Thunder, San Jose Sharks Announce Affiliation Partnership

Published on August 2, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder of the ECHL and San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League have reached a one-year affiliation agreement for the 2010-11 season effective immediately, Thunder president Dan Chapman announced today in conjunction with the Sharks at a news conference at Stockton Arena.

"The San Jose Sharks have been one of the premier NHL organizations over the last several years and we're very excited to begin working with them this upcoming season," said Chapman. "For geographic reasons this affiliation makes a great deal of sense and we also look forward to their participation in making the Thunder an even better team in 2010-11."

"We are very excited to add the Stockton Thunder as our ECHL development affiliate," said San Jose Sharks executive vice president and general manager Doug Wilson. "The Thunder have done a great job bringing winning hockey to their market and we think the proximity of our teams will provide mutual benefits for both franchises on and off the ice."

Stockton will serve as the AA minor-league affiliate for Sharks prospects, aligning two professional Northern California hockey clubs separated by just over 80 miles of distance. San Jose was affiliated with Kalamazoo of the ECHL last season and during the year, the K-Wings were North Division champions and finished tied for the best record in the American Conference with 94 points (42-20-8).

Six players were assigned to Kalamazoo from San Jose last season, including defensemen Will Colbert, Louis Liotti and Mitch Versteeg, right wingers Matt Jones and Dean Strong and goaltender Tyson Sexsmith.

"It's an exciting day to add another top notch organization, right in our own backyard, in the San Jose Sharks to our hockey family," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "They have a proven track record of talent development through their system and it's a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our hockey club. Our current affiliation with the Edmonton Oilers has been a huge success and we're looking forward to building the same relationship with the Sharks. I'm personally looking forward to help develop talent of two of the most exciting organizations during the 10-11 season."

The agreement, which began as a working partnership in January 2010, is a supplement to the Thunder's recently renewed affiliation with the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL and Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL. Stockton and Edmonton have worked as affiliated partners since 2006-07 and since then, the Thunder has helped promote seven players to make their debut in the NHL.

As hockey neighbors, both clubs also share similar honors in sports and entertainment. The Thunder is a two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," awarded to teams that are first-rate, who excel in all categories of sales and marketing, and who distinguish themselves in their community, both on and off the ice. The Thunder led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and has drawn over an average of 6,000 fans per game through five consecutive years.

The Sharks recently finished as the 12th best overall franchise in ESPN's "Ultimate Standings," ranking all teams from the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Basketball Association according to an in-depth survey conducted by ESPN The Magazine. The "Ultimate Standings" ranked every franchise according to how much they give back to fans for all of time, money and emotion invested by each fan.

Both Stockton and San Jose advanced to their respective league's Conference Final playoff round last season.

The Sharks, a member of the NHL's Western Conference and Pacific Division, have been a member of the National Hockey League since the 1991-92 season. The Sharks have won three consecutive Pacific Division titles and have won five division championships (2001-02, 2003-04, 2007-10) in franchise history. In 2008-09, San Jose captured their first President's Trophy with the NHL's best regular season record (53-18-11, 117 points).

Like the Northern California-neighboring Thunder, the Sharks have enjoyed box office success each season on their own home ice and in the last four seasons, San Jose has drawn a total of 2,865,106 fans in the last 164 regular season games to HP Pavilion at San Jose. The Sharks set a franchise record with 719,904 fans attending the team's 41 home games in 2009-10.

In conjunction with the agreement with San Jose, the Worcester Sharks will serve as an AHL affiliate of the Thunder.

OPENING NIGHT AND TICKET INFORMATION

Opening Night is Friday, Oct. 15, when the Thunder opens the 2010-11 regular season at home against the Ontario Reign, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena. Details on Thunder 2010 training camp information will be announced soon.

The Thunder are freezing Season Ticket prices for the 2010-11 season, which are on sale now and can be purchased by calling (209) 373-1500 or by visiting www.stocktonthunder.com. Partial-season Mini Plans are also available now and information on individual tickets will be announced soon.

A two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," the Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew over 200,000 fans for the fifth consecutive season in 2009-10. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

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