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Kids Take over in Rubber Match against Idaho

December 21, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The kids will take over the Stockton Thunder and Stockton Arena during today's rubber match in the three-in-three series with the Idaho Steelheads.

Arena: Stockton Arena

Date: Sunday, December 21

Time: 4:00 p.m. (Doors at 3:00 p.m.)

Giveaway: Trading Cards to the first 500 fans

Broadcast: ECHL.TV and Spreaker beginning at 3:45 p.m. PST

This Year's Record: Stockton is 1-4-0-0 against Idaho

Follow the Thunder Facebook Page for occasional updates or follow @StocktonThunder on Twitter for the play-by-play tweeting!

WE PAINT the Ice Night Coming Soon!

The Thunder will invite fans to paint the Stockton Arena ice surface after the game on Tuesday, December 30. Get your tickets now and get to the Arena early to sign up to paint! We will allow one parent or guardian out on the ice with their children. Adults won't be allowed to paint the ice on their own so if you want to try and sign up to paint, find a niece, nephew, grandkid, neighbor, etc... and bring them to the game! Need tickets? Check out our holiday plans, including a specific Paint the Ice plan featuring two Upper Premium tickets and a replica jersey or bobblehead for $39 !

Kids Take Over

Today there will be over 40 kids that will be participating in Wingstop's Kids Take Over Stockton Arena promotion. They will be doing everything from ticket sales and assisting the zamboni drivers, to broadcasting the games and writing recaps and interviewing players.

Last season was the very first Kids Take Over event and it resulted in a 5-1 Thunder victory over the San Francisco Bulls. Parker Milner was your winning goalie while James Henry scored the game winner.

Last Time Out

The Idaho Steelheads are 14-2-1 when scoring the first goal so the Thunder had a lot of pressure to get on the board first in hopes of getting their first one against Idaho. The Thunder had a glorious opportunity early in the contest when David de Kastrozza went to the box for a four-minute double minor for high sticking, however the Thunder could not find the back of the net on the opportunity.

It ended up being an even strength tally minutes after the penalty expired as Ryan Hayes walked the far boards and in came Brad Stebner to swoop in and grab the puck. The big defenseman carried behind the net and found Loic Leduc in space in the near circle. His defensive partner threaded the needle through a tight space between Henri Kiviaho and the goalpost, giving the Thunder a 1-0 lead. Moments later a Brett Robinson shot was stopped by Simpson but the rebound came right out into the slot and hit Wade MacLeod's skate and in. While there was an argument about its legality, it was deemed a good goal and tied things up at one.

In the second it was a Tyler Maxwell dump in on Kiviaho that would be picked up by Jack MacLellan who went behind the net and found Alex Mallet streaking into the slot and the forward one-timed the shot to put the Thunder up by one. The defense, and Simpson, closed the door the rest of the way and MacLellan added an empty netter to win 3-1.

Tonight

The Thunder play a rubber match against the Steelheads in what is the final game before the holiday break. The Thunder fell in the first game by one goal and beat Idaho by two in the second game at Stockton Arena.

Who to Watch

With Ryan Constant out it forces everyone to be better in their own zone and last night the defense stepped up and played very well. It certainly was a team effort to slow down Idaho's fast breaking transition game, but tonight we'll tell you to keep an eye on Loic Leduc and Brad Stebner.

The pair were dominant defensively and were out there on the first two Stockton goals. One may be 6-7, the other may be 6-3 but they both came up big for the Thunder last night and could be poised to do it again tonight.

All-Time Watch

We're monitoring the situation between Garet Hunt, Ryan Constant and Mike Lalonde as Lalonde's all-time lead in points could be in danger of falling to one of the Thunder's star players soon.

Lalonde's 156 career points is in jeopardy as Constant pulled ahead with 151 points with the Thunder while Hunt is right behind them both with 145.

That means Constant is just 5 points back of tying the record while Hunt is 11 points back of tying the record. Both players have missed time due to injuries this season as Hunt missed 11 games while Constant was placed on Injured Reserve on December 14.

Hunt is the only one close to Lalonde's all-time record of 72 goals with his 54 markers, putting the Thunder captain 18 shy of tying the record.

Streaks on the Line tonight

Tyler Maxwell is on a five-game point streak (4G, 5A).

Interesting Note

The Thunder are 7-0-0-0 when leading after two.

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