Thunder Host Grizzlies Tonight at 7:30

November 7, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


Stockton Arena opens doors at 6:30 as the Thunder host the Utah Grizzlies in the first meeting between the teams tonight.

Arena: Stockton Arena

Date: Friday, November 7

Time: 7:30 p.m. (Doors at 6:30 p.m.)

Giveaway: Oversized "Thunderstruck" posters to the first 2,000 fans

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

Last Year's Record: Stockton went 8-3-0-1 against Utah

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

Donate and Receive $5 off your Ticket Tonight Only

The Thunder are helping Stockton Arena collect new socks, gently used coats and blankets for children, men and women at the game on Friday. Bring a donation to Stockton Arena when the Thunder take on Utah at 7:30 p.m. this Friday, November 7 and receive $5 off your ticket purchase.

STH Chalk Talk tonight at 6:15

Season Ticket Holders can enter tonight through the Silver Bullet Bar starting at 5:30 in preparation for the first in-season Chalk Talk with Coach Kromm at 6:15. Fans will have a few minutes to pick the brain of the Thunder's head coach to learn about what's going on with the Thunder and even just hockey in general. This is only open to Thunder Season Ticket Holders.

Last Time Out

The Thunder got off to another rocky start against the Ontario Reign in the first meeting between the teams this season when Jeff May scored an early power-play goal and then Ontario captain Derek Couture made it 2-0 Reign after 20 minutes of play.

The Thunder battled back though and in a span of 1:50 seconds early in the second period, the Thunder were able to score a pair of power-play markers of their own to tie the game up.

Both goals were set up by Ryan Constant at the point with both Jack MacLellan and Keith Seabrook getting on the end of Constant's 99th and 100th career assists for the Thunder and knotting the game up at 2-2.

However the Reign wouldn't be stopped and it was Couture who scored the next two goals, giving the captain the hat trick and restoring the Reign's two-goal lead. Gasper Kopitar, May and Rocco Carzo also scored goals as Ontario took the first meeting 7-2. Philippe Trudeau stopped 18 of 23 before being replaced by Shane Owen to start the third period.

Tonight

The Thunder look to snap a four-game losing skid tonight against the Utah Grizzlies, who are also hoping to snap their own three-game losing streak tonight. Something has to give as both teams have struggled out of the gates with the Thunder bringing in a 3-6-0 record while Utah has a 2-4-1 record. Both sit above Alaska, but out of the playoff picture, with still plenty of hockey to play this season.

For the Thunder, this marks the final home game until November 22 when the team returns home to a tied season-long seven-game home stand. The Thunder will embark on a five-game road trip starting next week.

Know the Enemy

The Grizzlies bring a very different team to Stockton Arena tonight, returning only seven players. Part of the returning players include the former Cincinnati Cyclone duo Mathieu Aubin and Michael Pelech. Pelech leads the team early on with 5 goals while Aubin has been held pointless in his first seven games.

On the blueline Mike Folkes and Channing Boe return however the pair of familiar defenders is a combined -6 to start the year and both haven't played every game for their squad.

Also returning is Brent Gwidt and Vinny Scarsella. Gwidt is even after 2 games but has been held without a point while Scarsella, fresh from playing men's league with Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane back in Buffalo, New York over the off-season, has scored a goal and added three helpers.

One huge change for the Grizzlies are the masked men because gone are Aaron Dell and Igor Bobkov as Dell moved on to the Allen Americans while Bobkov is up full-time in the AHL with the Norfolk Admirals, the Anaheim Ducks and Utah affiliate.

Instead the job has been tasked to Ryan Faragher and Etienne Marcoux, both affiliated netminders with the Norfolk Admirals, however they have struggled in their first professional season. Marcoux has a 3.85 goals-against-average and .894 save-percentage while Faragher has a slightly better 3.01 goals-against-average and .882 save-percentage.

