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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Fresno Falcons

November 29, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


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

2008-09 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES
10/18/08 Fresno 3 at Stockton 2
11/14/08 Stockton 4 at Fresno 5 (SO)
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 Mike Lalonde is 7 points away from surpassing Nathan Martz as the Thunder career scoring leader
o Ryan MacMurchy is 2 games away from 100 in his professional career
o Cory Urquhart is 15 goals away from 100 in his ECHL career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder faces their Pacific Division rival Fresno Falcons, the third of 10 meetings between the clubs in 2008-09 and the second at Stockton Arena. The game concludes a stretch of three games in four nights for the Thunder. The teams last met on Oct. 14, when Fresno defeated the Thunder 5-4 in a shootout.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES

11/28/08 - AK 3 at STK 4: Rookie Ryan Huddy scored two goals, added an assist and goaltender Bryan Pitton stopped 27 shots as the Thunder snapped a three-game home losing streak, defeating the West Division-leading Alaska Aces 4-3 in front of a crowd of 5,103 at Stockton Arena on Friday. Mike Lalonde and Toby LaFrance also scored for the Thunder, while Bryan Pitton earned the win in net with 26 saves. Aces counterpart Jean-Phillipe Lamoureux, who was unbeaten in regulation in his last nine appearances, suffered his first regulation loss since Oct. 31 with a 26-save output.

11/26/08 - ONT 4 at STK 2: Cory Urquhart notched his team leading sixth and seventh goals of the season and while rookie goaltender Andrew Perugini suffered his first loss as a pro as the Thunder started their three game homestand with a 4-2 loss to the Ontario Reign in front a crowd of 4,017 on a pre-Thanksgiving night at the Stockton Arena on Wednesday. Ontario received two power-play goals from Dusty Collins and P.J. Atherton. Tim Kraus' shorthanded goal was the eventual game-winner while goaltender John Murray made 42 saves for the win.

11/22/08 - STK 1 at IDA 3: Rookie goaltender Matt Climie made a season-high 34 saves to snap a three-game winless skid and help the Idaho Steelheads send the Thunder to a 3-1 defeat, before an announced crowd of 4,064 at Qwest Arena on Saturday. Thunder goaltender Bryan Pitton made 34 saves and received his lone share of offensive support on a first period goal by Justin Chwedoruk. Idaho received a game-winning goal from Steve Gainey in the second period. The Thunder loss marked their first defeat in regulation on the road in seven games away from Stockton Arena.

GAME DAY TRANSACTIONS

The Thunder placed defenseman Jordan Bendfeld on the seven-day injured reserve list on Saturday morning, while defenseman Cleve Kinley was recalled to the Springfield Falcons from the Thunder. Kinley, 24, is the seventh Thunder player to earn an AHL recall this season and leads all Thunder defensemen with nine points (1g-8a) in 18 ECHL games this season, amassing a +2 rating and 39 penalty minutes.

ALUMNI UPDATE: SESTITO IS THIRD THUNDER TO PLAY IN NHL

Center Tim Sestito, who played in 66 games with the Stockton Thunder in 2006-07, made his National Hockey League debut with the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings at Rexall Place, joining left wing Liam Reddox (vs. St. Louis on Dec. 7, 2007) and defenseman Bryan Young (at Anaheim on Mar. 9, 2007) as former members of the Thunder who have played in the NHL with the Oilers. The 6-foot, 195-pound forward played in 66 games for the Thunder in 2006-07, ranking second on the club with 132 penalty minutes while scoring 26 points (13g-13a).

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 6,997 through six games, has 13 sellouts in the team's franchise history and finished last year as the ECHL's attendance leader for the third consecutive season. It was the second straight year the Thunder 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). Stockton's crowd of 9,737 on Nov. 8 against Victoria was the team's first sellout of the year.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"We knew if we didn't bring it, it wasn't going to end up pretty," said Pitton, who made 27 saves. "The guys fought hard for a full 60 (minutes), and we knew we had to do that to win."

- Goaltender Bryan Pitton on the Thunder's 4-3 win vs. Alaska, The Record, 11/29/08

"He plays hard, and he's a scrappy guy out there," Cichocki said.

- Head Coach Chris Cichocki on new defenseman Mike Salekin, The Record, 11/25/08

HI, MY NAME IS ...

Two new defensemen made their debut in the Thunder lineup on Friday, after Mike Salekin was acquired in a trade (for future considerations) with Reading on Nov. 24 and rookie Dan McGoff was swapped to Stockton (for future considerations) on Nov. 27 from Trenton. Salekin, 23, has skated in 10 games for Reading this season, leading the club's defensemen in scoring with six points (2g-4a) while amassing 22 penalty minutes. McGoff, 22, has skated in 12 games for the Devils this season, registering one assist with eight penalty minutes and previously competed for four years at Boston University, skating in 94 career games.

HARDCORE CORY

Forward Cory Urquhart leads the Thunder in scoring with 18 points (7g-11a) in 16 games. Urquhart was runner-up for In Glas Co ECHL Player of the Week honors for the week of Oct. 20 with eight points (3g-5a) in four games. Urquhart, who was originally selected in the second round (40th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, has six multi-point games this season.

HUDDY HEATING UP

Rookie forward Ryan Huddy enjoyed his first multi-goal game of the season in Friday's 4-2 win vs. Alaska, when he also earned a season-high three points (2g-1a). Huddy has points in 8 of his last 9 games and is ranks tied for 9th in ECHL rookie scoring with 17 points (7g-10a) in 18 games.

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 58 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.

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