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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Bakersfield Condors

March 23, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER vs. BAKERSFIELD CONDORS

DATE: Friday, March 23, 2012

TIME: 7:30 p.m.

SITE: Stockton Arena

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

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Bakersfield Condors: Independent

HOME GAME PROMOTIONAL NOTES

Tonight's Promotion: FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT (presented by Jackson Rancheria, AT&T/yp.com, University Plaza Waterfront Hotel, AM 970 ESPN Radio, KAT Country 103, 104.1 The Hawk)

National Anthem Singer: Lincoln Elementary School

Public Address Announcer: DJ Walker

NEXT HOME GAME

Saturday, Mar. 24 vs. Bakersfield Condors, 7:30 p.m.

FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT (presented by Jackson Rancheria, AT&T/yp.com, University Plaza Waterfront Hotel, AM 970 ESPN Radio, KAT Country 103, 104.1 The Hawk)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder hosts the Bakersfield Condors for the two final meetings of the season at Stockton Arena beginning tonight as the Thunder wrap up the home portion of the regular season schedule in a two game series. Bakersfield defeated Stockton, 5-2 in the last meeting on Feb. 26 at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 7-4-0 against Bakersfield this season. Stockton currently stands five points behind Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 7-4-0)

Tue. Nov. 15 Stockton 4 at Bakersfield 2

Fri. Dec. 9 Stockton 3 at Bakersfield 1

Sat. Dec. 10 Bakersfield 6 at Stockton 9

Sun. Dec. 11 Bakersfield 5 at Stockton 2

Mon. Dec. 26 Stockton 2 at Bakersfield 3

Fri. Jan. 6, 2012 Stockton 1 at Bakersfield 0

Sat. Jan. 7 Stockton 3 at Bakersfield 2 (SO)

Wed. Feb. 1 Stockton 4 at Bakersfield 1

Fri. Feb. 24 Stockton 4 at Bakersfield 3 (SO)

Sat. Feb. 25 Stockton 1 at Bakersfield 4

Sun. Feb. 26 Bakersfield 5 at Stockton 2

Fri. Mar. 23 Bakersfield 7:30 p.m.

Sat. Mar. 24 Bakersfield 7:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:

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.

LAST THREE GAMES:

ONT 4 - STK 1 (3/21/12): Goaltender J.F. Berube made 37 saves and defenseman Pat Bowen registered two assists to spearhead a wire to wire effort by the Ontario Reign, who sent the Stockton Thunder (32-30-5, 69 points) to a 4-1 defeat at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Saturday. The Thunder dropped the head to head finale, finishing 5-5-2 against the Reign this season in spite of holding a 38-32 shots advantage.

STK 4 - UTA 2 (3/18/12): Chris D'Alvise buried two goals and goaltender Olivier Roy stopped 38 shots in his return from the American Hockey League to guide the Stockton Thunder (32-29-5, 67 points) to a 4-2 victory over the Utah Grizzlies before 6,016 fans at Stockton Arena on Sunday. The Thunder, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first period, moved to within three points of Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference. Jordan Fulton also chipped in with a goal and assist, Mike Little collected two assists and Matt Foy stashed a key insurance goal in the third period.

UTA 5 - STK 2 (3/17/12): Mitch Wahl, Colin Vock and Chris Donovan each collected a goal and an assist to help the Utah Grizzlies clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth and send the Stockton Thunder (31-29-5, 67 points) to a 5-2 defeat before 7,537 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder earned a pair of power play goals in the second period by Chris D'Alvise and Max Campbell, storming back from a 2-0 deficit. Utah broke the 2-2 tie late in the period on a goal by Ross Carlson and finished the game with three unanswered goals.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Kevin Baker is 11 goals away from 200 in his professional career

- Kevin Baker is 1 game away from 400 in his professional career

- Matt Foy is 13 goals away from 100 in his professional career

NET GAINS

Goaltender Olivier Roy was reassigned to the Thunder from Oklahoma City (AHL) last Saturday, currently ranking third in the ECHL with a .928 save percentage and sixth with a 2.40 goals against average. His four shutouts are tied for second in the ECHL and have established a new Thunder single season record.

GOAL ORIENTED

Thunder right winger Kevin Baker was signed as a free agent on Aug. 24, 2011 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 second in ECHL all-time goal scoring (since 2006-07) with 177 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 468 451 274 177 9

2 Kevin Baker STK 333 363 177 186 15

3 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

4 Olivier Labelle REA 305 250 133 117 -17

5 Marty Flichel IDH 392 363 132 231 -8

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

CHRIS CONTROL

Chris D'Alvise, named runner up for ECHL Player of the Week on Tuesday, enters tonight's game ranking fourth on the Thunder's all time scoring chart with 102 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 102

5. Garet Hunt 75

LITTLE DETAILS

Since Jan. 1, Thunder defenseman Mike Little has soared to a +18 rating, which is tied for second in the league. His +19 rating this season ranks second among all ECHL rookies. Currently competing in his first full season, Little has also registered 25 points (6g-19a) in 37 games since New Year's Day.

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 239

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

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 17 crowds of 6,000 or more to Stockton Arena and drew a season high 9,398 fans on Mar. 3 vs. Alaska. The Thunder is third in ECHL attendance with an average of 5,817 fans per game.

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 y * - Alaska Aces 66 41 16 2 7 91 0.689 211 152 1-0-0-0 6-2-0-2 3-7

2 x * - Ontario Reign 66 40 18 5 3 88 0.667 227 179 3-0-0-0 6-2-1-1 6-3

3 x Las Vegas Wranglers 67 40 22 1 4 85 0.634 218 182 1-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 4-4

4 x Colorado Eagles 66 34 26 1 5 74 0.561 232 234 1-0-0-0 3-7-0-0 3-5

5 x Stockton Thunder 67 32 30 1 4 69 0.515 189 200 0-1-0-0 4-6-0-0 6-4

6 x Utah Grizzlies 68 31 32 0 5 67 0.493 170 215 1-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 7-5

7 x Idaho Steelheads 67 27 31 2 7 63 0.470 180 225 0-2-0-1 4-4-0-2 7-7

8 Bakersfield Condors 67 22 38 4 3 51 0.381 185 225 0-1-0-0 5-4-0-1 2-3

* 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 clinched a Kelly Cup Playoff berth for the sixth consecutive season.

- They clinched a Kelly Cup Playoff berth on Mar. 14, the second fastest pace in club history.

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

- Idaho (3)

- 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.

- The Thunder has surpassed 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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