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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Alaska Aces

March 3, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER vs. ALASKA ACES

DATE: Saturday, March 3, 2012

TIME: 7:30 p.m.

SITE: Stockton Arena

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

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Alaska Aces: St. Louis Blues

NEXT HOME GAME

Sunday, March 4 vs. Alaska Aces, 4:00 p.m.

FAMILY DAY (presented by Sutter Gould Medical Foundation and 99.3 KJOY)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder hosts the defending Kelly Cup champion Alaska Aces, continuing a three game series tonight at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 24-25-14 all time against the Aces and tonight's game marks the ninth game of ten this season between the teams. In the last meeting, the Aces defeated the Thunder, 4-2 last evening at Stockton Arena. 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 10 to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 3-5-0)

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 4 at Stockton 2

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

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

LAST THREE GAMES:

AK 4 - STK 2 (3/2/12): Ethan Cox buried two goals and goaltender James Reid earned his first professional win with 24 saves, enough to help the Alaska Aces go wire to wire and defeat the Stockton Thunder (27-24-5, 59 points), 4-2 before 4,644 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. The Thunder dropped their third straight defeat and saw its magic number stay at 10 to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth, with division rival Bakersfield idle for Friday evening. Chris D'Alvise and Colten Hayes chipped with goals for Stockton in the second period.

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.

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 4 games away from 100 in his Thunder career

- Jody Pederson is 4 games away from 100 in his professional career

- Chris D'Alvise is 9 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 9-3-1 in the last 13 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 20 of 27 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 461 448 272 176 5

2 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

3 Kevin Baker STK 322 354 172 182 14

4 Olivier Labelle REA 299 247 133 114 -14

5 Marty Flichel IDH 383 358 131 227 -9

** 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 91

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 5,707 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 228

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

HOME GAME PROMOTIONAL NOTES

Tonight's Promotions:

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

National Anthem Singer: Bristow Middle School

Public Address Announcer: DJ Walker

In-Arena Emcee: Jungle Jim

THE SHIRT OFF THEIR BACKS: Continuing tonight, the Thunder will be making their "pregame worn" warm up jerseys available for bidding through silent auction, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Stockton Thunder foundation. The jerseys, sponsored by Osborn Concrete, were created by Reebok Hockey, the official jersey supplier of all National Hockey League teams. Featuring a unique "silver and black" look, the jersey displays a black base with a white stripe along the shoulders and a white and silver accented Thor logo crest. Black numbers adorn the back of each jersey in a silver trim with white lettering at the top.

Below is tonight's auction lineup:

Kevin Baker (RW) Chris D'Alvise (C) Brock Matheson (D) Tony DeHart (D)

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 59 37 14 2 6 82 0.695 191 137 4-0-0-2 5-3-0-2 3-6

2 x * - Las Vegas Wranglers 60 36 19 1 4 77 0.642 197 164 1-0-0-0 6-3-0-1 3-4

3 x Ontario Reign 57 35 16 4 2 76 0.667 202 161 3-0-1-0 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 56 27 24 1 4 59 0.527 155 167 0-3-0-0 4-6-0-0 5-4

6 Utah Grizzlies 58 25 28 0 5 55 0.474 138 187 0-3-0-0 5-5-0-0 7-5

7 Idaho Steelheads 58 23 28 2 5 53 0.457 159 197 0-7-0-2 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 16 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 (2)

- 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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