Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Idaho Steelheads

March 14, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME PREVIEW: STOCKTON THUNDER vs. IDAHO STEELHEADS

DATE: Wednesday, March 14, 2012

TIME: 7:00 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: FAMILY DAY (presented by Sutter Gould Medical Foundation and 99.3 KJOY)

National Anthem Singer: Connie Rill

Public Address Announcer: Mike McKnight

In-Arena Emcee: Jungle Jim

NEXT HOME GAME

Friday, Mar. 16 vs. Las Vegas Wranglers, 7:30 p.m.

THUNDER'S 4th ANNUAL EASY BEING GREEN

( presented by Port of Stockton California and sponsored by Amtrak California, The Surtec System, California Water Service Company, Delta College Horticulture Program, Miracle Mile Realty, PG&E, Clark/McCarthy, a joint venture, KAT Country 103, KHOP 95.1, 99.3 KJOY, AM 970 ESPN Radio, 97.7/98.3 KWIN and 104.1 The Hawk)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder, who needs just one point to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth, hosts the Idaho Steelheads for the ninth meeting of the season at Stockton Arena on Wednesday. The Thunder owns a record of 4-3-1 against Idaho this season and defeated the Steelheads 3-2 in the last meeting on Feb. 17 at Stockton Arena. In the all time series, the Thunder record is 28-29-7 against Idaho. Wednesday's game will start a stretch of four games in five days for Stockton.

PLAYOFF SCENARIO

The Thunder can clinch a playoff berth tonight if:

- The Thunder wins (OR)

- The Thunder loses in overtime or a shootout (OR)

- The Bakersfield Condors lose

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 4-3-1)

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 2 at Stockton 3

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 3 - IDA 2 (2/17/12): Right wing Matt Foy and defenseman Ryan Lowery each scored a goal and added an assist to help the Stockton Thunder (24-21-5, 53 points) sink the Idaho Steelheads in a 3-2 victory before 5,039 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. The Thunder outshot Idaho 38-20, never trailed in the game and improved to 7-1-1 in the last nine home games, running its record to 4-3-1 in the season series over Idaho. Thunder rookie goaltender Thomas Heemskerk, making his first return to action since Dec. 26, boosted his record to 9-5-0 with 18 saves.

LAST THREE GAMES:

UTA 4 - STK 3 (3/10/12): Paul McIlveen scored two goals, added an assist and Andrew Engelage turned away 13 shots in the third period, part of a 31 save effort to help the Utah Grizzlies escape and defeat the Stockton Thunder (30-27-5, 65 points) 4-3 before 6,876 fans at Maverik Center on Saturday night. The Thunder, forced to wait one more game to clinch a playoff berth after Bakersfield defeated Idaho 6-5 in a shootout, outshot Utah 34-26, had two leads in the first period and were led by Jason Morgan and Max Campbell's one goal and one assist effort. Mike Little collected the other Thunder goal in the third period.

UTA 4 - STK 1 (3/9/12): Prospect Mitch Wahl scored one goal and added two assists to help the Utah Grizzlies defeat the Stockton Thunder (30-26-5, 65 points), 4-1, before 5,515 fans at Maverik Center on Friday night. The Thunder earned a tie for a Kelly Cup Playoff berth after Bakersfield lost in a shootout, 2-1 at Idaho. The Thunder can seize an outright clinch tomorrow if they win, lose in overtime or in a shootout or if Bakersfield loses. Matt Reber had the only Thunder goal, scoring in his return to Maverik Center for the first time since he left Utah via a trade in January. Andrew Engelage earned the win with 30 saves.

STK 6 - COL 2 (3/7/12): Gabriel Levesque scored a goal and added three assists for a career high four points, helping engineer five unanswered goals by the Stockton Thunder (30-25-5, 65 points) in a 6-2 rout of the Colorado Eagles before 5,289 fans at Budweiser Events Center on Wednesday. The Thunder, who moved within two points of clinching their sixth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth, buried ten goals over the two last games in Colorado and finished at 4-5-0 against the Eagles this season. They also moved to five points behind Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Kevin Baker is 13 goals away from 200 in his professional career

- Kevin Baker is 6 games away from 400 in his professional career

- Matt Foy is 14 goals away from 100 in his professional career

HOME COOKING

The Thunder has parlayed a record of 11-3-1 in the last 15 home games. Taking advantage of leads early and in the middle of the game, the Thunder has never lost when holding a lead after the first period (10-0-0) and second period (11-0-0). The Thunder has also outshot their opponents in 20 of 29 home games.

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 tied for second in ECHL all-time goal scoring (since 2006-07) with 175 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 465 450 274 176 7

2 Kevin Baker STK 328 359 175 184 17

3 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

4 Olivier Labelle REA 301 249 133 116 -14

5 Marty Flichel IDH 388 362 132 230 -6

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

LITTLE DETAILS

Since Jan. 1, Thunder defenseman Mike Little has soared to a +17 rating, which is second in the league behind Pierre-Luc O'Brien of South Carolina. Currently competing in his first full season, Little has also registered 22 points (6g-16a) in 32 games since New Year's Day.

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 234

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 14 crowds of 6,000 or more to Stockton Arena and drew a season high 9,398 fans on Mar. 3 vs. Alaska. The Thunder is third in ECHL attendance with an average of 5,832 fans per game.

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

1 x * - Alaska Aces 63 39 15 2 7 87 0.690 201 147 2-0-0-1 6-1-0-3 3-7

2 x * - Las Vegas Wranglers 63 39 19 1 4 83 0.659 206 168 4-0-0-0 8-2-0-0 4-4

3 x Ontario Reign 63 37 18 5 3 82 0.651 216 176 0-2-1-1 5-2-2-1 5-3

4 x Colorado Eagles 61 32 23 1 5 70 0.574 221 217 0-3-0-0 4-5-0-1 3-5

5 Stockton Thunder 62 30 27 1 4 65 0.524 177 185 0-2-0-0 4-6-0-0 6-4

6 Utah Grizzlies 63 28 30 0 5 61 0.484 152 201 3-0-0-0 5-5-0-0 7-5

7 Idaho Steelheads 63 26 29 2 6 60 0.476 174 210 3-0-0-1 3-5-0-2 7-6

8 Bakersfield Condors 62 19 36 4 3 45 0.363 168 211 1-0-0-1 5-3-0-2 2-3

* 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 10 regular season games remaining and has a magic number of 1 to clinch a playoff berth.

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

- Utah (2)

- Idaho (4)

- Las Vegas (1)

- Ontario (1)

- Bakersfield (2)

- 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 Colorado Eagles in the Western Conference Quarterfinal.

- Currently, 66 points guarantees a playoff spot as the 8th place Bakersfield Condors can only amass 65 points this season.

- The Thunder has surpassed the 30-win plateau for the fifth time in club history (2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11)

- 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 fifth straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with the 3rd seed in the Western Conference and a tied a club record in points for one season with a 37-23-12 record (86 points)



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