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Thunder and Reign on Fan Painted Ice Tonight

December 31, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder host the Ontario Reign on New Year's Eve on fan painted ice beginning at 6:00 p.m. tonight at Stockton Arena. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.

Arena: Stockton Arena

Date: Wednesday, December 31

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Giveaway: 2014-15 WE PAINT the Ice Night Poster to the first 500 fans

Broadcast: ECHL.TV and Spreaker beginning at 5:45 p.m. PST

This Year's Record: Stockton is 0-3-0-0 against Ontario

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

Ray Morgan Company Painted Classic Tonight!

Tonight we play on the most creative ice surface, a one of a kind ice surface. Check out our holiday voucher plans, including a specific Painted Classic/New Year's Eve plan featuring two Lower Premium tickets and a $20 Stockton Fan Attic gift card for $49 !

Last Time vs. Ontario

The Stockton Thunder were looking to start a streak of wins and it looked good early on with Peter Sivak following up on a rebound that Jussi Olkinuora allowed to score his eighth goal of the year.

However it'd be an all-out Ontario second period and they'd capitalize with a Judd Blackwater power-play goal early on to tie it up at one all. The former Thunder forward wasn't done as he received a nifty pass across the ice from Norm Ezekiel and his second of the night put Ontario up by one.

In the third it turned into the Olkinuora show as he made a number of outstanding saves to keep his team in the lead. With Kent Simpson on the bench and the extra attacker out, it didn't take long for Derek Couture to pot his 12th of the season into the empty net and seal the win for the Ontario Reign 3-1. The Thunder have lost three straight to Ontario and Derek Couture has been the man to watch as he has 8 points in 3 games against Stockton during the 2014-15 season.

Tonight

The Most Creative City in the ECHL (or so it says on the ice so it must be true) is at it for the second annual Ray Morgan Company Painted Classic.

The fans poured onto the ice last night to draw pictures and write messages on the ice and today the Thunder and Reign will play on it!

Often Imitated, Never Duplicated

WE PAINT the Ice Night was a lot of fun last night as near 1,000 participants took to the Stockton Arena ice surface after the game and were able to partake in the one of a kind event by painting the ice. Kids were able to write messages, draw images and in some cases create an entire scene on their very own section of the ice.

A cup of paint and a brush were provided to all of the kids participating in the painting and the magic that came from their imaginations combined is a sight that is truly worth being seen. This revolutionary event sparked a viral sensation last season as the Stockton Thunder were the first organization to allow young fans to come out and paint the ice surface for a game to be played on. Since then, many other teams in the ECHL, former Central Hockey League, and even NHL have borrowed the idea and enjoyed similar success as the Thunder.

However, we as a city, are the original and this year's event proved just how much the fans enjoy this event. The ice is noticeably more colorful and there are far fewer gaps in the new paint job than there were after last season's.

Simply put, the ice looks great and it's all thanks to the fans!

Peter Sivák je na deset her bodu pruh

Don't speak Czech?

Don't worry...all you need to know is that Peter Sivak is lighting it up in the ECHL. This isn't news as he's been one of the top performers since bursting onto the North American scene in 2012-13 with San Francisco. Sivak has 6 goals and 6 assists in his nine-game point streak, just one game shy of tying the current long of 10 in the ECHL by Cincinnati's Byron Froese.

Who to Watch

The players to watch tonight? Simple...the goalies...on both sides!

The paint will certainly pose a challenge for the goaltenders even if there isn't paint in the slot this year. The strategy could be simple for both teams...traffic in front of the net, shots low and on goal. In truth the situation with the paint will only impact the first few moments of each period as the ice will get torn up, snow will cover the designs, and the ice will become less of a factor, but if I'm Coach Kromm or Coach Christie, I'm telling my guys to shoot early and often.

This of course puts pressure on the masked men between the pipes and for the Thunder it could be Shane Owen, Philippe Trudeau or Kent Simpson who will get the call. Simpson played great last night but ended up taking the loss in his return to Stockton.

As for the Ontario Reign, the Thunder have only seen Jussi Olkinuora this season but both he and Joe Cannata are in the midst of solid seasons for the Reign. Cannata has spent a considerable amount of time in the AHL while Olkinuora has shouldered the load in Southern California, appearing in 22 of Ontario's 32 previous games this season.

A Painted Classic

The Thunder will play in the second ever Painted Classic game here in Stockton.

Last season, in the midst of a series of five-straight games against the San Francisco Bulls, the Thunder hosted the team on the painted ice surface, the first ever pro game on an ice surface decorated by fans. However penalty trouble for the Thunder turned the game around and the Bulls would beat the Thunder by a 4-2 final. Jordan Morrison scored the game winner while Tyler Beskorowany bested Brian Foster in goal.

Matt Bergland scored the first Thunder goal on fan painted ice but it was San Francisco's Tyler Gron who scored the first ever goal on the painted surface. Landon Oslanski was the other goal scorer for the Stockton Thunder.

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 146.

That means Constant is just 5 points back of tying the record while Hunt is 10 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 55 markers, putting the Thunder captain 17 shy of tying the record.

Stopping Couture and Co.

The Thunder have allowed 17 goals to the Reign in three games.

Leading the way in production against the Thunder is Ontario captain Derek Couture who has 6 goals and 2 assists in the two games against the Thunder. Much of the reason for the success is Couture's play around the net. His big body prohibits the Thunder goaltenders from getting great looks at outside shots, however, the Thunder defense is bigger and has some experience under their belt, and will need to slow down Couture in order to beat the Reign tonight.

Right behind Couture is Matt White who has 6 points against the Thunder in two games.

Streaks on the Line tonight

Peter Sivak is on a nine game point streak (6G, 6A)

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