Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Victoria Salmon Kings

Published on March 6, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


RADIO: None (92.5 FM inside Stockton Arena)

INTERNET: www.StocktonThunder.com (B2 Networks)

TICKETS: Click here

RECORDS

Stockton Thunder: 26-23-8, 60 points (2nd, Pacific/5th, National Conf.)

Victoria Salmon Kings: 31-22-6, 68 points (2nd, West/3rd, National Conf.)

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Oren Eizenman is 14 assists from 100 in his professional career

o Igor Gongalsky is 4 points away from 100 in his professional career

o Daryl Marcoux is 9 games away from 200 in his ECHL career

2009-10 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

Fri. Oct. 30 Stockton 5 at Victoria 1

Sun. Nov. 1 Stockton 5 at Victoria 2

Wed. Dec. 16 Stockton 2 at Victoria 7

Fri. Dec. 18 Stockton 0 at Victoria 2

Sat. Dec. 19 Stockton 3 at Victoria 4

Wed. Jan. 27 Victoria 3 at Stockton 7

Fri. Jan. 29 Victoria 1 at Stockton 7

Sat. Jan. 30 Victoria 1 at Stockton 0 (SO)

Wed. Mar. 3 Victoria 1 at Stockton 4

Fri. Mar. 5 Victoria 5 at Stockton 3

Sat. Mar. 6 Victoria 7:30 p.m.

Wed. Mar. 17 Victoria 7:00 p.m.

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder, 10-2-4 at home since Dec. 4, are seven points behind the first place Bakersfield Condors of the Pacific Division, continue a stretch where they have 11 home games at Stockton Arena this month, facing the Victoria Salmon Kings tonight. Both teams meet for the 11th time this season. In the last head-to-head matchup, Victoria defeated Stockton, 5-3 last night at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 16-20-5 lifetime against Victoria and is 5-4-1 this year in the head-to-head series. A Thunder win in regulation guarantees a series victory against the Salmon Kings

LAST 3 THUNDER GAMES

VIC 5 - STK 3 (3/5/10): Gary Gladue scored a goal and added an assist, giving the Victoria Salmon Kings enough of an early cushion to thwart a furious comeback by the Stockton Thunder in a 5-3 Thunder loss before 5,794 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. The Thunder, who nearly erased a 4-1 deficit after two periods with two quick goals in the third and were stymied on a penalty shot and a scoring chance off the goal post, suffered only its second loss in regulation at home since Dec. 4 (a streak of 10-2-4 in 16 games). Garet Hunt, Oren Eizenman and Kelly Czuy each scored for Stockton, while the Salmon Kings were assisted by five different goal-scorers and Glenn Fisher's 34 saves.

STK 4 - VIC 1 (3/3/10): The first line of J.F. Caudron (1g-2a), Colin Hemingway (1g-2a) and Oren Eizenman (1g-1a) combined for eight points and goaltender Andrew Perugini made 26 saves to help the Thunder cruise to a 4-1 victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings at Stockton Arena on Wednesday night. The Thunder, who improved to 10-1-4 in the last 15 home games (dating back to Dec. 4), opened up a stretch of 11 home games in the month of March with a victory that helped keep a seven-point pace behind the Pacific Division's first place Bakersfield Condors, who defeated Idaho 3-1 earlier in the evening.

LV 6 - STK 3 (2/28/10): Alex Bourret collected his second hat trick of the season and the Las Vegas Wranglers denied two comeback attempts by the Thunder, en route to a 6-3 victory before 3,480 fans at Orleans Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Thunder, who finished a season-long eight-game road trip at 3-4-1 record, have a four point lead ahead of Las Vegas for second place in the Pacific Division and return home to Stockton Arena for ten of the next 14 games, where the Thunder are 9-1-4 since December 4 and are third in league attendance with 5,934 fans per game. Nearly erasing 3-0 and 4-2 deficits in the second and third period, the Thunder got goal-scoring support from Anthony Aiello, James Bates and Colin Hemingway. Joel Gistedt, making his first start since Feb. 12, picked up the win in net with 24 saves.

