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Thunder Host Idaho for the Final Time

March 15, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The 96th ever regular season meeting between the Thunder and Idaho Steelheads gets underway at 4:00 p.m. from Stockton Arena

Arena: Stockton Arena

Date : Sunday, March 15

Time : 4:00 p.m.

Giveaway : Trading Cards to the first 500 fans

Broadcast : ECHL.TV and Spreaker beginning at 3:45 p.m. PST

This Year's Record : Stockton is 3-11-0-0 vs. Idaho

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

Heat Rises in Fall 2015

During the first intermission of Wednesday's watch party, Team President Dave Piecuch and Mayor Anthony Silva revealed that the Stockton AHL team will be known as the Stockton Heat.

The Heat name was selected over the Blaze, Scorch, Inferno and Fire after fans stuffed the boxes with names related to the parent club in Calgary.

Season tickets are on sale now for the first year of Heat hockey! For just $50 per seat, you can reserve your spot as the new team kicks off play for the 2015-16 AHL season. Call 209-373-1500 or visit StocktonThunder.com/ahl !

Youth Hockey in Stockton Making Headlines

The Stockton Thunder aren't the only great hockey teams in Stockton as the local youth teams have been making headlines too! The Pee Wee Colts have been in Escondido for the past few days after qualifying for the CAHA Tier II Pee Wee State Playoffs. They played two tough teams in the playoffs in the past two days that resulted in Colts losses but we are so proud of how they responded after a 1-9 slump to start the year was reversed after an excellent showing at a President's Day tournament in Phoenix turned the momentum on their side. Great job Colts!

But that isn't the only local youth team making headlines as the Stockton Fighting Squirrels, who play in the Sharks High School Hockey League, will play for the championship today prior to the start of the Thunder game.

After opening the post season with a 6-1 win over the Bellarmine Bells, the Thunder faced the tough second seeded Redwood City Blackstars yesterday and came away with a big 3-1 win, setting the stage for a championship matchup today in San Jose against the top seeded East Bay Dragons at 11:00 a.m. Good luck today Fighting Squirrels!

The Thunder are proud of all that our youth teams have accomplished this season and wish everyone good luck gearing up for next season.

Last Time vs. Idaho

Last night was full of storylines for the Thunder.

It started with Cody Reichard playing like an absolute brick wall in net from start to finish. If it weren't for a bad bounce in the third, he would've completely shut down the Idaho attack, but he walks away with 37 saves on 38 shots.

Thunder captain Garet Hunt opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the second as he put it past the goalie's glove to put the Thunder up 1-0. The goal tied Hunt with Mike Lalonde for the all-time record for points in a career for the Thunder with 156. It also put Hunt within 10 goals of tying Lalonde's career goals mark.

In the third, Idaho managed to get one past Reichard and the game looked to be heading to overtime. That is until a neutral zone turnover created by Tyler Maxwell and Vinny Scarsella gave Tyler Shattock a chance. He worked a give-and-go with Jack Combs with less than four second showing on the clock and Shattock deposited the one timer into the net for the win with .5 seconds left on the clock.

Tonight

The Thunder and the Steelheads will square off in the rubber match of the weekend series that has seen the two teams split one game apiece in the past two night.

The contest will be the final game between the two franchises for the foreseeable future. The Thunder are 38-50-7 in 95 games all-time against Idaho, and if the last two games are any indication the 96th meeting between the two should be a thriller.

Who to Watch

It's been in the back of everyone's mind these last few weeks, and last night it happened. Garet Hunt, longtime captain and fan favorite here in Stockton, tied the all-time points record in a Thunder uniform with his power-play goal in the second period.

Hunt has played seven seasons in Stockton and has developed a deep relationship with the fans and community. It's only fitting that he be recognized as the leader in just about every major statistical category in the Thunder's history.

#24's next point will put him atop the all-time points list and secure his spot in Thunder history even deeper. That point could very well come tonight against Idaho judging by the way he played with linemates James Henry and J.T. Barnett last night.

All-Time Watch

The scoring situation between Garet Hunt, Ryan Constant and Mike Lalonde is in danger of falling to one of the Thunder's star players very soon.

Lalonde's 156 career Thunder points is in jeopardy as Garet Hunt tied Lalonde's mark with his 156th point while Ryan Constant sits right behind them both at 151.

Both Hunt and Constant 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 62 markers, putting the Thunder captain 10 shy of tying the record.

It Must be the Mullet

Tyler Shattock has been on an absolute tear these past two months and what better way to continue that success than with a last second goal to win the game last night.

The fact is that Shattock has been the most consistent point producer over the last two months, having only four games without earning a point. He has put up 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists) in the 18 games since the beginning of February.

His 3 power-play goals this month alone are tied for his season high in a single month, despite having only played in seven games thus far, and his 2 game-winning goals this month has tripled his total in that category for the season.

That said, perhaps the most valuable part of Shattock's game is what he does away from the scoresheet. He is one of the hardest hitters on the Thunder roster and plays the power forward role as well as anyone in the league, leading the forecheck whenever he's on the ice and driving the net on offensive rushes.

That power forward mentality, mixed with the soft hands, showed up again last night in a matter of seconds, as Shattock delivered a gorgeous one-touch pass to linemate Jack Combs, who proceeded to get the puck right back to the man in the mullet as he drove the net and buried the game winner.

Interesting Fact

Both Jack Combs and Tyler Shattock have points in three-straight games.

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