CHL Wichita Thunder

Thunder Weekly

December 5, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release


LAST WEEK'S GAMES-

Friday, Dec. 2nd WICHITA 2 Evansville 5

Sunday, Dec. 4th WICHITA 4 Tulsa 3

**Caps designates home

THIS WEEK'S GAMES-

Thurs., Dec. 8th Wichita at Allen 7:05 pm

Fri., Dec. 9th Wichita at Texas 7:30 pm

Sat. Dec. 10th Wichita vs. Texas 7:05 pm

RADIO- Thurs., Dec 8th 92.7 KWME, 1550 KKLE

Friday, Dec. 9th 1550 KKLE

Sat., Dec. 10th 1550 KKLE

**Pre-game begins 20 minutes prior to start of all games. All games can be heard on www.wichitathunder.com or on your smart phone with the Tune In Radio App using 1550 KKLE**

BACK ON TOP- Wichita returned home this past weekend to host the Evansville IceMen and the Tulsa Oilers. Friday night's meeting with Evansville was the first ever meeting between the two franchises and both teams came into the contest at the top of their respective conferences. Wichita got goals from Matt Summers and Matt Robinson, but the IceMen scored twice in 25 seconds with a minute remaining in the second period and scored the last four to run away with a 5-2 win. The loss snapped a three game winning streak and knocked the Thunder out of first place. On Sunday afternoon, Wichita fell behind to Tulsa before scoring three third period goals to come out with a 4-3 victory. The Oilers had a two goal lead after former Thunder forward Troy Ofukany scored 31 seconds into the third period. Tulsa has scored the first goal in five out of the seven meetings this season while the Thunder has come from behind three times to upend the Oilers. Two of those comebacks occurred in the third period. Wichita and Allen continue to exchange places at the top of the Berry Conference, as Wichita propelled back into first place with 24 points.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK- The Thunder has had its flare for the dramatic this season and Sunday's win was just the latest installment. Wichita has the best record in the CHL when trailing after two periods. The Thunder is 4-3-0 while every other team in the league is below .500.

CLOSE TO THE SUMMIT- 12-year veteran Daniel Tetrault inched that much closer to reaching the top of the mountain for a Thunder defenseman. With two more points this weekend, Tetrault is just one point shy (168) of former Thunder defenseman Sean O'Reilly for the franchise lead in most points scored by a Thunder defenseman. O'Reilly played 311 games from 1997-02, scoring 169 points during that span while Tetrault has played 258 games in a Thunder uniform.

THREADING THE NEEDLE- Alex Bourret had a very productive weekend and has been tremendous in finding his teammates this season. The Drummondville, PQ native leads the team with 15 helpers and is tied in sixth place in the CHL for assists. This past Sunday, Bourret made a key hit on Marty Standish, stole the puck and found Thomas Beauregard who netted the game winner. He has eight points in the last five and multiple assists in five games this season.

DOMINANT D-MEN- Andrew Martens and Daniel Tetrault continue to be near the top of the leaderboard for scoring by a defenseman. Martens sits in first for goals and second place for points scored by defensemen with 16 (6g, 10a). Tetrault is tied for fifth with 13 points (5g, 8a) while Jarred Mohr (+18) and Martens (+13) are at the top of the plus-minus list.

SPREADING THE WEALTH- Despite being without leading scorer Brett Hemingway, Wichita was still able to find the back of the net. Including Friday night, Wichita had seven different goal scorers. Matt Summers returned to the line-up Friday after sitting out nine games with an injury and didn't waste any time finding the back of the net. Summers, who was leading the team in scoring before going down, scored five minutes into Friday night's loss to Evansville and also added an assist on Sunday. Matt Robinson added another tally, giving him four goals in five games and six on the season.

SPECIAL TEAMS- Wichita's power play and penalty killing units were not very busy this past weekend. Wichita went a combined 0-for-6 on the power play while killing off five of six themselves. The Thunder power play away from home continues to the be strength and Wichita can improve on that this coming week against Allen and Texas. On the road, the Thunder power play is ranked second overall, going 10-for-36 at a clip of 28.6%.

THUNDERBOLTS... Wichita is averaging 3.65 goals a contest, good for second place... The Thunder has given up 2.94 goals against, good for sixth... Wichita is first overall in shots allowed (25.88/game) and has given up just 133 shots in the third period all season...The Thunder has only allowed 12 goals against in the final period...Wichita is tied for first with six shorthanded goals while being one of just two teams to not allow a goal shorthanded... In one goal games, Wichita is 6-2-0... When leading after one, The Thunder is 5-0-0... Tied after two periods, Wichita is 5-1-0...When outshooting the opponent, Wichita is 9-3-0... Justin Sawyer had a 12-game penalty minute streak snapped Friday night, which is still the longest of the season in the CHL... The Thunder is 6-2-0 against teams from the Turner Conference while going 6-3-0 in division... Through nine home games, Wichita sits in second overall in attendance, averaging 5,731.

UPCOMING WEEK- Wichita will travel to Texas this coming week to take on a pair of opponents that are just 41 miles apart. On Thursday night, Wichita will make its first trip of the season to the Allen Event Center to take on the Americans at 7:05pm. Friday Night, Wichita will visit the Texas Brahmas at 7:30pm before returning home Saturday night at 7:05pm to host Texas for the first time this year. Saturday night is Teddy Bear Toss Night, brought to you by Bank of the West. Bring a new stuffed animal and throw it onto the ice when the Thunder score their first goal. The stuffed animals are then delivered by the Thunder players to local homes, donated to charities and given to underprivileged children for Christmas. For ticket information, call 755-SEAT, visit the INTRUST Bank Arena box office or online at www.selectaseat.com.

Check out the Wichita Thunder Statistics



Central Hockey League Stories from December 5, 2011


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