Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. San Francisco Bulls

March 13, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 2013

TIME: 7:00 p.m.

SITE: Stockton Arena

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

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers

San Francisco Bulls: San Jose Sharks

HOME GAME PROMOTIONAL NOTES

Tonight's Promotion: FAMILY DAY (presented by Sutter Gould, Farmers Insurance, and 99.3 KJOY)

National Anthem Singers: Venture Academy

Public Address Announcer: Michael Ravotti

In-Arena Emcee: Alan Sanchez

NEXT HOME GAME

Saturday, Mar. 16 vs. Ontario Reign (7:30 p.m.)

THOR COIN BANK GIVEAWAY (presented by MetroPCS and KHOP 95.1)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder ends a five game homestand against the San Francisco Bulls in the 11th meeting of the season between the two teams. The Thunder is 5-4-1 against San Francisco this season and has won the last three meetings. They defeated the Bulls 3-1 in the last matchup at the Cow Palace on Feb. 17. San Francisco is one of three teams still chasing the final two playoff spots up for grabs in the Western Conference. The Thunder is assured a playoff spot and enters the week ahead by six points over Las Vegas for fourth place in the Conference. San Francisco comes off a 4-1 win over Las Vegas on Sunday.

2012-13 Head to Head Schedule: (5-4-1)

Fri. Nov. 9 Stockton 1 at San Francisco 4

Sat. Nov. 24 Stockton 3 at San Francisco 6

Thur. Dec. 13 Stockton 3 at San Francisco 4 (OT)

Mon. Dec. 17 Stockton 6 at San Francisco 4 *

Fri. Jan. 18 San Francisco 2 at Stockton 5

Sat. Jan. 19 Stockton 2 at San Francisco 4

Sun. Jan. 20 San Francisco 5 at Stockton 2

Wed. Jan 30 San Francisco 3 at Stockton 4 (SO)

Sat. Feb. 16 San Francisco 0 at Stockton 4

Sun. Feb. 17 Stockton 3 at San Francisco 1

Wed. Mar. 13 San Francisco 7:00 p.m.

Fri. Mar. 22 at San Francisco 7:15 p.m.

Sat. Mar 23 at San Francisco 7:15 p.m.

*Game at HP Pavilion at San Jose

NOTE OF THE NIGHT

The Thunder is 17-3-3 when leading after one period this season.

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 4 - ONT 3 (3/10/13): In a game that featured just about everything, including a near line brawl, forward Shawn Weller had a hand in all four goals for the Stockton Thunder (32-24-9, 73 points) in a back-and-forth 4-3 win over the Ontario Reign (42-16-6, 90 points) in front of 4,358 fans at Stockton Arena in Sunday. Weller finished with a goal and four total points on the night. Forward Ryan Hayes put forth a two-goal effort, which included the game-winner. Defenseman Nathan Deck totaled a goal and an assist.

LV 3 - STK 2 (3/9/13): Thunder goaltender Tyler Bunz (15-15-4) stopped 38 shots in net, but the Stockton Thunder (31-24-9, 71 points) was unable to stop the power play of the Las Vegas Wranglers (31-26-5, 67 points) in a 3-2 loss in front of 6,437 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. Forwards Shawn Weller and Gabriel Levesque each found the back of the net for the Thunder. Judd Blackwater continued his scoring run against his former team with two points and the game-winning goal for Las Vegas. Joe Fallon made 29 saves for the Wranglers

STK 4 - LV 3 (3/8/13 ): The Stockton Thunder (31-23-9, 71 points) held off a late rally by the Las Vegas Wranglers (30-26-5, 65 points) to secure a 4-3 win in front of 4,456 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. The Thunder was paced by forward Maxime Boisclair, who finished with a goal and three points. Defenseman Mike Little, forward Garet Hunt, and defenseman Brandon Davidson also found the back of the net for the Thunder. Forward Matt Reber recorded two assists.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Garet Hunt is 1 point away from 100 in his ECHL career

- Shawn Weller is 8 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

HELLO (AGAIN)

The Thunder was boosted by recent additions to their lineup with defenseman Nathan Deck reassigned from Oklahoma City on Feb. 27. Deck, who spent 19 games with the Thunder before being called up to Oklahoma City earlier this season, earned five goals and 16 total points at the time of his return. Deck earned the Thunder's "Unsung Hero" award while ranking second among Thunder defenseman with 26 points in 60 games in his rookie campaign last season. Deck was named as a starter for the 2013 ECHL All-Star Classic.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Thunder has made Stockton Arena ideal for home ice advantage this season with a record of 20-9-3. Below is a look at key figures for the Thunder at home this season:

At home this season, the Thunder has:

- A record of 20-9-3

- Totaled 14 games of scoring four goals or more

- Outshot the opposition 17 times this season

- Posted 22 games of 30 shots on goal or more

- Collected at least one power play goal in 18 of the last 22 games

THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST

During the month of February, the Thunder defense has limited opponents to three goals or less in each of the seven games featuring a win or shootout loss (Feb. 9 at Alaska - 3-2 shootout loss). The Thunder defense allowed just two goals or less in five of the previous seven games.

