Thunder Seek Revenge against Alaska

Published on March 28, 2015 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


After falling to the Alaska Aces last night in front of the home fans, the Stockton Thunder look to get one back against their rival from the north tonight with puck set to drop at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena

Arena: Stockton Arena

Date : Saturday, March 28

Time : 7:30 p.m. - Doors at 6:30 p.m.

Giveaway : Green Reusable Tote Bags to the first 500 17-years and under and Adult Replica Jerseys to the first 1,000 18-years and over

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

This Year's Record : Stockton is 2-9-1-0 vs. Alaska

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

Recycling with Covanta Pays!

Tonight Covanta will give the first 50 fans who exchange an eligible recyclable item at the game a $10 Wal-Mart gift card.

Eligible items include old cell phones, rechargeable batteries and household mercury items (such as thermometers or thermostats). Car batteries, batteries weighing more than 11 lbs. and non-rechargeable batteries can't be accepted.

Heat Rises in Fall 2015

During the first intermission of the March 12th 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 !

Vote now for your Fan Favorite

Who makes you get out of your seat and cheer? Who do you love seeing out in the community or at the autograph table?

The ballots are open right now for who YOU believe should be awarded the Thunder's "Fan Favorite" this season. Will it be Garet Hunt, who's won the award every year for the last six seasons or will there be a new player to dethrone him? It's up to you to decide!

Vote now by clicking over to StocktonThunder.com/fanfavorite and cast your vote now. Voting ends this Monday, March 30, at 5:00 p.m. and the winner will be given the award at the conclusion of the final ever Thunder home game on April 11.

Shattock is on Fire

Tyler Shattock has been one of the best players in the ECHL over the last two months.

Shattock has scored 12 goals and added 13 assists in 22 games thus far since February began. Of the 22 games, Shattock has points in 17 of them, missing out on just 5 games.

His 54 points this season has obliterated his previous pro high of 20 points that he picked up while playing for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL last season. While it was initially thought that Shattock increased his point streak to a season-high six games on Wednesday, scoring corrections actually took the assist away from him, meaning that his tied season-high five game point streak will end there.

During this streak he had 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points. He looks to begin a new one tonight against the Aces after scoring in last night's game.

Last Time vs. Alaska

The Thunder were roughed up on Friday by the Aces, but the team did have a few notable things that occurred during the game.

Brad Stebner is on a two-game assist streak, with three in his last two contests, and Alex Mallet has goals in back-to-back games and three total points since returning from the IR. Tyler Shattock may have been held off the scoresheet on Wednesday's game for just the fifth time since February but it didn't take long for him to get back on it with a power-play goal in the second.

The Thunder captain, Garet Hunt showed why he's been the winner of the "Fan Favorite" award for the last six seasons after fighting Justin Johnson twice in last night's contest. The first fight seemed like a "rally the troops" fight that came at the end of the second period. The second fight happened at the tail end of the third period of Bryon Paulazzo's hit on Johnson was not well received by the Aces alternate captain. After a brief discussion along the boards that continued in the faceoff dot, Paulazzo was replaced by Hunt who stood up for his teammate and won the decision.

Tonight

The Thunder will look to forget about last night and move on to tonight's contest, in which they will face the Aces for the second-to-last time.

A short bench has hurt the Thunder in recent weeks and they will be short again tonight. However, with versatile players like James Henry and Tyler Shattock, who each spent time on the blueline last night, the Thunder will piece together a lineup that gives them the best opportunity to spoil Alaska's playoff hopes.

Speaking of said hopes, the Aces pulled within one point of the Utah Grizzlies last night for the fourth and final spot. Utah hosts Idaho again tonight and then are off until April 3rd with a huge series awaiting them against Alaska. The Aces currently have two games in hand but will make up those games prior to meeting the Grizzlies when they play tomorrow afternoon against the Thunder and then a quick, one-game series with the Idaho Steelheads on April 1.

Who to Watch

He has only been back in the lineup for two games, but Alex Mallet has certainly made his presence felt on the ice in the black and yellow.

As mentioned before, Mallet has scored goals in two-straight games and three points since returning to the lineup.

The forward brings the rare combination of size and speed to the ice and he couples those skills with a knack for finding the weak spot in the defense.

He did just that on his power-play goal last night, as he sat in the soft spot of the defense on the weak side and buried the puck into the net on a play that the goalie had no shot at.

Mallet has made those plays with regularity when healthy this season, and his reintroduction into the lineup has could be the type of spark the Thunder need late in the year.

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.

Interesting Fact

Garet Hunt's 248 PIMS this season ties him for second most in his career. He posted 248 minutes in the sin bin during his rookie campaign in 2008-09 and again in 2010-11. The only season he posted more than 248 PIMS was 2011-12 campaign that saw the longtime Thunder forward and enforcer log 255 minutes in the box. This 248 PIMS comes a year after recording his career-low 187 minutes in the box. It has been the only season the now Thunder captain has posted fewer than 200 PIMS.

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ECHL Stories from March 28, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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