Sports stats

Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Idaho Steelheads

March 7, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 7:30 p.m. PT

RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

RECORDS:

Stockton Thunder (23-32-3, 49 points) - 3rd, Pacific/7th National Conf.

Idaho Steelheads (33-19-9, 75 points) - 2nd, West/3rd National Conf.

2007-08 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

11/2/07 Idaho 0 at Stockton 4

11/3/07 Idaho 2 at Stockton 3

01/29/08 Stockton 1 at Idaho 4

01/30/08 Stockton 2 at Idaho 6

03/07/08 Idaho at Stockton

03/19/08 Stockton at Idaho

03/21/08 Stockton at Idaho

03/22/08 Stockton at Idaho

03/28/08 Idaho at Stockton

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Jason Beeman is 20 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Brian Lee is 9 games away from 200 in his professional career

o Lance Monych is 3 points away from 100 in his professional career

o Brandon Schwartz is 6 points away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Tim Verbeek is 16 games away from 400 in his professional career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder faces the Idaho Steelheads on Friday at Stockton Arena, continuing a long homestretch that has the Thunder playing seven of eight games on its own home ice. The Thunder is 9-4-1 in the last two seasons against the Steelheads and is 2-2-0 in the season series. Both teams face each other five times in March and are squaring off in the first contest at Stockton Arena since November 3, when the Thunder defeated Idaho 3-2.

LAST GAME RECAP

Veteran Peter Ferraro registered a hat trick and goaltender Kevin Lalande made 31 saves to help the Las Vegas Wranglers send the Thunder to a 5-1 loss at Orleans Arena on Tuesday night. Fredrik Johansson scored his second goal of the season for the only Thunder goal in the third period, while veteran center Joel Stepp added an assist for his first point in a Thunder uniform since a recent trade with the Pensacola Ice Pilots.

FIRST THING'S FIRST

Of the 23 wins the Thunder has accumulated this season, 22 have come when the Thunder scores the first goal of the game. The Thunder is 23-12-1 when scoring the first goal of the game. Lance Monych leads the Thunder with seven "first goals."

SCHWARTZ'S FINE FEBRUARY

Center Brandon Schwartz led the Thunder with 13 points (5g-8a) in 14 games for the month of February. Schwartz's output mirrors the offensive output he produced in February last season for the Long Beach Ice Dogs, the best month of his 06-07 rookie campaign.

SCHWARTZ GP G A PTS

06-07 13 5 7 12

07-08 14 5 8 13

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder drew 6,990 in last Saturday's game against Cincinnati to remain the league's leader in attendance with an average of 6,466 fans in 30 dates (186,983 total), drawing three sellouts (9,737) this season, the most recent coming a Saturday, February 16 game against Alaska. The Thunder is vying to become 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). The Thunder drew 244,085 fans to Stockton Arena in 2006-07 and drew the fifth largest crowd in ECHL All-Star Game history on January 23 with a total of 7,455 fans.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"The Stockton Thunder ended the longest streak in the league, and I think it sent the message that if we play our game, we can beat anyone," Zanoski said.

- Thunder left wing Tom Zanoski, The Record, 3/2/08 (on beating Cincinnati 3-1 to end the Cyclones' league-record 17-game win streak)

SIR LANCE-A-LOT SETS THE PACE

Lance Monych's arrival to the Thunder roster already puts him atop the team's scoring lead with 43 points (27g-16a) and first in goal-scoring with 27 goals, entering today's game tied for 11th in the ECHL for goals. Monych has 10 points (6g-4a) in his last 11 games.

IN THE NICK OF TIM

Goaltender Tim Boron has provided some of the most prolific goaltending in the Thunder's three-year history, recently breaking the single-season club record with three shutouts and made a career-high 50 saves against Las Vegas in a 1-0 win at Stockton Arena on January 20. Boron is tied for second in the ECHL with three shutouts.

IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER ...

The Thunder has three wins this season when trailing after two periods, including two on home ice at Stockton Arena. Below is a look at the Thunder comeback wins when trailing through 40 minutes:

DATE OPPONENT W/L/T SCORE AFTER 2 GWG

11/28 @Utah W, 4-3 (so) Trailed 1-3 (team - shootout)

11/23 Alaska W, 4-3 Trailed 2-3 Micflikier

11/3 Idaho W, 3-2 Trailed 1-2 Schwartz

INSIDE THE NUMBERS - PENALTY SHOTS

Entering the 2007-08 season, the Thunder has made 1 penalty shot and missed 6 penalty shots, while opponents had made 0 penalty shots and missed 4 penalty shots. Below is a look at Thunder and opposing penalty shots for this season:

PENALTY SHOTS BY THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON 0 MADE, 1 MISSED

1. MISSED - Tom Zanoski vs. Michael Mole vs. Utah 2/6/08

PENALTY SHOTS VS. THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON

1 MADE, 1 MISSED

1. MADE - Bo Cheesman vs. Glenn Fisher vs. Alaska 11/21/07

2. MISSED - Gino Guyer vs. Tim Boron vs. Phoenix 1/26/08

ABOUT THE STEELHEADS

The Idaho Steelheads are the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Dallas Stars and AHL's Iowa Stars and captured their second Kelly Cup championship in four seasons last year. Head Coach Derek Laxdal is back for his third season behind the Idaho bench, carrying a 174-104-25 lifetime coaching record with the Steelheads and Central Hockey League's Wichita Thunder. Laxdal has 67 games of NHL playing experience with the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs. Idaho returned 11 players from last year's Kelly Cup champion squad to the team's original roster this year and sent center Greg Rallo, veteran defenseman Darrell Hay and goaltender Kellen Briggs to Stockton for the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game.



ECHL Stories from March 7, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Stockton Thunder Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central