Stockton Thunder vs. Fresno Falcons Game Preview

Published on December 16, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 7:05 p.m. PT

SITE: Selland Arena

RADIO: 1420 KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

2008-09 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES

10/18/08 Fresno 3 at Stockton 2

11/14/08 Stockton 4 at Fresno 5 (SO)

11/29/08 Fresno 4 at Stockton 2 12/7/08 Stockton 3 at Fresno 4 (OT)

12/16/08 Stockton @ Fresno

12/19/08 Stockton @ Fresno

12/20/08 Stockton @ Fresno 2/6/08 Stockton vs. Fresno 2/7/08 Stockton vs. Fresno 3/20/08 Stockton vs. Fresno

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Mike Lalonde is 2 points away from surpassing Nathan Martz as the Thunder career scoring leader

o Ryan MacMurchy is 1 game away from 100 in his professional career

o Cleve Kinley is 2 games away from 100 in his professional career

o Cory Urquhart is 15 goals away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Craig Valette is 15 points away from 100 in his professional career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP Thunder faces their Pacific Division rival Fresno Falcons three consecutive times this week, marking the 5-7 meetings between the clubs in 2008-09. The Thunder is 7-20-6 lifetime against the Falcons and last faced the Falcons in Fresno on Dec. 7 at Selland Arena, a 4-3 overtime win for the Falcons. The Thunder looks to break a four-game winless skid in Tuesday's matchup. Cory Urquhart leads the Thunder in scoring vs. Fresno this season with five points (1g-4a) in 3 games.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES 12/13/08 - STK 3 at UTA 5: The Utah Grizzlies rallied for four goals over the final 21 minutes of play, highlighted by Evan Kotsopoulos' shorthanded goal in the third period to edge the Stockton Thunder (8-12-4, 20 points) in a 5-3 win before a crowd of 3,748 at The E-Center. The loss stretches the Thunder's winless streak to four consecutive games, who fell to 0-2-1 on a season-long eight game road trip and received a goal each by Mike Lalonde, Brandon Scero and Ryan Huddy. Rookie goaltender Andrew Perugini made 34 saves in the losing cause while counterpart Michael Mole stopped 24 shots.

12/12/08 - STK 2 at UTA 4: The Utah Grizzlies rallied for two goals in a span of 1:08 in the third period and goaltender Michael Mole made 38 saves to help send the Thunder to a 4-2 defeat, in front of 3,715 at The E-Center on Friday. James Sixsmith registered a game-high three assists while Ryan Kinasewich tallied two points (1g-1a) for Utah. The Thunder received a two-goal effort from Ryan Huddy in his first game back from the American Hockey League.

12/7/08 - STK 3 at FRE 4 (OT): Judd Blackwater's power-play goal at 3:30 of sudden death overtime helped the Fresno Falcons edge the Stockton Thunder (8-10-4, 20 points) in a 4-3 overtime decision, before a crowd of 5.688 at Selland Arena on Sunday. The Thunder received goals from Mike Salekin, Stephane Goulet and David Rohlfs. Goaltender Bryan Pitton made 27 saves to stretch his unbeaten streak (regulation) to three consecutive games. Counterpart Michael Ouzas stopped 19 shots for the victory.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 7,048 through eight games, has 13 sellouts in the team's franchise history and finished last year as the ECHL's attendance leader for the third consecutive season. It was the second straight year the Thunder surpassed the mark of 230,000 fans for one season. The Thunder's yearly attendance total finished at 239,337, an average of 6,648 fans per game. The Thunder became 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). Stockton's crowd of 9,737 on Nov. 8 against Victoria was the team's first sellout of the year.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING "It was an intense game against our closest rival," Thunder coach Chris Cichocki said. "We played hard, but we beat ourselves. We had some costly turnovers in our zone. We would've liked to get the two points, but we have to settle for one." - Head Coach Chris Cichocki on the Thunder's 4-3 OT loss to Fresno, The Record, 12/8/08

