Wes Goldie (Alaska). Stockton has a magic number of 12 to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 3-4-0)

Wed. Nov. 23 Alaska 4 at Stockton 1

Thur. Jan. 12 Stockton 0 at Alaska 3

Fri. Jan. 13 Stockton 1 at Alaska 3

Sat. Jan. 14 Stockton 2 at Alaska 4

Fri. Jan. 27 Alaska 3 at Stockton 6

Sat. Jan. 28 Alaska 1 at Stockton 4

Sun. Jan. 29 Alaska 1 at Stockton 2

Fri. Mar. 2 Alaska 7:30 p.m.

Sat. Mar.3 Alaska 7:30 p.m.

Sun. Mar. 4 Alaska 4:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:

STK 2 - AK 1 (1/29/12): Goaltender Alex Stalock made a season high 38 saves and Jordan Fulton broke a 1-1 tie on a game winning goal with 16:07 remaining in regulation to lift the Stockton Thunder (21-18-4, 46 points) to a 2-1 victory over the Alaska Aces at Stockton Arena. The win, which helped the Thunder improve to 6-1-1 at home since Dec. 30 and become the first team to hand the Aces a three game sweep this season, gave Stalock a 4-0-0 record since his return from injury. Milan Kytnar scored the first goal of the game and the Thunder captured sole possession of fifth place in the Western Conference.

LAST THREE GAMES:

BAK 5 - STK 2 (2/26/12): Ian McKenzie scored a goal and added an assist to lead another four unanswered goal rally by the Bakersfield Condors, who sent the Stockton Thunder (27-23-5, 59 points) to a 5-2 defeat before a crowd of 6,323 at Stockton Arena on Sunday. Bakersfield, entering the game with the worst record in the ECHL, authored its victory in the same fashion as Saturday night with four goals after the Thunder assumed a 1-0 lead in the first period. Stockton benefited from goals by Chris Doyle and Jordan Fulton and fell to 7-4-0 in the head to head series against its Pacific Division rival.

BAK 4 - STK 1 (2/25/12): Parker Stanfield scored one goal and added an assist, helping build a rally of four unanswered goals by the Bakersfield Condors, who sent the Stockton Thunder (27-22-5, 59 points) to a 4-1 defeat before 6,092 fans at Rabobank Arena on Saturday. The Thunder, who absorbed only their third loss in ten games this season to the Condors and saw a four game winning streak snapped, earned its only goal on a first period power play marker by Matt Reber. Bakersfield goaltender Bryan Pitton earned his first win since Jan. 20 with 27 saves in net.

STK 4 - BAK 3 (SO) (2/24/12): Goaltender Thomas Heemskerk made 34 saves and Kevin Baker scored a goal in the fifth round of the shootout to lift the Stockton Thunder (27-21-5, 59 points) to a 4-3 shootout victory over the Bakersfield Condors before 5,926 fans at Rabobank Arena on Friday. Aiding from an offensive effort that included goal scoring contributions from Matt Foy, Colten Hayes and Ian O'Connor, the Thunder moved back to four points behind Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference and reduced its magic number to 12 to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Matt Thomas is 2 wins away from 300 in his professional coaching career

- Kevin Baker is 16 goals away from 200 in his professional career

- Jordan Fulton is 5 games away from 100 in his Thunder career

- Jody Pederson is 5 games away from 100 in his professional career

- Chris D'Alvise is 10 points away from 100 in his Thunder career

GOING THE EXTRA MILE(STONE)

Thunder head coach Matt Thomas needs just two wins to become the eighth coach in ECHL history to reach the 300 win plateau in his career. Thomas is currently in his fourth season as Thunder head coach and has never missed the playoffs since earning his first position with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in 2004-05. His 119 wins stand as the all time leader in Thunder career coaching wins.

HOME COOKING

The Thunder has parlayed a record of 9-2-1 in the last 12 home games. Taking advantage of leads early and in the middle of the game, the Thunder has never lost when holding a lead after the first period (9-0-0) and second period (10-0-0). The Thunder has also outshot their opponents in 19 of 26 home games.

GOAL ORIENTED

Thunder right winger Kevin Baker was signed as a free agent on Aug. 24 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 third in ECHL all-time goal scoring (since 2006-07) with 172 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 460 447 271 176 4

2 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

3 Kevin Baker STK 321 353 172 181 14

4 Olivier Labelle REA 298 245 133 112 -15

5 Chad Painchaud CHI 338 315 131 184 -19

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

CHRIS CONTROL

Chris D'Alvise, assigned on Thursday from Springfield (AHL), enters the game ranking fourth on the Thunder's all time scoring chart with 90 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 90

5. Garet Hunt 74

THUNDER CROWDS ROLL IN

An exclusive club, the Thunder averaged over 6,000 fans per game and drew over 200,000 fans for the sixth straight year in 2010-11, ranking second in ECHL in attendance with 6,382 fans per game. Stockton has 17 sellouts in the team's franchise history. They welcomed 12 crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena last season and had its highest attendance since 2007-08, a six percent increase from 2009-10. This season, the Thunder has welcome 13 crowds of 6,000 or more to Stockton Arena and drew a season high 9,012 fans on Nov. 5 vs. Utah. The Thunder is third in ECHL attendance with an average of 5,746 fans per game.

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 227

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 x * - Alaska Aces 58 36 14 2 6 80 0.690 187 135 3-0-0-2 4-4-0-2 3-6

2 x * - Las Vegas Wranglers 59 35 19 1 4 75 0.636 192 163 0-1-0-0 5-4-0-1 3-4

3 x Ontario Reign 56 34 16 4 2 74 0.661 194 158 2-0-1-0 7-1-2-0 5-2

4 Colorado Eagles 56 31 19 1 5 68 0.607 209 194 3-0-0-1 6-3-0-1 3-5

5 Stockton Thunder 55 27 23 1 4 59 0.536 153 163 0-2-0-0 4-5-0-1 5-4

6 Utah Grizzlies 57 25 27 0 5 55 0.482 135 179 0-2-0-0 5-5-0-0 7-5

7 Idaho Steelheads 57 23 27 2 5 53 0.465 158 192 0-6-0-2 1-7-0-2 6-5

8 Bakersfield Condors 58 17 35 4 2 40 0.345 154 198 0-1-0-0 6-3-0-1 1-2

* 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 17 regular season games remaining and has a magic number of 10 to clinch a playoff berth.

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

- Alaska (3)

- Colorado (2)

- Utah (4)

- Idaho (4)

- Las Vegas (1)

- 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.

- Currently, 69 points guarantees a playoff spot as the 8th place Bakersfield Condors can only amass 68 points this season.

- The Thunder is looking to surpass 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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