Thunder Weekly
January 20, 2014 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release
LAST WEEK'S GAMES -
Friday, January 17th
Quad City at Wichita, 7-1 W
-Wichita ran out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back on Friday night against the Flock. Jesse Dudas had two goals and two assists to lead the way while Jon Booras (2g, 1a) and Andrew Martens (3a) each had three points.
Saturday, January 18th
Wichita at Missouri, 4-3 W (OT)
-Entering the third period, Missouri held a 1-0 lead thanks to a Sebastien Thinel goal. That was quickly evaporated as the two teams combined for five markers in the final 20 minutes. Ian Lowe and RG Flath scored back-to-back goals before Andrew Courtney tied it at two on the power play. After trading goals, overtime was needed and Matt Summers recorded the game-winner with less than a minute left to give Wichita its first overtime win of the season.
Sunday, January 19th
Missouri at Wichita, 2-1 W
-For the second-straight night, Wichita came-from-behind to claim a victory against the Mavericks winning 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. Tomas Klempa tied the game with four minutes to go in the first. Jon Booras tallied the game-winner late in the second period. The Thunder held off the Mavericks' late charge and earned the two-game sweep on the weekend.
PEAKING - After beginning the season 3-11-4, Wichita has won 12 of the last 18 games (12-6-0) and is just two games below .500. During that span, the Thunder has rolled off two four-game winning streaks which includes the current one the team is on. Since December 14th, the team is 9-4-0 and has outscored its opponents 52-34, 42-15 in the Thunder's victories. The team has also gone 6-0-0 in the last two three-game in three-night stretch. (stats provided by Jeffrey Lutz of the Wichita Eagle).
AFTER REGULATION SUCCESS - Wichita claimed its first overtime win of the season Saturday night at the Independence Events Center. The Thunder has earned wins after regulation in its last three appearances, winning in a shootout on November 30th, January 10th and in overtime this past Friday. The Thunder is 1-3 in games decided in overtime while being 3-1 in shootout situations so far this season.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Jon Booras was named as the Oakley CHL Player of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, January 19th. Booras had three goals and two assists in three games over the weekend including the game-winner last night. The Billings, Montana native earned the number one star in two of the three contests. Booras joins Matt Robinson as the lone Thunder players to claim the weekly honor. He was most recently named as the Easton CHL Player of the Month for December. Since the first of December, Booras has scored 10 goals while racking up 13 assists in 17 games and is on a three-game point-streak.
SECOND LINE PRODUCTION - One of the main reasons for the Thunder's recent turnaround is the production of the second line. Matt Summers, RG Flath and Tomas Klempa have combined for 16 points (7g, 9a) and a +17 over the last four games and each have points in that stretch. Summers has six points (3g, 3a) along with two game-winning goals in that span. Over the last six games, he has tallied eight points (3g, 5a) including three multi-point outings. Flath has five points in the last four (3g, 2a) and is a +6 in that span. Since returning to the line-up on January 3rd, Klempa has seven points (3g, 4a) scoring in five of the six contests. During his four-game point streak, he has one goal and four helpers and is a +5.
BLUE LINE - Andrew Martens had an assist last night on the game-winning goal. It was the second-straight assist on the game-winner for Martens as he fed Matt Summers on the tally in overtime the previous night. Martens has six assists in the last three games and pulled even with teammate Jesse Dudas in first place in the defensive scoring race. Martens has 5 goals and 25 assists while Dudas has 10 goals and 20 assists. Mike Wilson had goals in two of the three games over the weekend and sits in a tie for 11th place with 18 points (5g, 13a).
STINGY - David Brown has won three starts in a row, surrendering two goals or fewer in all of them and collected two wins this weekend. During that span, Brown had a stingy 1.33 goals against average and a save percentage of .953. He improved his record since coming to Wichita to 6-6-0 and his overall record to 10-8-0 with a goals against average of 2.71 and a save percentage of .902.
SHORTY - Ian Lowe tied the game on Friday night with a shorthanded goal, his first since December 29th. Wichita has scored four shorthanded goals this season and is 3-0-1 when tallying a shorty.
319 - Head Coach Kevin McClelland earned his 319th victory last night, tying him with Bill McDonald for sixth place on the CHL All-Time list. The two-time CHL Coach of the Year has won 132 games in the Air Capital and will look to move alone into sixth place on Tuesday night when the Thunder visits Tulsa.
THUNDERBOLTS... Jon Booras is ninth in the league with 41 points, tied for fifth for power play goals (6), tied for 10th in power play assists (10) and is ninth in assists (27)...Nick McParland is tied for ninth in rookie scoring with 15 points (5g, 10a)...Andrew Martens is fourth in power play assists (15)...Wichita is first in shots allowed per game (29.28)...Wichita is averaging 15.17 PIM per game, which is the lowest in the league...Wichita is 6-3-0 when leading after one...Wichita is 8-3-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 5-7-1 when trailing after two...Wichita is 8-12-3 when allowing the first goal...Wichita is 5-1-0 when allowing one goal...
Wichita hits the road for the next three games starting on Tuesday night in Tulsa against the Oilers at 7:05 p.m. The Thunder head to the Black Hills for the first time this season for a pair of games against the Rapid City Rush beginning on Friday night at 8:05 p.m. CST.
Individual game tickets are on sale now. Season tickets and mini plans are still available. Don't delay! Contact the Wichita Thunder Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at (316) 264-4625. Stay up-to-date on all the news this season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com .
Central Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2014
- Rush Unable to Sweep Cutthroats - Denver Cutthroats
- McQuade Hat Trick Leads Beast Past Chill - St. Charles Chill
- Thunder Weekly - Wichita Thunder
- Shots from the Point for January 20, 2014 - CHL
- Sundogs Drop Game in Overtime to Americans, 3-2 - Arizona Sundogs
- Americans Even Things up Late, Win It in Overtime - Allen Americans
- Tulsa Oilers Weekly News and Notes - Tulsa Oilers
- Denver Cutthroats Update - Denver Cutthroats
- Mallards Weekly Update - Quad City Mallards
- Rapid City's Keaton Hartigan Named Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week - CHL
- Booras Earns Oakley CHL Player of the Week Honors - Wichita Thunder
- Wichita's Jon Booras Named Oakley CHL Player of the Week - Wichita Thunder
- Wichita's Jon Booras Named Oakley CHL Player of the Week - CHL
- Tulsa Oilers to Host Job Fair on Tuesday Night - Tulsa Oilers
- Rioux Returns to Mallards - Quad City Mallards
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.
