Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Bakersfield Condors

Published on March 24, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER vs. BAKERSFIELD CONDORS

DATE: Saturday, March 24, 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: The Christian Family Learning Center

Public Address Announcer: DJ Walker

NEXT HOME GAME

TO BE ANNOUNCED - KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS, 1st ROUND (WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINAL)

TONIGHT'S GUEST

The Stockton Thunder welcomes staff from the ECHL to tonight's game, attended by ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna.

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder hosts the Bakersfield Condors for the final meeting of the season at Stockton Arena to also wrap up the home portion of the regular season home schedule. Bakersfield defeated Stockton, 6-5 in the last meeting on last evening at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 7-5-0 against Bakersfield this season. Stockton currently stands seven points behind Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 7-5-0)

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 6 at Stockton 5

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

LAST THREE GAMES:

BAK 6 - STK 5 (3/23/12): Jesse Gimblett earned a key third period goal and added an assist, enough to help the Bakersfield Condors escape and send the Stockton Thunder (32-31-5, 69 points) to a 6-5 defeat before 5,888 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. The Thunder, who trailed 6-3 with less than two minutes remaining, scored twice late in the game on Mike Little and Matt Reber goals to reach a one goal deficit and nearly stuffed two chances for a goal in the waning seconds of the game with an extra attacker. Max Campbell buried two goals, Garet Hunt added a second period tally and Reber led the Thunder offense with a goal and two assists.

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.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

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

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

NOTE OF THE NIGHT

This season, the Thunder has boasted a record of 18-14-3 when playing in the second game of a "back to back" or in a "three game in three day" scenario. The last Thunder win in that situation came on Sunday, Mar. 18 in a 4-2 victory over the Utah Grizzlies at Stockton Arena.

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 469 453 274 179 11

2 Kevin Baker STK 334 363 177 186 15

3 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

4 Olivier Labelle REA 306 250 133 117 -17

5 Marty Flichel IDH 393 364 132 232 -6

** 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 103 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 103

5. Garet Hunt 76

LITTLE DETAILS

Since Jan. 1, Thunder defenseman Mike Little has soared to a +20 rating, which is second in the league. His +21 rating this season is tied for the ECHL rookie lead with Alaska's Kane Lafranchise. Currently competing in his first full season, Little has also registered 26 points (7g-19a) in 38 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 240

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

THUNDER CROWDS ROLL IN

The Thunder has now totaled over 200,000 fans for seven consecutive seasons. Last season they ranked 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 5,819 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 67 42 16 2 7 93 0.694 215 155 2-0-0-0 7-2-0-1 3-7

2 x * - Ontario Reign 67 40 19 5 3 88 0.657 230 183 0-1-0-0 5-3-1-1 6-3

3 x Las Vegas Wranglers 68 40 22 1 5 86 0.632 220 185 1-0-0-1 5-4-0-1 4-5

4 x Colorado Eagles 67 35 26 1 5 76 0.567 235 236 2-0-0-0 4-6-0-0 4-5

5 x Stockton Thunder 68 32 31 1 4 69 0.507 194 206 0-2-0-0 3-7-0-0 6-4

6 x Utah Grizzlies 69 31 32 0 6 68 0.493 172 218 1-0-0-1 6-3-0-1 7-6

7 x Idaho Steelheads 68 28 31 2 7 65 0.478 183 227 1-0-0-0 5-3-0-2 8-7

8 Bakersfield Condors 68 23 38 4 3 53 0.390 191 230 1-0-0-0 6-3-0-1 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 (1)

- 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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