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL(ER)

Thunder forward Shawn Weller has collected ten points in the last nine games. Weller had the shootout-winning goal last Saturday in Ontario and put forth a four-point effort against the Reign on Sunday. Weller, a former captain of Bakersfield and South Carolina and an ECHL All-Star in 2010, was acquired by the Thunder from South Carolina on Jan. 25 in exchange for defenseman Cameron Brodie and future considerations.

OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN

Garet Hunt was named the sixth captain in Thunder history on Oct. 12, taking the "C" for the first time in his career for full-time duty. Hunt served as an alternate captain for the Thunder last season and has helped guide the team to the playoffs for four straight seasons since his 2008-09 rookie campaign. Hunt is the Thunder all-time leader with 307 games played.

2012-13 MEDIA GUIDE AVAILABLE ONLINE

The Stockton Thunder 2012-13 media guide is available online in .pdf form at http://www.stocktonthunder.com/team/history/. The guide can be accessed by following the link and clicking "2012-2013 Media Guide."

PLAYOFF NOTES

ECHL WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF STANDINGS

(Top-8 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 64 46 12 2 4 98 0.766 208 149 7-0-0-0 9-1-0-0 4-4

2 xy * - Ontario Reign 64 42 16 3 3 90 0.703 225 174 0-1-0-0 7-3-0-1 6-3

3 x Idaho Steelheads 63 39 17 1 6 85 0.675 238 178 0-1-0-0 6-2-0-2 3-6

4 x Stockton Thunder 65 32 24 5 4 73 0.562 204 199 1-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 2-4

5 x Las Vegas Wranglers 63 31 27 2 3 67 0.532 176 175 0-1-0-0 4-6-0-0 5-3

6 x Colorado Eagles 63 30 27 3 3 66 0.524 214 199 0-1-1-0 5-3-1-1 3-3

7 Utah Grizzlies 63 25 29 4 5 59 0.468 184 247 2-0-1-0 4-4-1-1 5-5

8 San Francisco Bulls 63 22 34 1 6 51 0.405 168 224 1-0-0-0 3-7-0-0 3-6

9 Bakersfield Condors 64 19 40 2 3 43 0.336 155 224 0-1-0-0 4-6-0-0 6-3

* 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

2013 Playoff March Notes -

- The Thunder has clinched a playoff berth for the seventh straight season.

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

- Bakersfield (1)

- Ontario (2)

- San Francisco (3)

- Idaho (1)

- In the Western Conference, postseason berths will be awarded to the first-place team in each division and the next six teams in the conference, based on points . The division winners will be seeded first and second and will play the eighth-place finisher and the seventh-place finisher, respectively, while the third-place finisher will meet the sixth-place finisher and the fourth-place finisher will meet the fifth-place finisher. The conference semifinals will have the winner of the first-place and eighth-place matchup playing the winner of the fourth-place and fifth-place game while the winner of the second-place and seventh-place game will face the winner of the third-place and sixth-place matchup.

- IF THE KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY: the Thunder would face the Las Vegas Wranglers in the Western Conference Quarterfinal.

- The Thunder has reached the 30-win plateau for the sixth time in club history (previously 2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13)

- TIE-BREAKER: The tiebreaker for the Western Conference if two teams tie will be: 1. Wins, regular season (excluding shootout wins); 2. Goal differential; 3. Points, head-to-head (for two teams that have not played the same number of home games against the other tied team, the first game(s) played in the city that has the extra home game(s) shall not be included) ; 4. Winning percentage, division (if tied teams are from same division; if not, skip to 5); 5. Winning percentage, conference; 6. Goals for, regular season; 7. Goals against, regular season; 8. Coin toss

The tiebreaker for the Western Conference if three teams are tied will be: 1. Wins, regular season (excluding shootout wins); 2. Goal differential ; 3. Higher winning percentage earned in games against each other (for two teams that have not played the same number of home games against the other tied team, the first game(s) played in the city that has the extra home game(s) shall not be included) ; 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 sixth straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with the 5th seed in the Western Conference and a 34-33-5 record (73 points)



ECHL Stories from March 13, 2013


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