Both Faragher and Marcoux have been assigned back to the Admirals in recent days meaning the Grizzlies will have one of two new goalies going for their team tonight. Utah signed Joe Howe and Brandon Maxwell who have both yet to play a game this season. Howe is a Colorado College kid who played 18 games for the Cincinnati Cyclones last season, along with 7 games for the Missouri Mavericks, meaning that Howe backed up current Thunder goalie Shane Owen. Maxwell played his first pro year last season in Sweden's second tier with Rögle, playing in 40 games.

Finally returning to the Utah lineup is one player Thunder fans don't particularly care for in Danick Paquette, who brings his hard-nosed, gritty game back to Utah. Paquette isn't just a pest who can play a very physical game, but is also a player who has offensive talent and can beat you with his body, and with his stick. The former Washington Capitals draft pick was the team's second leading scorer last year with 49 points and was a continual thorn in the side of the Thunder throughout the season series.

Who to Watch

Lukas Sutter should be the man to watch tonight as he plays a very similar game to that of the aforementioned Danick Paquette and we could see the two trying to do their best (or worst depending on perspective) to knock opposing players off of their games.

Sutter is fourth on the team in penalty minutes with 14 while Paquette leads his team with 23 to start the season. Both players are looking for their first goals of the season, however the two have been able to get on the scoresheets with a few assists. They may beat you down, they may chirp you, but there's nothing that these two wouldn't love to do more than put their team up while doing all of the above.

Thunder Debuts

The Thunder had a number of players make season debuts in the last game against the Ontario Reign including former Ontario forward J.T. Barnett, Latvian rookie Roberts Lipsbergs and former Vancouver Canucks draft selection Prab Rai.

For Lipsbergs it was his first professional game but the high scoring sniper was unable to get on the scoresheet and finished the night even. Barnett was primarily used as the 10th forward on Wednesday and finished without a point and was out for a goal against. Rai was the only player that made their Thunder debuts to get on the scoresheet as he scrapped with former Utah forward Norm Ezekiel and ended up with a two-minute penalty.

The only player that didn't make his season debut was Michal Spacek who played with the Thunder during the 2013-14 season.

A Few Good Men (to play for both teams)

The Thunder and Grizzlies share two players that have now suited up for both teams. The Thunder employ former Utah Grizzlies goaltender Shane Owen, who could be in line to get his 6th start of the season and into his 7th game against his former squad.

Owen played 32 of his 66 ECHL games with the Grizzlies in parts of two seasons, 2011-12 and again in 2012-13, going 9-12-5 and one shutout victory. Owen has played excellent for the Thunder this season after his 52 game season the goalie spent in the Central Hockey League with the Missouri Mavericks last year, however he has allowed 10 goals in his last two games (allowed 2 goals on Wednesday after he came in for Philippe Trudeau in the third period).

Meanwhile the Utah team brought in hard hitting defenseman Marc Cantin after his contract expired with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Cantin had a goal and an assist in 6 regular season games with the Thunder before adding 2 goals and an assist in 9 playoff games with the team against the Ontario Reign and Bakersfield Condors in last year's playoffs.

Cantin already has a goal and 2 assists with the Grizzlies this season and is second behind Paquette in penalty minutes with 14, however, the defenseman has a -10 rating.

Seeing as we know what Cantin is capable of, it's safe to assume that the defender's plus/minus is a tad inflated as Cantin continually showed a willingness to play physical and play a solid two-way game.

Congratulations Conny

Thunder alternate captain Ryan Constant became the Thunder's all-time leader in assists during the road trip to Idaho. The defenseman fired a shot from the point that was stuffed in by Tyler Maxwell on the rebound.

For the d-man from Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Manitoba, it was his 98th career assist in a Thunder uniform, one better than former centerman Nathan Martz. Martz picked up 97 assists in just two seasons with the Thunder back in 2005-06 and 2006-07. He added his 99th and 100th career assists in a Thunder sweater on Wednesday with both coming on the power play.



ECHL Stories from November 7, 2014


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