Sports stats



Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Idaho Steelheads

December 16, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER vs. IDAHO STEELHEADS

GAME: Stockton Thunder vs. Idaho Steelheads

DATE: Friday, December 16, 2011

TIME: 7:30 p.m.

SITE: Stockton Arena

RADIO: 1280 AM KWSX/StocktonThunder.com (AmericaOne)/92.5 FM (in house feed)

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Idaho Steelheads: Dallas Stars

HOME GAME PROMOTIONAL NOTES

Today's Promotion: THUNDER STOCKING GIVEAWAY (presented by 97.7/98/3 KWIN and Red Wing Shoes)

National Anthem Singer: Reyna

Public Address Announcer: Mike McKnight

In-Arena Emcee: D.J. Walker

NEXT HOME GAME

Saturday, Dec. 17 vs. Idaho Steelheads, 7:30 p.m.

YOUTH HOLIDAY THEMED JERSEY (presented by Pepsi, Financial Center Credit Union, KHOP 95.1 and AT&T/yp.com)

TONIGHT'S GUEST

The Stockton Thunder welcomes management staff from the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League to tonight's game, attended by Oilers pro scout Duane Sutter.

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder continues a four game homestand tonight, facing the Idaho Steelheads at Stockton Arena. Tonight's game marks the second matchup this season between both teams and last season, the Thunder went 7-1-3 against Idaho. The last time both teams met was on Oct. 29 and Stockton defeated Idaho, 4-3 at Stockton Arena. Historically, the Thunder is 25-26-6 against Idaho. Both teams are facing each other 12 times this season, including seven games at Stockton Arena.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 1-0-0)

Sat. Oct. 29 Idaho 3 at Stockton 4

Fri. Dec. 16 Idaho 7:30 p.m.

Sat. Dec. 17 Idaho 7:30 p.m.

Tue. Jan. 24 at Idaho 6:10 p.m.

Wed. Jan. 25 at Idaho 6:10 p.m.

Fri. Feb. 3 Idaho 7:30 p.m.

Sat. Feb. 4 Idaho 7:30 p.m.

Fri. Feb. 17 Idaho 7:30 p.m.

Wed. Mar. 14 Idaho 7:00 p.m.

Wed. Mar. 28 at Idaho 6:10 p.m.

Fri. Mar. 30 at Idaho 6:10 p.m.

Sat. Mar. 31 at Idaho 6:10 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:

STK 4 - IDH 3 (10/29/11): Ian O'Connor scored a goal, added two assists and goaltender Thomas Heemskerk made 28 saves to help the Stockton Thunder (2-3-1, 5 points) sink the Idaho Steelheads with a 4-3 victory, in front of 6,397 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder earned their first victory at home and scored three unanswered goals during the course of the game. Defenseman Tony DeHart scored the game winning goal and rookie forward Cameron Abney chipped in with a first period goal - both players netted the first goal of their pro career.

LAST THREE GAMES:

BAK 5 - STK 2 (12/11/11): Peter Boyd, Parker Stanfield and Robbie Dee each scored one goal and added an assist to help the Bakersfield Condors send the Stockton Thunder (12-9-3, 27 points) to a 5-2 defeat at Stockton Arena on Sunday. The Thunder, who claimed four points in the three game weekend series against Bakersfield, were aided by rookie Jesse Fratkin's two goal effort in the loss. The Condors ended a franchise record 12 game winless skid and goaltender Matt Keetley earned his first win since November 2 with 17 saves.

STK 9 - BAK 6 (12/10/11): Kevin Baker collected his first hat trick in a Stockton Thunder (12-8-3, 27 points) uniform and the Thunder broke a pair of offensive records, winning in a 9-6 rout of the division rival Bakersfield Condors before a crowd of 6,750 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday night. The Thunder, who completed the feat with just eight true forwards in the lineup, reached a new franchise pinnacle for most goals in one game (9) and combined with the Condors to score 15 goals, breaking the previous mark of 13 set on three previous occasions. Ten different Thunder players enjoyed multi point games and goaltender Thomas Heemskerk earned 28 saves - many on quality scoring chances - en route to the win.

STK 3 - BAK 1 (12/9/11): Matt Foy and Jordan Foreman each collected two assists and goaltender Thomas Heemskerk made 31 saves to help the Stockton Thunder (11-8-3, 23 points) knock off the Bakersfield Condors in a 3-1 victory at Rabobank Arena on Friday. The Thunder, who scored three unanswered goals and ended a three game road trip at 2-1-0, helped head coach Matt Thomas earn his second consecutive win over his counterpart and former assistant coach, Matt O'Dette. Kevin Baker, Bretton Cameron and Ian O'Connor each posted a goal as a part of the Thunder attack.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Matt Thomas is 17 wins away from 300 in his professional coaching career

- Matt Foy is 4 assists away from 100 in his professional career

- Garet Hunt is 1 game away from 200 in his Thunder career

LET THE RECORD SPEAK

The Thunder broke numerous offensive records in a 9-6 win vs. Bakersfield on Saturday. Their nine goals set a new franchise mark and they combined with the Condors to score15 goals, breaking the previous mark of 13, tied on three separate occasions. The Thunder also posted five goals in the second period, coming one goal shy of the franchise mark of six (11/1/08 at Bakersfield).

