Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Victoria Salmon Kings

Published on March 25, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


With six games remaining in the regular season and four at Stockton Arena, the first place Thunder continue its quest for a Pacific Division title with a three-game home series against the Victoria Salmon Kings. The Thunder is 7-3-0 this season in Victoria and is 6-3-1 at home in the series, dating back to 2009-10. The Thunder is 25-23-5 lifetime against Victoria and the last time both teams met, the Thunder defeated the Salmon Kings, 4-0 at Stockton Arena on Feb. 20. The Thunder will also kick off its environmental promotion, ‚¬Å“Easy Being Green, ‚¬Â for two games on Friday and Saturday.

WHAT ‚¬â„¢S GOING ON TODAY

‚¬Å“Thunder ‚¬â„¢s Easy Being Green ‚¬Â is presented by California Water Service Company and co-sponsored by Surtec System, ChemStation of Northern California, ServiceMASTER Clean and Port of Stockton California. Last year ‚¬â„¢s event drew over 13,500 fans to the annual event during two games (Mar. 5-6). The event unites hockey and community involvement with an eco-friendly campaign for both games, capping a month-long environmental awareness promotion throughout the Central Valley with ‚¬Å“green-themed ‚¬Â weekend events. Fans can visit a ‚¬Å“Green Fair ‚¬Â during the weekend and fans of all ages can take home free giveaway items, including eco-friendly rally towels, tree saplings or plants, kids activity books and more.

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 4 ‚¬" IDA 0 (3/20/11): Tyson Sexsmith ‚¬â„¢s 29 save performance earned his first shutout of the season, and goals from four different players propelled the Stockton Thunder (34-22-10, 78 points) past the Idaho Steelheads, 4-0, in front of a home crowd of 5,339 fans on Sunday at Stockton Arena. The victory put the Thunder in first place in the Pacific division with 78 points and six games remaining, as well as capped off a strong three-game weekend against Idaho, in which Stockton won all three games. Garet Hunt, Jason Pitton, and Jordan Fulton all chipped in a goal each, while Jordan Foreman contributed a goal and an assist. With four minutes remaining in the game, Sexsmith thwarted the Steelhead ‚¬â„¢s last-ditch barrage of scoring attempts during a Thunder penalty kill.

STK 5 ‚¬" IDA 1 (3/19/11): Jordan Foreman and Fraser Clair each scored one goal and added an assist, leading the Stockton Thunder (33-22-10, 76 points) as they defeated the Idaho Steelheads 5-1, in front of a sellout home crowd of 9,396 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The win put the Thunder into second place in the Pacific Division, one point behind first place Bakersfield. Jordan Fulton, Garet Hunt and Jim McKenzie also chipped in with a goal while goaltender Tyson Sexsmith made 23 saves.A unique blend of hockey and movie enthusiasts enjoyed the game as part of a special ‚¬Å“Star Wars Night, ‚¬Â where characters from the famous movie trilogy and prequel were incorporated into the in-game entertainment.

STK 3 ‚¬" IDA 2 (SO) (3/18/11): Goaltender Tyson Sexsmith stood tall during a solid 65 minutes of play with a 29-save performance, while Fraser Clair notched the game-winning shootout goal as the Stockton Thunder (32-22-10, 74 points) defeated the Idaho Steelheads 3-2 in a shootout, in front of a home crowd of 5,484 fans Friday night at Stockton Arena. The win lifted the Thunder to one point behind a tie for first place in the tight Pacific Division, shared by Las Vegas and Bakersfield. Ryan Constant and Jim McKenzie scored both goals for the Thunder in regulation.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

· Fraser Clair is 10 games away from 300 in his ECHL career

· Jim McKenzie is 7 points away from 100 in his professional career

· Kelly Czuy is 1 point away from 100 in his ECHL career

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 7-3-0)

Sun. Nov. 21 Victoria 4 at Stockton 1

Wed. Dec. 1 Stockton 3 at Victoria 2 (SO)

Fri. Dec. 3 Stockton 5 at Victoria 3

Sat. Dec. 4 Stockton 5 at Victoria 4 (OT)

Wed. Jan. 5 Stockton 3 at Victoria 2

Fri. Jan. 7 Stockton 2 at Victoria 4

Sat. Jan. 8 Stockton 3 at Victoria 1

Fri. Feb. 18 Victoria 3 at Stockton 1

Sat. Feb. 19 Victoria 1 at Stockton 8

Sun. Feb. 20 Victoria 0 at Stockton 4

Fri. Mar. 25 Victoria 7:30 p.m.

Sat. Mar. 26 Victoria 7:30 p.m.

Sun. Mar. 27 Victoria 4:00 p.m.

A CONSTANT FORCE

Last Sunday, Ryan Constant played in his 300th game a professional. Currently skating on an AHL contract with the Worcester Sharks, he is in his third season as a member of the Thunder and enters the week leading the team ‚¬â„¢s defensemen with 33 points (11g-22a) in 48 games, tied for 7th in ECHL scoring among defensemen. His 11 goals rank tied for fourth among ECHL blueliners.

EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

The Thunder clinched their fifth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth on Friday, Mar. 9 vs. Utah. It marked the earliest time in franchise history they clinched a berth and coincidentally, marked the second time they did it in Utah. In 2007-08, the Thunder earned a point in a 4-3 overtime loss at Maverik Center, clinching the final playoff spot in the Conference on the final day of the regular season.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder is second in ECHL in attendance with 6,332 fans per game through 30 games. A whopping crowd of 9,482 piled into Stockton Arena on Jan. 22 for the ‚¬Å“Teddy Bear Toss ‚¬Â game, the largest crowd at Stockton Arena this season and the fourth crowd over 9,000 in the event ‚¬â„¢s history. Stockton has 16 sellouts in the team's franchise history and in 2008-09, 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). There have been ten crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena this season.

CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN

The Thunder are tied for the ECHL lead with 23 wins against opponents from the Mountain Division and carry the best win percentage with a record of 23-13-5. The Thunder are also 5-1-1 in the last seven games against Mountain Division opponents, which includes a three-game sweep of Idaho on Mar. 18-20.

CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER

The Thunder enters the game with 105 major penalties, leading the ECHL. Individually, the Thunder is led by Garet Hunt, who has 201 penalty minutes (tied for ECHL lead with Erick Lizon) and also leads the ECHL with 23 majors this season. Five players on the Thunder have registered 90 penalty minutes or more this season.

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 Idaho.

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). They are guaranteed a winning record on the road this season and their 17 wins ties a club record, set in 2006-07.

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) * Currently ECHL active

COACH WINS

1. Jeff Pyle (Gwinnett, Mobile) * 371

2. Malcolm Cameron (four teams) 317

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

4. Matt Thomas (Stockton, Fre, A.C.) * 267

5. Glen Gulutzan (Las Vegas) 254

PLAYOFF NOTES

ECHL WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF STANDINGS

(Top-7 in the conference qualify for Kelly Cup playoffs)

Rank Western Conference GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA STK P10 SO PIM

1 y *Alaska Aces 66 42 21 2 1 87 0.659 218 167 3-0-0-0 9-1-0-0 2-1 883

2 x *Bakersfield Condors 66 38 25 2 1 79 0.598 206 194 9-0-0-0 9-1-0-0 4-1 1381

3 x Stockton Thunder 66 34 22 5 5 78 0.591 207 188 4-0-1-0 6-3-1-0 6-5 1437

4 x Las Vegas Wranglers 66 36 25 3 2 77 0.583 203 188 1-0-0-0 3-7-0-0 5-2 909

5 x Utah Grizzlies 66 32 27 4 3 71 0.538 183 202 1-0-0-1 4-5-0-1 2-3 1545

6 x Idaho Steelheads 67 29 25 4 9 71 0.530 206 203 0-5-0-1 2-7-0-1 5-9 1064

7 Victoria Salmon Kings 66 29 33 2 2 62 0.470 196 208 0-1-1-0 3-6-1-0 2-2 1369

8 Ontario Reign 67 24 37 2 4 54 0.403 176 252 1-0-0-0 4-6-0-0 2-4 1231

* 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

2011 Playoff March Notes -

- The Thunder has 6 regular season games remaining.

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

· Las Vegas (3)

· Victoria (3)

- The top seven teams in the Western Conference will qualify for the 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs and will be seeded by conference ranking in the first and second round of the playoffs. The #1 seed will receive a bye through the first round and the #2 seed will play #7, the #3 seed will play #6, and the #4 seed will play #5. Home ice advantage will be determined by points.

- If the Kelly Cup Playoffs began today, the Thunder would face the Idaho Steelheads in the Western Conference Quarterfinal.

- Currently, 84 points guarantees home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs as the 5th place Utah Grizzlies and Idaho Steelheads can only amass 73 points this season.

- TIE-BREAKER: The tiebreaker for the Western Conference if two teams tie will be: 1. Wins (regulation and OT only), regular season; 2. Points, head-to-head; 3. Wins, head-to-head; 4. Goal differential, head-to-head; 5. Winning percentage, division (if tied teams are from same division; if not, skip to 6); 6. Winning percentage, conference; 7. Goals for, regular season; 8. Goals against, regular season; 9. Coin toss

The tiebreaker for the Western Conference if three teams are tied will be: 1. Wins (regulation and OT only); 2. Winning percentage, games between the teams; 3. Goal differential, games between the teams; 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.

- The Thunder has surpassed last season ‚¬â„¢s totals for wins (33) and points (76)

- Last season, the Thunder clinched its fourth straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with the 6th seed in the National Conference and a 33-29-10 record (76 points)

- The Thunder clinched its fifth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth Mar. 11 at Utah and has surpassed the 30-win plateau for the fourth time in club history (2006-07, 2008-11)

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ECHL Stories from March 25, 2011


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