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Thunder Head to Final Frontier in Game vs. Colorado

February 13, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder host the Colorado Eagles for the team's first ever Space Night. Stockton native and NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez will be in attendance and conduct a special presentation prior to the game.

Arena: Stockton Arena

Date : Friday, February 13

Time : 7:30 p.m. Doors at 5:30 p.m.

Giveaway : Thunder Glow-in-the-Dark Pucks to the first 500 fans

Broadcast : ECHL.TV and Spreaker beginning at 7:15 p.m.

This Year's Record : Stockton is 1-8-0-0 vs. Colorado

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

The Final Frontier

Stockton native and NASA astronaut will be in the barn for a special pregame presentation that sees Stockton Arena's doors open (for tonight only) an hour earlier than normal. This means that fans can begin coming into the building at 5:30 p.m. with Hernandez set to speak to fans in the bowl starting around 5:45 p.m.

In addition to Hernandez's presentation, he'll also drop the first puck and stick around for post-game autographs on the concourse.

There will also be a number of very cool science and space related tables that will have kids of all ages (including the bigger ones) excited and engaged!

If you are a part of the first 500 fans, you'll receive a voucher to receive a glow-in-the-dark Thunder puck on your way out the doors.

Tonight should be a very fun, and educational, experience for all! Call (209) 373-1500 if you need to get tickets for this spectacular event!

Voting Open for 2014-15 ECHL Fantasy Team

The ECHL is giving fans the opportunity to vote for players to comprise the 2014-15 Fantasy Team, of which, one player from each Member Team will be selected to wear a special ECHL Fantasy Team jersey at an upcoming home game.

The Thunder have preselected three players, Garet Hunt, Tyler Maxwell and Jack MacLellan to appear on the team's ballot while fans have the opportunity to also write-in a selection of their choice. The top vote-getter on the Thunder will wear a special fantasy team jersey on Saturday, March 14 when the Thunder play the Idaho Steelheads.

Voting is now open on ECHL.com . Fans are limited to one ballot during the voting period, which runs until 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 23. Fans can vote for up to one player on each ECHL Member Team's ballot before hitting the "Cast Vote" button at the bottom of the voting page. The results of the Fantasy Team voting will be announced the week of Feb. 23.

Last Time vs. Colorado

It appeared that for the second-straight night Colorado goaltender Clarke Saunders was on his way to a shutout against the Thunder; that is until Tyler Shattock received a pass from J.T. Barnett and planted the puck into the back of net with 10:41 remaining in the contest.

The goal opened the proverbial floodgates as the Thunder proceeded to treat the 5,575 fans in attendance to one of the most thrilling finishes to a game this season. Unfortunately, the Thunder came up just shy of completing the comeback, despite two goals in the final 33 seconds of the game, falling to the Eagles 5-4.

The loss turned out to be the last in a stretch of 11-straight games in which the Thunder finished on the wrong end of the score. Nevertheless, the Thunder faithful expressed their appreciation for the team's compete level down the stretch with a standing ovation.

Tonight

The Thunder face a streaking Colorado team that has collected points in six-consecutive games. The Eagles currently hold the top spot in the Pacific division and are the highest scoring team in the division with 171 goals on the season, 17 more than any other team in the Pacific.

The Thunder will have to find a way to slow the Colorado offense and turn defensive stops into offensive opportunities to defeat the Eagles. While defenseman Brett Kulak and Collin Bowman find themselves called up to the AHL, the team still has a host of firepower and goaltender Doug Carr, who returns to the team after spending some time in Adirondack with the Flames.

Who to Watch

If turning defense into offense is to happen, Keith Seabrook will likely be the catalyst. Since Ryan Constant's injury that has sidelined the Thunder's heart and soul on the blueline since the December 13 meeting with Colorado, Seabrook has taken over the role of Stockton's top two-way defender.

The 26-year old leads all Thunder defenseman in goals (6), assists (16), points (22), and shots on goal (83) this year. He has also put up solid numbers against the Eagles, with 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in eight games thus far.

Seabrook only managed one assist during the last three-game series with Colorado, so he is certainly do for a big game on the scoresheet.

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 and Hunt both have 151 points.

That means both longtime Thunder players are just 5 points back of tying the record and 6 points away from taking it. 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 58 markers, putting the Thunder captain 14 shy of tying the record.

Back in the 209

Stockton will welcome back two faces that have been sorely missed in the 209 in Jack MacLellan and Kent Simpson.

MacLellan was the team's point leader when he departed on loan to Bridgeport following the Thunder's January 31 victory over Utah. He returns to the team only to find that his points-lead has disintegrated as Shattock and James Henry have tied the Calgary, Alberta native with 35 points on the season.

Simpson returns from his third stint in the AHL this season to give the Thunder two eligible goaltenders again. While this means Dave Guy's latest tenure on the Thunder bench will have to end, it also means that Cody Reichard will receive a well-deserved break after shouldering the difficult load since Simpson got the call from Bridgeport.

Half of Simpson's 14 appearances have come against Colorado, so he certainly knows what to expect from a team he has seen a lot of, and actually been on, this season.

Interesting Fact

J.T. Barnett has 7 of his 15 points in the last 10 games for the Thunder.

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