Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Idaho Steelheads

February 17, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER vs. IDAHO STEELHEADS

DATE: Friday, February 17, 2012

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

Tonight's Promotion: KEVIN BAKER BOBBLEHEAD GIVEAWAY (presented by MetroPCS and KAT Country 103)

National Anthem Singer: Lincoln High Chamber Choir

Public Address Announcer: Mike McKnight

In-Arena Emcee: DJ Walker

NEXT HOME GAME

Saturday, Feb. 18 vs. Colorado Eagles, 7:30 p.m.

YOUTH T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY (presented by Pepsi, In-Shape Health Clubs, Food-4-Less and 104.1 The Hawk)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder hosts the Idaho Steelheads for the eighth meeting of the season at Stockton Arena on Friday. The Thunder owns a record of 3-3-1 against Idaho this season and dropped a 2-1 shootout loss at Stockton Arena the last time the teams met on Feb. 4. During that weekend, the Thunder took three points in a two game series. Historically, the Thunder is 27-29-7 against Idaho.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 3-3-1)

Sat. Oct. 29 Idaho 3 at Stockton 4

Fri. Dec. 16 Idaho 6 at Stockton 2

Sat. Dec. 17 Idaho 5 at Stockton 4

Tue. Jan. 24 Stockton 4 at Idaho 1

Wed. Jan. 25 Stockton 0 at Idaho 1

Fri. Feb. 3 Idaho 2 at Stockton 7

Sat. Feb. 4 Idaho 2 at Stockton 1 (SO)

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:

IDH 2 - STK 1 (SO) (2/4/12): Jerry Kuhn made 41 saves and stopped four of five in the shootout to help the Idaho Steelheads send the Stockton Thunder (23-18-5, 51 points) to a 2-1 shootout defeat before a crowd of 7,032 at Stockton Arena on Saturday. Derek LeBlanc netted Idaho's only goal in regulation, before a goal scored from red hot Thunder center Chris Doyle in the second period. LeBlanc ended the game with a forehand deke to Thunder goaltender Olivier Roy's blocker side in the bottom of the shootout's fifth round. Stockton extended an unbeaten streak in regulation to six games (5-0-1) overall and seven games (6-0-1) at home.

LAST THREE GAMES:

ONT 3 - STK 1 (2/15/12): Goaltender Chris Carrozzi made 30 stops and his Ontario Reign never trailed, sending the Stockton Thunder (23-21-5, 51 points) to a 3-1 defeat at Stockton Arena on Wednesday. The Thunder, who nearly rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period for the second consecutive game, fell to 5-4-2 in the head to head series against Ontario and received its only goal in the game from Ian O'Connor.

COL 4 - STK 1 (2/11/12): Kyle Jones made 36 saves for his 21st win of the season, enough to help the Colorado Eagles escape and defeat the Stockton Thunder (23-20-5, 51 points) 4-1 before 5,289 fans at Budweiser Events Center on Saturday night. The Thunder, who outshot the Eagles 42-36, nearly raged back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period. After a Max Campbell goal to slice the deficit to 2-1 Stockton had a game-tying marker by Matt Foy waved off with 3:03 remaining in the game on a rebound chance that was shoved at the goal line. Ben Chiarot registered Colorado's game winning goal on a third period penalty shot.

COL 5 - STK 2 (2/10/12): Steve Haddon and Joey Sides each scored a pair of goals to help the Colorado Eagles manufacture a wire to wire effort and defeat the Stockton Thunder (23-19-5, 51 points), 5-2, before an announced sold out crowd of 5,289 at the Budweiser Events Center on Friday night. The Thunder, who saw a 5-0-1 streak come to an end, were outshot 41-29 and received their offensive contributions behind a second period goal by Max Campbell and a third period goal by Chris Doyle, who continued to stay hot with his 10th goal in the last 12 games.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Matt Thomas is 6 wins away from 300 in his professional coaching career

- Kevin Baker is 17 goals away from 200 in his professional career

- Matt Foy is 5 points away from 200 in his professional career

CHRIS CONTROL

Chris D'Alvise, assigned on Thursday from Springfield (AHL), enters the game ranking fourth on the Thunder's all time scoring chart with 89 points. He was named Thunder Rookie of the Year in 2009-10 and has collected four hat tricks in less than two full seasons in the ECHL. Below is where D'Alvise ranks on the Thunder all time scoring list:

ALL TIME THUNDER SCORING

Player PTS

1. Mike Lalonde 156

2. Nathan Martz 122

3. James Bates 121

4. Chris D'Alvise 89

5. Garet Hunt 74

ROY WORRY?

Thunder goaltender and Edmonton Oilers prospect Olivier Roy was named runner up for ECHL Goaltender of the Week last Tuesday. He stands second in the ECHL with a 1.49 goals against average (minimum 100 minutes played) and has compiled a 2-3-1 record in five games, adding a .959 save percentage.

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 171 goals. On Dec. 10 vs. Bakersfield, he collected his first hat trick of the season.

MOST GOALS, ECHL (SINCE 2006-07)

Rank Player Team GP PTS G A +/-

1 Wes Goldie AK 454 442 266 176 2

2 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

3 Kevin Baker STK 315 349 171 178 14

4 Chad Painchaud CHI 338 315 131 184 -19

5 Ryan Kinasewich UTA 205 292 131 161 -4

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

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. He played in his 200th career game with the Thunder on Dec. 16 vs. Idaho.

ALL-TIME THUNDER GAMES PLAYED

Player GP

1. Garet Hunt 221

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

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. 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. This season, the Thunder has welcome 11 crowds of 6,000 or more to Stockton Arena and drew a season high 9,012 fans on Nov. 5 vs. Utah.

The Thunder is third in ECHL attendance with an average of 5,723 fans per game.

THE SHIRT OFF THEIR BACKS

Beginning tonight, the Thunder will be making their "pregame worn" warm up jerseys available for bidding through silent auction, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Stockton Thunder foundation. The jerseys, sponsored by Osborn Concrete, were created by Reebok Hockey, the official jersey supplier of all National Hockey League teams. Featuring a unique "silver and black" look, the jersey displays a black base with a white stripe along the shoulders and a white and silver accented Thor logo crest. Black numbers adorn the back of each jersey in a silver trim with white lettering at the top.

Below is tonight's auction lineup:

Garet Hunt (LW) Sebastian Owuya (D) Colton Hayes (D) Chris Doyle (C) Milan Kytnar (LW)



ECHL Stories from February 17, 2012


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