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Thunder Look to Snap Skid vs. Ontario

November 5, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


Arena: Stockton Arena

Date: Wednesday, November 5

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Giveaway: Fake Movember Mustaches to the first 1,000 in the building

Broadcast: ECHL.TV and Spreaker beginning at 5:55 PST p.m.

Last Year's Record: Stockton went 6-7-1-2 against Ontario

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

Last Time Out

The Thunder started their final game against the Steelheads pretty well, scoring a power-play goal in the first period and then adding one at the beginning of the second period thanks to Shawn Boutin. Even Shane Owen was feeling good after stopping all 20 shots he faced in the first period.

However fortunes quickly turned for the Thunder as the Steelheads scored seven unanswered goals in the second and third periods before the Thunder could add another, from Keith Seabrook, on the board. A last minute tally by Jason Bast secured Idaho's 8-3 win over the Thunder.

For the Thunder it was all about missing bodies with Mike Pereira and Jessey Astles missing the game and then Garet Hunt leaving in the first period. Loic Leduc wasn't injured but he missed a good chunk of the game due to a misconduct penalty for going after James Livingston who had taunted the big defenseman.

The rest of the game was bad luck and bad bounces that ended up going against the Thunder.

Tonight

The Thunder have to snap out of their recent funk in hopes of taking down the 4-3-1 Ontario Reign who have points in their last two games. The team from Northern California has dropped their last three games, all to the Idaho Steelheads, on the road, but return home to Stockton Arena, a building the team is 2-1-0 in.

Know the Enemy

The Ontario Reign seem so familiar, yet have so many new players. The Reign return 9 players to the squad including difference makers like captain Derek Couture, Rocco Carzo and Kyle Bigos. Talented Russian power-forward Maxim Kitsyn also returns for his second season with the team after again being sent to the Reign from the Manchester Monarchs. Matt White comes back to the team meaning the Thunder better keep an eye out as White led the Reign in points against the Thunder with 5 goals and 6 assists in 11 games. The reigning (no pun intended) defenseman of the year Matt Register is also back for another year.

The brotherly love continues for the team affiliated with the Los Angeles Kings as Gasper Kopitar, the brother of Kings superstar Anze Kopitar, is back for another season, however he has yet to play a game with the Reign this year.

In addition to all the returners, the team went out and signed a number of players that played for a few ECHL teams last season, none bigger than former Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman Jeff May. May played 42 games with the Wranglers last season and had two separate stints in the AHL with the Texas Stars and Hershey Bears. The defenseman had 11 goals and 14 assists and was first in shooting percentage among ECHL defenseman with over 50 shots (13.6% with 81 shots). He just scored his first goal and point with the Reign on Sunday against the Condors.

Thunder fans will find two names pretty familiar on the Reign roster as former Thunder forwards Judd Blackwater and Brady Ramsay head down to Southern California. Blackwater played 54 games for the Thunder in 2008-09 and 2009-10 scoring 16 goals and 21 assists. He also registered 8 assists in 10 playoff games with the team.

Ramsay was signed to an amateur try-out with the Thunder after his career with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL came to an end. In 3 games with the Thunder, Ramsay had an assist and 10 penalty minutes.

Rally the Troops

The Thunder have a number of new faces eligible and ready to play tonight against the Reign. After clearing through immigration, Roberts Lipsbergs is ready to make his Thunder debut. The 20-year-old Latvian was a force with the Seattle Thunderbirds the past two seasons and is excited to make the jump to the pros.

Signing contracts with the team yesterday was Michal Spacek and Prab Rai, who fans should be familiar with. Spacek played for the team last year and returned this year on a try-out while Rai was brought to camp and impressed Coach Kromm enough to keep him around. After they cleared immigration, we could see them make 2014-15 season debut's this week.

Earlier today, the Thunder signed a former Ontario player in J.T. Barnett. Barnett had an assist against the Thunder last season and showcased some amazing speed and good two-way play.

Finally, the Thunder also received defenseman Austin Levi from the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the trade that sent Corey Trivino's rights to the Florida Everblades. Levi is a former teammate of Ryan Hayes in the OHL and brings a steady defensive play to the Thunder.

Lipsbergs will be wearing #20 with Spacek wearing his familiary #3. Rai will be back in #14 while Barnett will suit up in #11 and Levi with #27.

Who to Watch

Tonight the player to watch is Roberts Lipsbergs. The Latvian brings a knack for shooting and net to his first professional game tonight after being tied up with immigration issues. Now that it's all clear the Thunder can look to a young player who scored 63 goals in two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL.

Lipsbergs isn't a big guy, but he really seems to get his entire body into his shots which come off quick, fast and in a hurry. While nerves might affect most young players, Lipsbergs also has represented his country at some of the highest levels including the World Junior Championships and the World Championships. Nerves shouldn't be an issue for him.

Award Nominations

While the Thunder didn't come away with any awards during the first month of the season, three players were nominated for awards.

Peter Sivak was the Thunder's nominee for Player of the Month after 6 games with the team with 2 goals and 5 assists in his five-game point streak. Shane Owen was the Thunder's nominee for Goalie of the month after a spell of four games left the goaltender with a 2.25 goals-against-average and a .940 save-percentage. The goalie went 2-2-0 in his four games and saw 141 shots. Finally, Adam Phillips was the Thunder's nod for Rookie of the Month after spending seven games playing forward and defense for the Thunder and scoring 3 goals and an assist. Despite not counting for the month of October, Phillips did add two assists against the Steelheads during Saturday's 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.

In Case You Missed it Quotes

"It's definitely a cool feeling. It's an honor to be in the same category and conversation as Nathan Martz, Mike Lalonde and Garet Hunt but I couldn't have done it without my teammates. It's an assist record, so obviously I needed help from my teammates to score all of those goals. Huge credit to them, and I have to thank the organization for bringing me back. It's something cool that I can remember for the rest of my life, or until the next guy comes around and breaks the record, but it's something I can tell my kids when they get older." - Ryan Constant on passing Nathan Martz on the Thunder's all-time assist record

"It's a great individual accomplishment by him and it's all the time, effort and work he's put in over the years to become the all-time assist leader. I tip my hat to him for the way he worked his way into this record and sticking with it. It's a great job by him, it just would've been that much sweeter had we won." - Garet Hunt on Ryan Constant breaking Nathan Martz' record

"It's good for Ryan, he's deserving of it and worked hard to reach that accomplishment. I'm very happy for him." - Coach Kromm on Ryan Constant breaking Nathan Martz' record

"We had a lesson last night that we can play with any team, and we showed that in the second period. Tonight we went into the game shorthanded and got worse as it went on. It became a difficult chore for our guys, we were basically playing with two lines and five defenseman for a lot of the second half of the game. It's no excuse though. Guys have to continually compete and battle through the adversity, which is fine, we'll learn from it and get better." - Coach Kromm on what he's taken away from the three games in Idaho

"We have to learn how to stay focused and composed, where if we're short in the lineup we have to keep it simple and find a way and think team first. I can blame myself for not leading by example and I could've gone harder tonight, but unfortunately I picked up an injury that forced me out. I feel terrible that I had to go out and that I left my teammates hanging." - Garet Hunt on what they can learn from week in Idaho

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