Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Victoria Salmon Kings

March 28, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


March 28, 2009 - Stockton Arena

FACEOFF: 7:30 p.m.

RADIO: 1420 KSTN

INTERNET: www.StocktonThunder.com (B2 Networks)

2008-09 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

10/24/08 Thunder 5 at Victoria 2

10/25/08 Thunder 2 at Victoria 5

10/26/08 Thunder 3 at Victoria 1

11/7/08 Victoria 2 at Thunder 3 (SO)

11/8/08 Victoria 3 at Thunder 1

12/27/08 Victoria 4 at Thunder 1

12/28/08 Victoria 5 at Thunder 2

1/27/09 Thunder 3 at Victoria 7

1/28/09 Thunder 2 at Victoria 0

3/24/09 Victoria 5 at Thunder 2

3/28/09 Victoria 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

With a magic number at five to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth, the Thunder faces the Victoria Salmon Kings tonight at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 11-16-3 lifetime against the Salmon Kings and is 4-6-0 against the Salmon Kings this season. The last time both teams met was on Mar. 24 when Victoria defeated the Thunder 5-2. Thunder goaltender Andrew Perugini notched the first shutout of his pro career in the game against Victoria on Jan. 28 in a 2-0 victory at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

IN THE COMMUNITY - "EASY BEING GREEN"

Bill Fields, president and co-founder of Surtec, Inc., will be presented with the Thunder's inaugural "Easy Being Green Award" in a check for the amount of $13,024 during the first intermission of tonight's game against the Victoria Salmon Kings. The company will donate the monies to its Adopt-A-Family Program, a non-profit corporation which provides food and gifts to needy families during the holiday season. The two day "Easy Being Green" event, held Mar. 6-7 at Stockton Arena, drew over 14,000 fans to Stockton Arena for both games and culminated the Thunder's season-long eco-friendly awareness campaign with a hockey twist which encouraged ideas for hockey fans to preserve the environment. Before each game, there was a "Green Fair" featuring local eco-friendly businesses and organizations distributing information and green-themed giveaways.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES

3/27/09 - STK 5 vs UTA 3: Rookie Ryan Huddy broke the Stockton Thunder (31-31-6, 68 points) single-season scoring record on an assist just 27 seconds into the first period, helping the Thunder beat the Utah Grizzlies 5-3 before 6,705 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday night. Huddy assisted on Bo Cheesman's first goal in a Thunder uniform for his 69th point of the season, toppling Joel Irwin's mark set in 2005-06. The win dropped the Thunder's "magic number" to five points to clinch its third straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth. Cheesman (1g-1a), Mike Lalonde (1g-1a) and veterans Tyler Kindle (1g-1a) and Craig Valette (two assists) each posted two points in the game. Goaltender Andrew Perugini made 25 saves to improve to 20-12-2, becoming the second goaltender in Thunder history (Devan Dubnyk, 2006-07) to surpass the 20-win plateau.

3/24/09 - VIC 5 at STK 2: Daryl Lloyd snapped a 2-2 tie with 5:39 left in regulation for an eventual game-winning goal, igniting a three-goal rally by the Victoria Salmon Kings, who escaped with a 5-2 win over the Stockton Thunder (30-31-6, 66 points) before 3,819 fans at Stockton Arena on Tuesday. Despite the loss and outshooting the Salmon Kings 47-22, the Thunder saw its magic number whittled down to seven points to clinch its third consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth after the Phoenix RoadRunners (5th place, West Division) lost 4-2 at Utah just an hour before the game's conclusion in Stockton. Veterans Tyler Kindle and Craig Valette scored a goal each for Stockton, while Todd Ford made 45 saves for Victoria, including 16 in the third period to seal the win.