FOY STORY

Thunder forward Matt Foy is tied for the Thunder lead with 19 points (7g-12a) and a +3 rating. The 6-foot-3 and 225 pound right winger has scored eight points (2g-6a) in his last five games and recently posted his sixth multi point game of the season on Sunday vs. Bakersfield with two assists. Foy has 56 games of playing experience in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild and skated in 28 games with the Wild in 2007-08, scoring eight points (4g-4a) and totaling 28 penalty minutes.

GOAL ORIENTED

Thunder right winger Kevin Baker was signed as a free agent on Aug. 24 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 third in ECHL all-time goal scoring (since 2006-07) with 162 goals. On Saturday vs. Bakersfield, he collected his first hat trick of the season and has scored five goals in the last four games.

MOST GOALS, ECHL (SINCE 2006-07)

Rank Player Team GP PTS G A +/-

1 Wes Goldie AK 426 415 252 163 4

2 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

3 Kevin Baker STK 290 324 162 162 17

4 Ryan Kinasewich UTA 205 292 131 161 -4

5 Marty Flichel IDH 382 358 131 227 -8

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

HATS OFF TO YOU

Kevin Baker's hat trick on Saturday vs. Bakersfield was the 15th in Thunder history and the first in the 2011-12 season. Below is a complete list of hat tricks scored in Thunder history:

THUNDER ALL-TIME HAT TRICKS

YEAR PLAYER DATE/OPPONENT

2005-06 1. Lance Monych 3/11/06 at Bakersfield

2006-07 1. Tim Verbeek 1/13/07 vs. Bakersfield

2007-08 1. Ryan MacMurchy 1/6/08 vs. Bakersfield

2008-09 1. Cory Urquhart 1/8/09 at Phoenix

2009-10 1. Chris D'Alvise 11/1/10 at Victoria

2. James Bates 1/16/10 vs. Utah

3. Igor Gongalsky 1/29/10 vs. Victoria

4. Chris D'Alvise ** 2/5/10 at Ontario

5. Matt Robinson 3/28/10 vs. Las Vegas

2010-11 1. Chris D'Alvise 11/6/10 vs. Bakersfield

2. Chris D'Alvise 11/13/10 at Idaho

3. Jarrett Konkle ** 1/12/11 vs. Bakersfield

4. Chris Lawrence 2/19/11 vs. Victoria

5. Jordan Foreman 3/27/11 vs. Victoria

2011-12 1. Kevin Baker 12/10/11 vs. Bakersfield

** Denotes natural hat trick

THUNDER CROWDS ROLL IN

An exclusive club, the Thunder averaged over 6,000 fans per game and drew over 200,000 fans for the sixth straight year in 2010-11, ranking second in ECHL in attendance with 6,382 fans per game. A whopping crowd of 9,482 piled into Stockton Arena on Jan. 22 for the "Teddy Bear Toss" game, the largest crowd at Stockton Arena for the season and the fourth crowd over 9,000 in the event's history. 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.

The Thunder leads the ECHL attendance this season with an average of 5,969 fans per game.

ROY WORRY?

Goaltender Olivier Roy is 4-3-2 since Nov. 1, tied for the ECHL with two shutouts in that span while compiling a .930 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average. He was named ECHL Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 22, most recently a runner up for the award on Dec. 6 and was also runner up for ECHL Goaltender of the Month for November. His two shutouts this season are one shy of the Thunder single season record, shared by Tim Boron (2007-08) and Andrew Perugini (2009-10).

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.

ALL-TIME THUNDER GAMES PLAYED

Player GP

1. Garet Hunt 199

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

DID YOU KNOW?

There have been 18 penalty shots taken by the Thunder in their franchise history, dating back to 2005-06. The last to convert was Chris D'Alvise at Ontario on Feb. 13, 2010 against goaltender Curtis Darling.

PENALTY SHOTS BY THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON

(3 MADE, 15 MISSED)

1. MISSED - Nathan Martz vs. Yutaka Fukufuji vs. Reading 12/27/05

2. MISSED - Joel Irwin vs. Yutaka Fukufuji vs. Reading 12/28/05

3. MISSED - Nathan Martz vs. Chris Beckford-Tseu @ Alaska 1/20/06

4. MISSED - Joel Irwin vs. Ryan Munce vs. Bakersfield 4/7/06

5. MADE - Tim Sestito vs. Ryan MacDonald vs. Fresno 12/27/06

6. MISSED - Tim Sestito vs. Derek Gustafson @ Alaska 1/24/07

7. MISSED - Mike Lalonde vs. Jamie Hodson vs. Bakersfield 2/2/07

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

9. MADE - Ryan Huddy vs. Jeff Zatkoff @ Ontario 11/12/08

10. MISSED - Stephane Goulet vs. Joe Fallon @ Fresno 11/14/08

11. MADE - Chris D'Alvise vs. Curtis Darling @ Ontario 2/13/10

12. MISSED - J.F. Caudron vs. Glenn Fisher vs. Victoria 3/5/10

13. MISSED - Kelly Czuy vs. Jimmy Spratt vs. Las Vegas 3/27/10

14. MISSED - Chris D'Alvise vs. Martin Jones vs. Ontario 10/16/10

15. MISSED - Mark Arcobello vs. Kellen Briggs vs. Ontario 10/23/10

16. MISSED - Chris D'Alvise vs. Peter Hirsch @ Bakersfield 10/29/10

17. MISSED - Garet Hunt vs. Joe Fallon vs. Las Vegas 12/29/10

18. MISSED - Garet Hunt vs. Andrew Engelage vs. Utah 11/4/11

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from December 16, 2011


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.

OurSports Central