Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Victoria Salmon Kings

Published on January 29, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder, on an 11-game homestand that has a record of 4-1-3 on the stretch and in second place for the Pacific Division, continues the record stretch at home with the second of three straight games against the Victoria Salmon Kings, continuing tonight at Stockton Arena which is the seventh meeting of the year between both teams. The Thunder is 14-19-4 lifetime against Victoria and is 3-3-0 this year in the head-to-head series. Tomorrow's game features a special 8:00 p.m. game time, with a large crowd expected for the fifth annual "Teddy Bear Toss" promotion, presented by Jackson Rancheria, California Water Service Company, KAT Country and News10.

LAST 3 THUNDER GAMES

STK 7 - VIC 3 (1/27/10): All-Star center Chris D'Alvise scored a pair of goals, Matt Robinson tied a season-high three point (1g-2a) effort and the Thunder scored a season-high seven goals, cruising to a 7-3 victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings at Stockton Arena on Wednesday. The Thunder, who beat Victoria in regulation at home for the first time in 15 games (dating back to 2005-06), climbed to fourth place in the National Conference with the victory and improved to 4-1-3 on a club record 11-game homestand. The Thunder were also helped out by a goal each from James Bates, J.F. Caudron, Bryan Young and Igor Gongalsky. Victoria, who never led in the game, were aided by the second hat trick of the year from Wes Goldie.

BAK 5 - STK 2 (1/24/10): Gino Guyer scored a pair of goals and Stephane Goulet (1g-1a) and Shawn Weller (1g-1a) had multi-point games, helping the Bakersfield Condors steer the Thunder to a 5-2 defeat before a crowd of 4,209 at Stockton Arena on Sunday. Colin Hemingway scored his first goal in a Thunder uniform, a shorthanded tally in the third period and James Bates scored one in the first period. The Thunder suffered their first loss in regulation at home since November, ending an unbeaten streak of nine games (6-0-3) at Stockton Arena.

STK 4 - AK 3 (1/23/10): Igor Gongalsky buried a pair of goals and newcomer Colin Hemingway collected his first point in a Stockton Thunder (17-16-6, 40 points) uniform, helping the Thunder to knock off the Alaska Aces in a 4-3 victory before a crowd of 6,508 at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder, who jumped over the.500 mark for the first time this season, moved into a fifth place tie in the National Conference with the Utah Grizzlies and were aided by a goal each from Chris D'Alvise and Matt O'Dette, who returned to the lineup after missing the last 18 games due to injury.

LET THE FUR FLY

The fifth annual "Teddy Bear Toss" event, returning Saturday to Stockton Arena (8:00 p.m.), is a tradition and spectacle carries on this season when all fans in attendance are asked to keep their stuffed animal until the Thunder scores its first goal of the game and encouraged to throw their stuffed animal onto the ice. Over the last four seasons, the Thunder and United Way of San Joaquin County have collected over 14,500 stuffed animals. The Thunder is 2-1-1 in the annual event and defeated Idaho, 4-3 in last year's game in front of 7,884 fans. Coming in droves for the annual event, Thunder fans have averaged 9,162 in attendance and three of the four 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

* Denotes sellout

THE COMFORTS OF HOME

Since Dec. 4, the Thunder have seized momentum with home-ice advantage, ripping off a record of 7-1-3 in an 11-game span which also included a nine-game unbeaten streak in regulation at Stockton Arena (6-0-3) that ended in a 5-2 defeat to Bakersfield on Jan. 24. On Wednesday, the Thunder defeated Victoria, 7-3 to achieve a season-high in goals scored (7).

OH, BROTHER!

Even though all four players are not on the active roster, the recent acquisition of Colin Hemingway from Alaska on Jan. 22 is slated to mark the first time in Thunder history that two sets of brothers will play on the roster. Colin's brother, Brett is currently on injured reserve and goaltender Bryan Pitton's brother, Jason, is currently under contract to the Thunder and serving a professional tryout agreement (PTO) in the American Hockey League with the Springfield Falcons.

ALL-STAR IS SHINING

Rookie center Chris D'Alvise, who had an assist representing the Thunder at the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game, recently had a career-high eight-game scoring streak with eight points (4g-4a) in that span. After being shutout Sunday, D'Alvise responded with two goals vs. Victoria on Wednesday. D'Alvise leads the Thunder with 15 goals and leads Thunder rookies with 27 points in 36 games this season.

THUNDER CROWDS ROLLING IN

The Thunder ranks third in the ECHL in attendance with an average of 5,733 fans per game and is vying to tie a league record by leading the league in attendance for five straight seasons. The Thunder led the ECHL in attendance last year with an average of 6,218 fans through 36 home games. Stockton has 14 sellouts in the team's franchise history and drew a standing room only crowd of 9,392 on Nov. 8 vs. Alaska. Last year, the Thunder became the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for four straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons - 2000-05).

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