3/21/09 - BAK 4 at STK 3 (OT): Donny Grover's goal just 24 seconds into sudden-death overtime thwarted a rally by the Stockton Thunder (30-30-6, 66 points), who lost 4-3 in OT to the Bakersfield Condors before 7,399 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday night. The Thunder forced overtime with a two-goal rally by Sebastien Bisaillon and Ryan Huddy in the third period to stay at the .500 mark, while James Bates also scored in the second period. Both teams combined for five power-play goals in the game and Bakersfield capitalized at a 3-for-7 clip on goals by Mark Derlago, Bruce Graham and Ryan Mahrle.

HUDDY'S BROKEN RECORD

Ryan Huddy's 32 goals is a Thunder record - currently ranking third among ECHL rookies - and broke the Thunder single-season scoring record with an assist on Friday vs. Utah. Huddy assist, notching his 69th point of the season, surpassed Joel Irwin's standard of 68 points (25g-43a) in 68 games in 2005-06.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

Vying to lead the league in attendance for the fourth straight year, The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 6,139 through 34 home games, has 13 sellouts in the team's franchise history and finished last year as the ECHL's attendance leader for the third consecutive season. The 2007-08 season was the second straight year the Thunder surpassed the mark of 230,000 fans for one season. The Thunder's yearly attendance total finished at 239,337, an average of 6,648 fans per game. The Thunder became the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for three straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons). Stockton's crowd of 9,737 on Nov. 8 against Victoria was the team's first sellout of the year.

STEP UP TO THE MIKE

Mike Lalonde is the Thunder all-time leading goal scorer with 73 goals and ascended to the top perch as the Thunder all-time leading scorer with 151 points, scoring the milestone point on a goal on Dec. 21 at Ontario. Selected as the first player in Thunder history to the ECHL All-Star Game (2006), Lalonde led the ECHL with 308 shots and paced the Thunder with 29 goals as a rookie in 2005-06. Lalonde spent last season with Tilburg of the Netherlands League, guiding his team to the Dutch Cup and scoring 92 points (43g-49a) in just 34 games.

Below is a look at Lalonde's placing on the Thunder career scoring charts:

GOALS:

1. Mike Lalonde 73

2. Ryan MacMurchy 32

Ryan Huddy 32

4. Nathan Martz 29

Steve Slonina 29

POINTS

1. Mike Lalonde 151

2. Nathan Martz 122

3. Ryan MacMurchy 71

4. Ryan Huddy 69

5. Joel Irwin 68

PLAYOFF NOTES

CLICK HERE: ECHL NATIONAL CONFERENCE PLAYOFF STANDINGS

(Top-4 in each division qualify for Kelly Cup playoffs) - If the fifth-place team in the West Division has a greater winning percentage than the fourth-place team in the Pacific Division then the fifth-place team in the West Division will become the fourth seed in the Pacific Division.

2009 Playoff March Notes -

- The Thunder has 4 regular season games remaining.

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

Victoria (1)

Las Vegas (3)

- The top eight teams in the National Conference will qualify for the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs and will be seeded by division ranking in the first and second round of the playoffs. In the Pacific and West Divisions, the #1 seed will play #4, and the #2 seed will play #3. Home ice advantage will be determined by winning percentage.

- If the Kelly Cup Playoffs began today, the Thunder would face the Ontario Reign in the Pacific Division Semifinal round.

- Currently, 73 points (.506 win percentage) guarantees a playoff spot as the 5th place Phoenix RoadRunners (West Division) can only amass 73 points this season. The Thunder wins the tie-breaker with Phoenix for the final playoff spot.

- The Thunder has surpassed the 30-win plateau for the second time in club history (38-24-10 in 2006-07)

- The Thunder has surpassed last season's total of 59 points (27-40-5)

- TIE-BREAKER: The tiebreaker for the National Conference if two teams tie will be: 1. Points, head-to-head; 2. Wins, head-to-head; 3. Goal Differential, head-to-head; 4. Coin Toss.

The tiebreaker for the National Conference if three teams are tied will be: 1. Winning percentage, games between the teams; 2. Goal differential, games between the teams; 3. Winning percentage, division; 4. Winning percentage, conference; 5. 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 second straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with the 8th seed in the National Conference and a 27-40-5 record (59 points)



ECHL Stories from March 28, 2009


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