Stockton Thunder At Bakersfield Condors

March 17, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 7:00 p.m. PT

RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

RECORDS:

Stockton Thunder (25-33-3, 53 pts) - 3rd, Pacific/7th National

Bakersfield Condors (19-35-9, 47 pts) - 4th, Pacific/9th National

2007-08 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

10/19/07 Stockton 2 at Bakersfield 3

12/14/07 Bakersfield 5 at Stockton 3

12/21/07 Bakersfield 6 at Stockton 4

12/29/07 Stockton 5 at Bakersfield 4

01/06/08 Bakersfield 2 at Stockton 5

02/01/08 Bakersfield 0 at Stockton 4

02/02/08 Bakersfield 3 at Stockton 2 (OT)

02/23/08 Stockton 5 at Bakersfield 2

03/17/08 Stockton at Bakersfield

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Jason Beeman is 19 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Brian Lee is 6 games away from 200 in his professional career

o Lance Monych is 2 points away from 100 in his professional career

o Brandon Schwartz is 4 points away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Tim Verbeek is 13 games away from 400 in his professional career

TONIGHT¡¯S MATCHUP

It¡¯s the final matchup of the season in nine meetings between the Thunder and Bakersfield Condors at Rabobank Arena, as the Thunder looks for its first win streak since Feb. 25. Tonight¡¯s game begins a four-game road stretch for the Thunder. Both teams last met on Feb. 23 with the Thunder winning 5-2 at Rabobank Arena, led by a two-point effort each from David Rohlfs (1g-1a) and Geoff Paukovich (1g-1a). The Thunder is 10-7-7 in the lifetime matchup and is 4-3-1 in the season series.

LAST GAME RECAP

Brian Lee¡¯s power-play goal with 12:12 left in regulation snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted the Thunder to a 2-1 win over the Fresno Falcons before a crowd of 8,034 at Stockton Arena on Saturday night. Goaltender Tim Boron made 33 saves to seal the victory for the Thunder and veteran Tim O¡¯Connell ended a 35-game goal-scoring drought with a first period goal. Center Tyler Hirsch added an assist for his first point in a Thunder uniform.

FIRST THING¡¯S FIRST

Of the 23 wins the Thunder has accumulated this season, 22 have come when the Thunder scores the first goal of the game. The Thunder is 23-12-1 when scoring the first goal of the game. Lance Monych leads the Thunder with seven ¡°first goals.¡±

A CASE OF THE MONDAYS

The Thunder has four Monday games scheduled in the 2007-08 season and tonight¡¯s tilt is the final Monday game on the regular season schedule. The Thunder is 1-2-0 on Monday games. Below is a look at past Monday games of the 2007-08 season:

DATE OPP. SCORE

Mon. 11/12 Fre L, 1-4

Mon. 2/18 at Fre L, 2-3

Mon. 2/25 Phx W, 4-1

HI, MY NAME IS ¡-

Three separate players ¨C forward Tyler Hirsch, center Les Reaney and defenseman David Robertson ¨C made their pro debut or Thunder debut this past weekend. Hirsch, who has seven multi-point games this year, was acquired in a trade with the Johnstown Chiefs on March 5, has 30 points (11g-19a) in 31 games with 38 penalty minutes this season and led the Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA) with a career-high 44 points (11g-33a) and 33 assists in 40 games as a 2004-05 junior, helping guide the program to a college National Championship as a 2002-03 freshman. Reaney was assigned to the Thunder from Springfield (AHL) after scoring 99 points (34g-65a) with 191 penalty minutes in 97 career college games at Niagara University (NCAA). Robertson made his pro debut last Friday after a four-year career at Brown University (NCAA), appearing in 120 games while scoring 41 points (10g-31a) and amassing 72 penalty minutes.

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder drew 8,034 in last Saturday¡¯s home game against the Fresno Falcons to remain the league¡¯s leader in attendance with an average of 6,572 fans in 33 dates (216,875 total). The Thunder has three sellouts (9,737) this season, the most recent coming a Saturday, February 16 game against Alaska. The Thunder is vying to become the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for three straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons). The Thunder drew 244,085 fans to Stockton Arena in 2006-07 and drew the fifth largest crowd in ECHL All-Star Game history on January 23 with a total of 7,455 fans.

WHAT THEY¡¯RE SAYING

"I felt there was a playoff atmosphere out there, and I was really pleased we hung in there," Thunder coach Chris Cichocki said. "It wasn't always pretty. But when you give that kind of effort, good things will happen, and Brian Lee came up big."

- Chris Cichocki, The Record, 3/16/08 after Saturday¡¯s 2-1 win vs. Fresno

SIR LANCE-A-LOT SETS THE PACE

Lance Monych¡¯s arrival to the Thunder roster already puts him atop the team¡¯s scoring lead with 44 points (27g-17a) and first in goal-scoring with 27 goals. Monych has 11 points (6g-5a) in his last 13 games.

IN THE NICK OF TIM

Goaltender Tim Boron has provided some of the most prolific goaltending in the Thunder¡¯s three-year history, recently breaking the single-season club record with three shutouts and made a career-high 50 saves against Las Vegas in a 1-0 win at Stockton Arena on January 20. Boron is tied for second in the ECHL with three shutouts.

IT AIN¡¯T OVER TILL IT¡¯S OVER ¡-

The Thunder has four wins this season when trailing after two periods, including three on home ice at Stockton Arena.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS ¨C PENALTY SHOTS

Entering the 2007-08 season, the Thunder has made 1 penalty shot and missed 6 penalty shots, while opponents had made 0 penalty shots and missed 4 penalty shots.

ABOUT THE CONDORS

Bakersfield is entering its fifth season in the ECHL and is celebrating its 10th season in professional hockey. The Condors are independent of an NHL affiliate and set team records last year with a 94-point season, posting a 41-19-12 record which placed second in the Pacific Division. Returning for his second stint between the Bakersfield pipes is goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji, who made history last year as the first Japanese-born player to make his NHL debut, suiting up for four games with the Los Angeles Kings.

2008 Playoff March Notes -

- The Thunder has 11 regular season games remaining.

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

¡ñ Idaho (4)

¡ñ Fresno (1)

¡ñ Bakersfield (1)

¡ñ Victoria (2)

¡ñ Utah (3)

- The top eight teams in the National Conference will qualify for the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs and will be seeded by conference ranking (exception ¨C division winners, who will be seeded #1 and #2) in the first round of the playoffs. The #1 seed will play #8, the #2 seed will play #7, the #3 seed will #6, and the #4 seed will play the #5 seed. First round winners will be reseeded again in the second round.

- If the Kelly Cup playoffs began today, the Thunder would face the Alaska Aces in the National Conference quarterfinal round.

- Currently, 66 points guarantees a playoff spot as the 9th place Bakersfield Condors can only amass 65 points this season.

- TIE-BREAKER: If two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, the following are the tie-breakers: wins, points (head-to-head), wins (head-to-head), goal differential (head-to-head), winning percentage within division (if in the same division), winning percentage within conference, goals for, goals against, and then coin toss.

- Last season, the Thunder clinched its first Kelly Cup Playoff berth in club history with the 5th seed and a 38-24-10 record (86 points)



ECHL Stories from March 17, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central