"In my time in the business I've come to realize none of this happens by accident. It takes good people and tremendous attention to detail. And I think if you look at the staff (in Stockton), there hasn't been a lot of turnover. And I think that is important. They're in their fourth year now, I don't think it's an aberration. They have become one of our model franchises." - ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna on the Thunder organization, The Record, 12/9/08

HELP FROM ABOVE The Thunder received veteran centers Cory Urqhuart and Craig Valette from the American Hockey League on Monday. Urquhart was reassigned to the Thunder from Springfield while Valette was returned from his loan to the Houston Aeros. Urquhart led the Thunder in scoring at the time of his recall on Dec. 6 with 19 points (7g-12a) in 18 games, additionally posting 10 penalty minutes this season and was runner-up for In Glas Co ECHL Player of the Week (Oct. 20). Valette has amassed three points (2g-1a) in two games this season for the Thunder and has added two assists and 15 penalty minutes in 15 AHL games for Houston.

HUDDY HEATING UP Rookie forward Ryan Huddy enjoyed his second multi-goal game of the season in a 4-2 loss vs. Utah last Friday. Huddy, who was reassigned to the Thunder from Springfield of the AHL last Thursday, has points in 11 of his last 12 games and for his efforts in the week of Nov. 23, garnered runner-up honors for ECHL Player of the Week and ECHL Rookie of the Month (November). Huddy's four-game goal-scoring streak is the longest active run in the ECHL this year.

STEP UP TO THE MIKE Returning to the lineup this season is left wing Mike Lalonde, who is the Thunder all-time leading goal scorer with 59 goals. Selected as the first player in Thunder history to the ECHL All-Star Game (2006), Lalonde led the ECHL with 308 shots and paced the Thunder with 29 goals as a rookie in 2005-06. Lalonde spent last season with Tilburg of the Netherlands League, guiding his team to the Dutch Cup and scoring 92 points (43g-49a) in just 34 games.

Below is a look at Lalonde's placing on the Thunder career scoring charts:

GOALS: 1. Mike Lalonde 59

2. Nathan Martz 29

Steve Slonina 29

3. Tim Verbeek 28

4. Joel Irwin 25

POINTS

1. Nathan Martz 122

2. Mike Lalonde 121

3. Joel Irwin 68

4. Stephane Goulet 63

5. Brandon Schwartz 52

INSIDE THE NUMBERS - PENALTY SHOTS Entering the 2008-09 season, the Thunder has made 1 penalty shot and missed 7 penalty shots, while opponents had made 2 penalty shots and missed 7 penalty shots. Below is a look at Thunder and opposing penalty shots for this season:

PENALTY SHOTS BY THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON 1 MADE, 1 MISSED

1. MADE - Ryan Huddy vs. Jeff Zatkoff at Ontario 11/12/08

2. MISSED - Stephane Goulet vs. Joe Fallon at Fresno 11/14/08

PENALTY SHOTS VS. THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON

0 MADE, 1 MISSED

1. MISSED - Darryl Lloyd vs. Bryan Pitton at Victoria 10/26/08

OVERDUE IN OVERTIME The Thunder has an all-time record of 14-17 in sudden-death overtime and is 11-16 in shootouts. Below is a look at this year's Thunder game-winning goals in overtime and summaries of shootout winners: THE THUNDER OVERTIME WINNERS (THIS SEASON: 1-2) DATE OPPONENT SCORE GAME-WINNING GOAL 11/15 @Ontario W, 3-2 Kinley (1:50)

THE THUNDER IN SHOOTOUTS, THIS SEASON: 1-2

DATE OPPONENT SCORE SHOOTOUT

GOALS GOALTENDER

11/7 Victoria W, 3-2 (Lalonde, Huddy, Kyrzakos) Perugini

11/12 @Ontario L, 2-3 (Urquhart) Perugini

11/14 @Fresno L, 4-5 (None) Pitton

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ECHL Stories from December 16, 2008


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