SERIES NOTES

The Thunder is 5-4-1 vs. Victoria this season and 3-0-1 vs. the Salmon Kings at Stockton Arena ... in the four games in Stockton, the Thunder have scored a combined 18 goals and in a 7-1 victory on Jan. 29, tied the franchise record for largest margin of victory ... Igor Gongalsky became the seventh player in Thunder history to record a hat trick in the game and J.F. Caudron had a career-high and Thunder record five assists ... the following night, before a crowd of more than 9,100, the Thunder dropped a 1-0 shootout defeat to Victoria which went 16 rounds - the longest game in Thunder history ... in a 4-1 win at Stockton Arena on Mar. 3, Colin Hemingway and J.F. Caudron each scored a goal and added two assists ... Victoria built a 4-1 lead after two periods, ultimately escaping with a 5-3 win after Oren Eizenman and Kelly Czuy scored in the third to narrow the gap to 4-3.

ALL-STAR IS SHINING

Rookie center Chris D'Alvise, who had an assist representing the Thunder at the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game in Ontario on Jan. 20, recently had a career-high eight-game scoring streak with eight points (4g-4a) in that span. In February, he erupted with 13 points (6g-7a) in 10 games. D'Alvise leads the Thunder with 24 goals (5th, ECHL rookies) and leads Thunder rookies with 45 points (T-6, ECHL rookies) in 54 games this season. D'Alvise has two hat tricks this season.

GREEN DAY

The Stockton Thunder will hold the second annual "Easy Being Green" event, scheduled for tonight at Stockton Arena against the Victoria Salmon Kings, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Thunder's "Easy Being Green" event is presented by California Water Service Company and co-sponsored by Port of Stockton California and The Surtec System. The event, for the second straight year, unites hockey and community involvement with an eco-friendly theme for both games. The first 2,000 family households in attendance will receive complimentary Thunder eco-friendly tote bags, including environmental activity books to the first 1,000 kids (ages 12 and under) in attendance. Additional giveaways, including tree saplings, will be included while fans are encouraged to bring an old cell phone, TV or other old electronic device for recycling outside of Stockton Arena.

Last year's inaugural event drew over 14,000 fans to the annual event for two games (Mar. 6-7) and over $13,000 was raised in charitable efforts.

THUNDER CROWDS ROLLING IN

The Thunder ranks third in the ECHL in attendance with an average of 5,855 fans per game and is vying to tie a league record by leading the league in attendance for five straight seasons. On Jan. 30, the Thunder drew 9,158 fans to Stockton Arena against Victoria, the second largest home crowd this year. 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).

BATES AND SWITCH

Since returning from an AHL call-up with the Springfield Falcons, James Bates has embarked on a tear spanning over a month with 30 points (11g-19a) in 20 games and has a +14 rating - the only more efficient effort turned in that span is Tyler Donati of Elmira (+19) and Thunder teammate Chris D'Alvise (+14). Bates currently leads the Thunder with 51 points (19g-32a), 32 assists and has set a new career-high with 19 goals.

ECHL LEADERS - SCORING (since Jan. 15)

Player Team GP PTS G A +/-

1. Tyler Donati Elmira Jackals 20 44 19 25 21

2. Mark Derlago Idaho Steelheads 19 35 17 18 11

3. AJ Perry Utah Grizzlies 23 33 9 24 -9

4. James Bates Stockton Thunder 23 31 11 20 11

5. Olivier Proulx Elmira Jackals 20 30 11 19 15

20 AND OVER ADMITTED

A growing club this season that is nearly tying a franchise high, three different players with 20 goals in one season adorn the roster. At one point, the Thunder had four separate 20-goal scorers in 2005-06 (Joel Irwin, Mike Lalonde, Ned Havern and Aaron Foster). Chris D'Alvise leads the Thunder with 24 goals (5th, ECHL rookies), Colin Hemingway has 21 goals (four off his career-high) to rank second and Matt Robinson has 20 goals (one off his career-high) to rank third. James Bates' next goal expands the total to four different 20-goal scorers, tying the franchise mark. The Thunder are looking for their first pair of 30-goal scorers in club history.

THUNDER 20 GOAL CLUB

YR PLAYERS GOALS

05-06 4. Mike Lalonde 29

Joel Irwin 25

Ned Havern 23

Aaron Foster 20

06-07 2. Mike Lalonde 23

Troy Bodie 21

07-08 2. Lance Monych 32

Ryan MacMurchy 23

08-09 2. Ryan Huddy 35*

Cory Urquhart 28

09-10 3. Chris D'Alvise 24

Colin Hemingway 21

Matt Robinson 20

* Denotes Thunder record

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ECHL Stories from March 6, 2010


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