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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs Fresno Falcons

October 18, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 7:30 p.m. PT
SITE: Stockton Arena
RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN
INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

2008-09 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES
10/18/08 Stockton vs. Fresno
11/14/08 Stockton @ Fresno
11/29/08 Stockton vs. Fresno
12/7/08 Stockton @ Fresno
12/16/08 Stockton @ Fresno
12/19/08 Stockton @ Fresno
12/20/08 Stockton @ Fresno
2/6/08 Stockton vs. Fresno
2/7/08 Stockton vs. Fresno
3/20/08 Stockton vs. Fresno

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Marc-Andre Bernier is 18 games away from 200 in his professional career
o Justin Chwedoruk is one game away from 200 in his professional career
o Milan Maslonka is four games away from 100 in his professional career
o Cory Urquhart is two assists away from 100 in his professional career and six games away from 200 in his ECHL career
o Nathan Saunders is 10 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

For the first time in team history, the Stockton Thunder will open the regular season inside the confines of Stockton Arena, a venue that has hosted the league's largest turnout for three consecutive seasons (2005-08). The Thunder faces their Pacific Division rival Fresno Falcons, the first of 10 meetings between both clubs in 2008-09. The Thunder is 1-2-0 lifetime in season openers and 3-0-0 lifetime in home openers, including last year's Stockton Arena lid lifter which was a 4-3 overtime victory against Alaska on Oct. 27. The Thunder had a record of 4-5-1 vs. Fresno in 2007-08.

TONIGHT'S GUEST

The Stockton Thunder welcomes staff from the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League to tonight's game, attended by Oilers director of player development Bob Mancini.

RECENT THUNDER GAMES

(PRESEASON) 10/11/08 - STK 3 at FRE 4: Peter MacArthur's game-winning goal with 2:08 remaining in regulation helped the Fresno Falcons send the Thunder (1-1-0 preseason) to a 4-3 preseason defeat at Gateway Ice Center. Urquhart and Petruic scored power-play goals for Stockton while Justin Chwedoruk added a shorthanded goal. The two power-play goals enabled the Thunder to end the pre-season with a 3-for-11 clip on the power-play

(PRESEASON) 10/9/08 - STK 5 vs. FRE 1: Veteran Cory Urquhart scored three points (2g-1a) in his debut and rookie Andrew Perugini made 32 saves as the Thunder notched a 5-1 preseason win over the Fresno Falcons in front of 2,048 fans at Stockton Arena on Thursday, Oct. 9. David Rohlfs, Milan Maslonka and Neil Petruic each chipped in with a goal. Stockton, who finished last in the league in penalty kill percentage last year, held Fresno to a 0-for-7 clip on the power-play.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Thunder has established its home opener as a winning trademark through the organization's first three years of existence. The Thunder is 3-0-0 lifetime in home openers and won last year's Stockton Arena lid-lifter in a 4-3 overtime triumph over the Alaska Aces on David Rohlfs' game-winning goal.

Below is a look at the home opener history of the Thunder:

HOME OPENERS (3-0-0)
Year Opponent Result Attendance
2005-06 Phoenix W, 4-0 10,117
2006-07 Long Beach W, 4-3 (SO) 8,747
2007-08 Alaska W, 3-2 (OT) 8,609

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"This is great, people are working and stuff and all of them come out here on a Monday night," Lalonde said. "You definitely want to play in front of people like that."
- Mike Lalonde on "FanFest", The Record, 10/7/08

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder finished last year as the ECHL's attendance champions for the third consecutive season and drew four capacity crowds of 9,737 this year at Stockton Arena. It is the second straight year the Thunder has 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).

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 51 goals. 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.

Lalonde is among the all-time leading scorers in Thunder history:

GOALS:
1. Mike Lalonde 51
2. Nathan Martz 29
Steve Slonina 29
3. Tim Verbeek 28
4. Joel Irwin 25

POINTS
1. Nathan Martz 122
2. Mike Lalonde 105
3. Joel Irwin 68
4. Stephane Goulet 54
5. Brandon Schwartz 52

OILING UP THE SHIP

For the third straight season, the Thunder is serving as the proud ECHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League and is an affiliate of the AHL's Springfield Falcons. As an affiliate, the Thunder have made back-to-back appearances in the Kelly Cup Playoffs and two players with expereince in a Thunder uniform (D Bryan Young, LW Liam Reddox) have played in the National Hockey League. Edmonton has won five Stanley Cups and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals six times in franchise history, additionally passing six players onto the Hockey Hall of Fame (Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey and Glenn Anderson).

This season, the farm system has been strengthened with scoring depth and toughness. A total of 19 players with an NHL or AHL contract are on the Thunder roster, an all-time franchise high in that category.

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