Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Ontario Reign

January 22, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder return home tonight with a six game winning streak to face the Ontario Reign, continuing three games in three days for tonight's traditional ‚¬Å“Teddy Bear Toss ‚¬Â event. The Thunder is 3-1-1 against Ontario this season and in the last meeting, the Thunder defeated Ontario, 7-2 at Stockton Arena last night. Through 24 regular season games in the all-time series, the Thunder is 14-9-2 against Ontario. Stockton has combined for 20 goals in the first five games of the series.

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 7 - ONT 2 (1/21/11): Fraser Clair (2g-1a) and Ryan Constant (three assists) both posted three-point games to lead the Thunder to its sixth consecutive victory, routing the Ontario Reign in a 7-2 victory before 5,395 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. Stockton came back from an early 1-0 deficit to score seven of the next eight goals, claiming its seventh win in the last eight games and moving up to fourth place in the Western Conference. In a fight marred game that featured 96 penalty minutes, 50 which came in the final 3:27 of the game on five separate fights, the Thunder also got goal-scoring help from Steve Vanoosten, Jim McKenzie, Jordan Fulton, Jarrett Konkle and Garet Hunt.

STK 6 - UTA 3 (1/17/11): Defenseman Ryan Constant scored a pair of goals, including his second of the game to break a 3-3 tie with 2:08 left in regulation, to help lift the Thunder to their fifth straight win, 6-3, over the Utah Grizzlies before 2,739 fans at Maverik Center on Monday. The Thunder, who improved to 6-1-0 in the last seven games and swept Utah on the road for the first time since the 2006-07 season, jumped back to second place in the Pacific Division and tied for fourth in the Western Conference. In helping battle back from a 3-1 deficit, Fraser Clair netted a three point game (1g-2a) and P.A. Bureau, Bretton Cameron and Steve Vanoosten also chipped in with a goal each.

STK 4 - UTA 1 (1/15/11): A total of 12 fighting majors and 149 total penalty minutes highlighted a game where Thunder led wire-to-wire, cruising to 5-1-0 in the last six games and a 4-1 victory over the Utah Grizzlies at Maverik Center on Saturday. The entire five-on-five lineup combined for 68 penalty mintutes and four fighting majors on the opening faceoff. In between all of the scraps, the Thunder, who skated with an original lineup of just 15 skaters and went with 14 after the Gimblett ejection, got the eventual game-winner from P.A. Bureau in the first period, spotting additional goals from Bretton Cameron, Daryl Marcoux and Ryan Constant.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

�- Ryan Constant is 10 games away from 300 in his professional career

�- Jim McKenzie is 11 games away from 200 in his professional career

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 3-1-1)

Fri. Oct. 15 Ontario 6 at Stockton 3

Sat. Oct. 16 Ontario 5 at Stockton 4 (OT)

Fri. Oct. 22 Ontario 1 at Stockton 3

Sat. Oct. 23 Stockton 3 at Ontario 2 (SO)

Fri. Jan. 21 Ontario 2 at Stockton 7

Sat. Jan. 22 Ontario 7:30 p.m.

Sun. Jan. 23 at Ontario 5:00 p.m.

Wed. Feb. 9 at Ontario 7:00 p.m.

Wed. Feb. 16 at Ontario 7:00 p.m.

Sun. Feb. 27 at Ontario 5:00 p.m.

LET THE FUR FLY:

Over the last five seasons, the Thunder and United Way of San Joaquin County have collected over 19,800 stuffed animals. The Thunder is 2-1-2 in the annual event and was defeated in a shootout, 1-0 to the Victoria Salmon Kings in last year's event on Jan. 30 before a sellout crowd of 9,737. Coming in droves for the annual event, Thunder fans have averaged 9,277 in attendance and four of the five 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*

* Denotes sellout

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

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 the Idaho Steelheads.

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). Currently, the Thunder have won four straight games on the road, tying a season high.

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) * 362

2. Malcolm Cameron (four teams) * 314

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

4. Glen Gulutzan (Las Vegas) 254

5. Matt Thomas (Stockton, Fre, A.C.) * 252

* Currently ECHL active



ECHL Stories from January 22, 2011


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