Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Victoria Salmon Kings

March 27, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


With four games remaining in the regular season and two at Stockton Arena, the Thunder continues its quest for a Pacific Division title with a three-game home series against the Victoria Salmon Kings. The Thunder is 7-3-2 this season in Victoria and is 6-3-3 at home in the series, dating back to 2009-10. The Thunder is 25-23-7 lifetime against Victoria and the last time both teams met, Victoria defeated the Thunder, 4-3 in a shootout at Stockton Arena last night. The Thunder will also launch a two-day event, ‚¬Å“Fan Appreciation Day, ‚¬Â wearing their gold third jerseys before they are auctioned off after the game.

WHAT ‚¬â„¢S GOING ON TODAY

The first of two games in an expanded event, ‚¬Å“Fan Appreciation Day ‚¬Â is an annual event to salute Thunder fans for their loyalty in the sixth season of hockey in the Central Valley, the two games offer all fans in attendance a rare opportunity to take home prizes not offered for any other home game and a chance to save on Thunder merchandise. During both games, all fans in attendance are invited to pick up exclusive Thunder merchandise available at discounted prices: Prizes will be awarded throughout both games, including exclusive autographed team-themed ‚¬Å“Sons of Thunder ‚¬Â and San Jose Sharks memorabilia, a flat screen HD television and a two-night stay, travel package to the Handlery hotel in San Francisco. Fans can enter for free by submitting a prize form, given out at the door, to the Thunder Community Corner or Information Booths.

LAST THREE GAMES:

VIC 4 ‚¬" STK 3 (SO) (3/26/11): Matt Stefanishion ‚¬â„¢s shootout goal in the sixth round helped the Victoria Salmon Kings escape a wild third period rally by the Stockton Thunder (34-22-12, 80 points) in a 4-3 shootout win before 8,923 fans on Saturday night at Stockton Arena. Just one night after Victoria rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the third period, the Thunder turned the tables with three goals in the final 25 minutes, including a pair in the third period to move to 4-0-2 in the last six games. Bretton Cameron ‚¬â„¢s goal in the second period got the Thunder on the scoreboard, while last-minute goals in the third by both Jordan Fulton and Johan Motin put Stockton back into the game. The Thunder dropped its magic number to 2 for a clinch of home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

VIC 7 ‚¬" STK 6 (SO) (3/25/11): Chad Painchaud capped off a five-point game (1g-4a) with a shootout goal in the fifth round, completing a wild comeback by the Victoria Salmon Kings to edge the Stockton Thunder (34-22-10, 78 points) in a shootout, 7-6, before a crowd of 5,830 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday night. Victoria clinched the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and the Thunder received some help. Losses by Utah and Idaho whittled the magic number to 3 to clinch home ice advantage in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Chris Lawrence led the Thunder offense with a four point game (1g-3a).

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.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

· Fraser Clair is 8 games away from 300 in his ECHL career

· Jim McKenzie is 8 points away from 100 in his professional career

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

SEASON SERIES (Thunder is 7-3-2)

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 at Stockton 6 (SO)

Sat. Mar. 26 Victoria 4 at Stockton 3 (SO)

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

A CONSTANT FORCE

Last Sunday, Ryan Constant played in his 300th game as 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 34 points (11g-23a) in 50 games, ranking 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 6,364 fans per game through 34 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 23-13-7. The Thunder are also 5-1-3 in the last nine 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 108 major penalties, leading the ECHL. Individually, the Thunder is led by Garet Hunt, who leads the ECHL with 222 penalty minutes and also leads the ECHL with 26 majors this season. Seven players on the Thunder have registered 90 penalty minutes or more this season.

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 68 44 21 2 1 91 0.669 226 168 5-0-0-0 9-1-0-0 2-1 893

2 x *Bakersfield Condors 68 40 25 2 1 83 0.610 211 195 11-0-0-0 10-0-0-0 4-1 1401

3 x Stockton Thunder 68 34 22 5 7 80 0.588 216 199 4-0-1-2 5-2-1-2 6-7 1544

4 x Las Vegas Wranglers 68 36 27 3 2 77 0.566 204 193 0-2-0-0 2-8-0-0 5-2 925

5 x Idaho Steelheads 69 30 26 4 9 73 0.529 211 208 1-0-0-0 2-7-0-1 5-9 1096

6 x Utah Grizzlies 68 32 29 4 3 71 0.522 184 210 0-2-0-1 3-6-0-1 2-3 1563

7 x Victoria Salmon Kings 68 31 33 2 2 66 0.485 207 217 2-0-0-0 4-5-1-0 4-2 1425

8 Ontario Reign 69 25 38 2 4 56 0.406 181 257 0-1-0-0 4-6-0-0 2-4 1257

* 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 4 regular season games remaining.

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

· Las Vegas (3)

· Victoria (1)

- 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 Utah Grizzlies in the Western Conference Quarterfinal.

- Currently, 82 points guarantees home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs as the 5th place Idaho Steelheads can only amass 81 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), points (76) and has clinched home ice advantage in the Kelly Cup Playoffs ‚¬â„¢ first round.

- 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)



ECHL Stories from March 27, 2011


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