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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Idaho Steelheads

March 19, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Stockton Thunder, entering the day just one point out of first place in the Pacific Division, continues a three-game series against the Idaho Steelheads at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 5-1-3 this year against Idaho. The last time both teams met was last night, and Stockton defeated Idaho, 3-2 in a shootout at Stockton Arena. All time, the Thunder is 22-26-6 against Idaho. Stockton enters the game with eight games left in the regular season and six at Stockton Arena.

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 3 ‚¬" IDA 2 (SO) (3/18/11): Goaltender Tyson Sexsmith stood tall during a solid 65 minutes of play with a 29-save performance, while Fraser Clair notched the game-winning shootout goal as the Stockton Thunder (32-22-10, 74 points) defeated the Idaho Steelheads 3-2 in a shootout, in front of a home crowd of 5,484 fans Friday night at Stockton Arena. The win lifted the Thunder to one point behind a tie for first place in the tight Pacific Division, shared by Las Vegas and Bakersfield. Ryan Constant and Jim McKenzie scored both goals for the Thunder in regulation.

UTA 3 ‚¬" STK 2 (OT) (3/13/11): Giffen Nyren ‚¬â„¢s goal with 2:14 remaining helped the Utah Grizzlies clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth, sending the Stockton Thunder (31-22-10, 72 points) to a 3-2 overtime defeat before a crowd of 2,759 at Maverik Center on Sunday. The Thunder, who rallied with two goals in the third period to claim a point and killed eight of nine power-plays in the first two periods, closed the gap to three points behind the first place Las Vegas Wranglers in the Pacific Division and moved into sole possession of third place in the Western Conference. Craig Valette and Fraser Clair scored the third period goals while goaltender Bryan Pitton made a season high 41 saves.

STK 6 ‚¬" UTA 1 (3/12/11): Garet Hunt buried a pair of goals, Fraser Clair collected three points (1g-2a) and goaltender Zane Kalemba made 29 saves to help lead the Stockton Thunder (31-22-9, 71 points) to a 6-1 rout of the Utah Grizzlies before 5,016 fans at Maverik Center on Saturday. The Thunder avenged a two goal defeat 24 hours earlier and won for the fifth time in six games this year in Utah, closed the gap to four points behind the Las Vegas Wranglers for first place in the Pacific Division. Assured of a winning record on the road, the Thunder also received offensive contributions in goals from Jason Pitton, P.A. Bureau and an empty-netter from Jordan Fulton.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

· Jordan Bendfeld is 2 games away from 100 in his Thunder career

· Jason Pitton is 2 points away from 100 in his professional career

· Kelly Czuy is 1 point away from 100 in his ECHL career

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 5-1-3)

Wed. Nov. 10 Stockton 2 at Idaho 1 (SO)

Fri. Nov. 12 Stockton 3 at Idaho 4 (SO)

Sat. Nov. 13 Stockton 5 at Idaho 4

Thur. Nov. 18 Idaho 2 at Stockton 3 (SO)

Sat. Nov. 20 Idaho 2 at Stockton1 (SO)

Fri. Jan. 28 Idaho 4 at Stockton 3 (SO)

Sat. Jan. 29 Idaho 4 at Stockton 1

Sun. Jan. 30 Idaho 4 at Stockton 5 (SO)

Fri. Mar. 18 Idaho 2 at Stockton 3 (SO)

Sat. Mar. 19 Idaho 7:30 p.m.

Sun. Mar. 20 Idaho 4:00 p.m.

A CONSTANT FORCE

Last Sunday, Ryan Constant played in his 300th game a professional. Currently skating on an AHL contract with the Worcester Sharks, he is in his third season as a member of the Thunder and enters the week leading the team ‚¬â„¢s defensemen with 32 points (11g-21a) in 47 games, ranking 10th in ECHL scoring among defensemen. His 11 goals rank tied for second among ECHL blueliners.

EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

The Thunder clinched their fifth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth on Friday, Mar. 9 vs. Utah. It marked the earliest time in franchise history they clinched a berth and coincidentally, marked the second time they did it in Utah. In 2007-08, the Thunder earned a point in a 4-3 overtime loss at Maverik Center, clinching the final playoff spot in the Conference on the final day of the regular season.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder is second in ECHL in attendance with 6,230 fans per game through 30 games. A whopping crowd of 9,482 piled into Stockton Arena on Jan. 22 for the ‚¬Å“Teddy Bear Toss ‚¬Â game, the largest crowd at Stockton Arena this season and the fourth crowd over 9,000 in the event ‚¬â„¢s history. Stockton has 15 sellouts in the team's franchise history and in 2008-09, the Thunder became the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for four straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons - 2000-05). There have been nine crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena this season.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The Thunder capped the month of January with a record of 10-5-1, ending the first month of the new year in second place in the Pacific Division. In total, the Thunder had two weekend, three-game series sweeps (Utah and Ontario) and won eight consecutive games, their longest win streak of the season (Jan. 8-23).Stockton scored 51 goals, averaging 3.2 per game. Goaltender Bryan Pitton ran a record of 7-2-1 during the month, returning from Oklahoma City of the AHL.

CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER

The Thunder enters the game with 103 major penalties, leading the ECHL. Individually, the Thunder is led by Garet Hunt, who has 199 penalty minutes to lead the ECHL and also leads the ECHL with 23 majors this season. Four players on the Thunder have registered 80 penalty minutes or more this season.

LIKE A BROKEN RECORD

The Thunder broke a club record on Saturday, Nov. 20 in a 2-1 shootout loss to Idaho for a 12-game unbeaten streak in regulation (8-0-4). The previous standard was set with an 11-0-0 run in 2006-07. The Thunder began the streak with a 5-4 overtime loss to Ontario on Oct. 16 at Stockton Arena and tied the mark on Nov. 18, in a 3-2 shootout win over Idaho.

THUNDER ANSWERS ROAD RULES CHALLENGE

The Thunder owned a 6-0-2 streak on the road to begin the season, finishing as the last remaining team in the ECHL yet to lose a game in regulation on the road. Additionally, the streak to start the season broke the mark of five straight games without a loss in regulation (5-0-0), set back in 2006-07 (Mar. 17-31). They are guaranteed a winning record on the road this season and their 17 wins ties a club record, set in 2006-07.

HAIL TO THE CHIEF

Thunder head coach Matt Thomas ranks third in wins in the last decade in the ECHL (among active coaches), entering the year with a lifetime .606 win percentage (234-143-54 record) in six seasons as a head coach for Stockton, Fresno and Atlantic City. Thomas also has never missed the playoffs, won a Kelly Cup championship in 2002-03 as an assistant coach with Atlantic City, has been named coach for the ECHL All-Star Game twice (2005, 2009) and has been behind the bench in a coaching role for teams that advanced to the Conference Finals three times.

ALL-TIME WINS, REGULAR SEASON (2000-2010)

COACH WINS

1. Jeff Pyle (Gwinnett, Mobile) * 370

2. Malcolm Cameron (four teams) 317

3. Davis Payne (Alaska, Pee-Dee) 289

4. Matt Thomas (Stockton, Fre, A.C.) * 265

5. Glen Gulutzan (Las Vegas) 254

* Currently ECHL active

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 PIM

1 x *Alaska Aces 64 40 21 2 1 83 0.648 210 164 1-0-0-0 7-2-0-1 2-1 839

2 x *Las Vegas Wranglers 63 35 23 3 2 75 0.595 198 179 0-4-0-0 3-5-1-1 4-2 870

3 x Stockton Thunder 64 32 22 5 5 74 0.578 198 187 2-0-1-0 5-4-1-0 6-5 1401

4 x Bakersfield Condors 63 35 25 2 1 73 0.579 199 191 6-0-0-0 9-1-0-0 4-1 1330

5 x Idaho Steelheads 64 29 22 4 9 71 0.555 202 190 0-2-0-1 5-4-0-1 5-9 1016

6 x Utah Grizzlies 64 31 27 4 2 68 0.531 179 198 0-2-0-0 3-6-0-1 2-2 1510

7 Victoria Salmon Kings 64 29 32 1 2 61 0.477 193 203 2-0-0-0 5-5-0-0 2-2 1341

8 Ontario Reign 64 23 35 2 4 52 0.406 170 244 2-0-0-0 4-5-0-1 2-4 1202

* 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 8 regular season games remaining.

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

· Las Vegas (3)

· Idaho (2)

· Victoria (3)

- 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 Utah Grizzlies in the Western Conference Quarterfinal.

- The Thunder clinched its fifth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth Mar. 11 at Utah and has surpassed the 30-win plateau for the fourth time in club history (2006-07, 2008-11)

- 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 fourth straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with the 6th seed in the National Conference and a 33-29-10 record (76 points)

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