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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Las Vegas Wranglers

January 21, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


DATE: Saturday, January 21, 2012

TIME: 7:30 p.m.

SITE: Stockton Arena

RADIO: StocktonThunder.com (AmericaOne)/92.1 In-House Feed

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Las Vegas Wranglers: Independent

HOME GAME PROMOTIONAL NOTES

Tonight's Promotion: TEDDY BEAR TOSS (presented by Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel, News10 and KAT Country 103)

National Anthem Singer: Josh McClelland

Public Address Announcer: DJ Walker

In-Arena Emcee: Jungle Jim

NEXT HOME GAME

Sunday, Jan. 22 vs. Las Vegas Wranglers, 4:00 p.m.

FAMILY DAY (presented by Sutter Gould Medical Foundation)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder hosts the Las Vegas Wranglers for a three game series in three consecutive days which continues tonight at Stockton Arena. The game will be the eighth matchup out of ten this season and reunites Thunder head coach Matt Thomas with former assistant coach Ryan Mougenel (Las Vegas head coach). The two were behind the bench in coaching roles previously with Stockton and Fresno. The Thunder is 14-29-3 in the lifetime series and last faced the Wranglers last night at Stockton Arena in a 5-4 defeat to Las Vegas. The Thunder is 2-4-1 this season against Las Vegas. Upon the first Thunder goal scored, fans are invited to throw stuffed animals onto the ice for "Teddy Bear Toss."

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 2-4-1)

Sat. Nov. 12 Stockton 3 at Las Vegas 4 (OT)

Sun. Nov. 13 Stockton 3 at Las Vegas 2 (SO)

Fri. Nov. 25 Las Vegas 3 at Stockton 2

Sat. Nov. 26 Las Vegas 2 at Stockton 3

Tue. Dec. 6 Stockton 2 at Las Vegas 4

Tue. Dec. 27 Stockton 2 at Las Vegas 5

Fri. Jan. 20 Las Vegas 5 at Stockton 4

Sat. Jan. 21 Las Vegas 7:30 p.m.

Sun. Jan. 22 Las Vegas 4:00 p.m.

Fri. Mar. 16 Las Vegas 7:30 p.m.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Matt Thomas is 14 wins away from 300 in his professional coaching career

- Kevin Baker is 22 goals away from 200 in his professional career

- Matt Foy is 16 points away from 200 in his professional career

LET THE FUR FLY

Over the last six seasons, the Thunder and United Way of San Joaquin County have collected over 24,300 stuffed animals for "Teddy Bear Toss." The Thunder is 3-1-2 in the annual event and defeated the Ontario Reign, 4-1, in last year's game before a sellout crowd of 9,482. A record 5,835 stuffed animals were collected from last year's event. Coming in droves for the annual event, Thunder fans have averaged 9,311 in attendance and five of the six annual games have attracted sellout crowds to Stockton Arena.

DATE OPPONENT W/L/T FIRST STK GOAL ATTN

1/28/06 Long Beach SOL, 1-2 Nathan Martz 10,117*

1/13/07 Bakersfield W, 6-1 Mike Lalonde 8,911*

1/19/08 Las Vegas L, 1-4 Brandon Schwartz 9,737*

1/17/09 Idaho W, 4-3 Igor Gongalsky 7,884

1/30/10 Victoria SOL, 0-1 None ** 9,737*

1/21/11 Ontario W, 4-1 Jim McKenzie 9,482*

* Denotes sellout

** Fans were invited to toss stuffed animals onto the ice immediately following the game

LAST THREE GAMES:

LV 5 - STK 4 (1/20/12): Newcomer Chris Doyle's pair of goals led a rally that fell short in the final seconds as Jeff May broke a 4-4 tie with 1:01 left in regulation, to help the Las Vegas Wranglers send the Stockton Thunder (15-17-4, 34 points) to a 5-4 defeat at Stockton Arena on Friday. Doyle chipped in with his third multi point and second multi goal game of the season in his Stockton debut, helping the Thunder climb out of 3-0 and 4-2 deficits. Josh Lunden buried two goals and had an assist to lead the Las Vegas offense. May's game winner capped off a two goal effort.

STK 2 - AK 4 (1/14/12): Nick Mazzolini broke a 2-2 tie with 4:57 left in regulation with an eventual game winning goal and Adam Courchaine made 23 saves, helping the Alaska Aces send the Stockton Thunder (15-16-4, 34 points) to a 4-2 defeat to at Sullivan Arena on Saturday. The Thunder, who were swept in a three game series for the first time since December of 2010, were helped with back to back goals by Ian O'Connor and Jordan Fulton. Goaltender Olivier Roy kept the Thunder in the game with a series of quality saves and turned in a 27 save effort in the loss.

STK 1 - AK 3 (1/13/12): Steve Ward collected a pair of assists and Adam Courchaine made 18 saves to help the Alaska Aces send the Stockton Thunder (15-15-4, 34 points) to a 3-1 defeat before 4,426 fans at Sullivan Arena on Friday. The Thunder dropped the second game of a three game series and will look to respond with a win tomorrow in the final meeting between both teams in Anchorage this season. Kevin Baker had the lone Thunder goal in the second period and Stockton fell to 0-3-0 in three games against Alaska.

EIGHT IS GREAT

Milan Kytnar became the eighth player to make his NHL debut after skating for the Stockton Thunder, at Rexall Place in Edmonton on Jan. 11, suiting up for the Oilers against New Jersey. Kytnar had a shot on goal and two takeaways and is the second player in Thunder history to play in the ECHL and NHL during the same season (Bryan Young, 2006-07).

NOTE OF THE NIGHT

This season, the Thunder has boasted a record of 9-5-2 when playing in the second game of a "back to back" or in a "three game in three day" scenario. The last Thunder win in that situation came on Jan. 7 when they defeated Bakersfield, 3-2 in a shootout at Rabobank Arena.

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 166 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 442 436 263 173 6

2 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

3 Kevin Baker STK 302 336 166 170 13

4 Marty Flichel IDH 382 358 131 227 -8

5 Ryan Kinasewich UTA 205 292 131 161 -4

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

SHOOT TO THRILL

Kevin Baker is second in the ECHL with 167 shots, ranking three behind Alaska's Dan Kissel entering the weekend. Baker fired a season high eight shots on three separate occasions, most recently on Dec. 10 vs. Bakersfield (hat trick and four points in 9-6 win).

FOY STORY

Thunder forward Matt Foy is second in Thunder scoring with 27 points (9g-18a) and paces the team with 18 assists. The 6-foot-3 and 225 pound right winger has scored 16 points (4g-16a) in his last 17 games and recently posted his eighth multi point game of the season on Jan. 7 at 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.

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 207

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

GET EM WHILE THEY'RE HOT

Thunder Season Ticket Holders can take advantage of the Item of the Week for 2011-12 and pick up an Olivier Roy bobblehead for just $7. This offer lasts through Sunday night's home game against Las Vegas and is available in person at the Stockton Arena Fan Attic.

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 is second in ECHL attendance with an average of 5,689 fans per game.

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