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Weekly Weather Report: the Weekly News and Notes of the Stockton Thunder

March 26, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


THUNDER OVERALL RECORD: 29-26-0-6, 64 points (2nd Pacific/6th Western Conference)

LAST WEEK: 1-2-0-0

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: (all times PST)

HOME: Wednesday, March 26 (7:00 p.m.) vs. Idaho Steelheads

HOME: Friday, March 28 (7:30 p.m.) vs. Idaho Steelheads

AWAY: Saturday, March 29 (6:00 p.m.) at Ontario Reign

HOME: Friday, March 30 (4:00 p.m.) vs. Idaho Steelheads

WEEK IN REVIEW:

STK 2 - UTA 1 (3/19/14): The Grizzlies jumped ahead just 1:20 into the game when...who else...Danick Paquette would get Utah on the board scoring in his third straight game against the Thunder. However the Thunder would tie the game up at the end of the second period when Ryan Hayes would sneak one past Igor Bobkov on the power play. Keeping the theme of one goal per period alive, Utah would be the only ones to score thanks to David Vallorani's 23rd goal of the season to down the Thunder for the second straight time. Parker Milner finished with 43 saves on 45 shots.

STK 5 - AK 4 (OT) (3/22/14) : After losing three straight games, the Thunder took to the ice hoping to end the skid...and they did so not as the Thunder but as the Rough & Ready Islanders. The Isles jumped out to an early lead after Joey Diamond's initial shot went off the glass, but the carom worked to Corey Trivino at the side of the net who put it in the open goal. After Evan Trupp tied the game, Ben Rosen would blast one off the faceoff win from Trivino and Joey Martin to restore the Isles lead. With less than 20 ticks left in the first period, Trivino would add goal number two and point number three off a powerplay goal to give the Thunder the 3-1 lead. Than it was Martin's turn to get in on the goal scoring action as he rifled one over Gerald Coleman, his 17th of the year, once again assisted by Trivino. However the Aces didn't quit and the Alaska side came back in the third period to tie the game after scoring three goals in the final 10:45. The Islanders continued their success in the overtime period though as they would ice the game thanks to Lee Baldwin's shot that was fumbled by Coleman at the side of the cage. Baldwin followed up his shot and poked the rebound home for the game winner.

STK 2 - AK 7 (3/23/14): A game to forget on Sunday as the Rough & Ready Islanders transitioned back to the Stockton Thunder, but failed to bring the Thunder as the Alaska Aces scored 6 goals in the first 25:26. The Thunder finally got on the board when Sean Escobedo was able to tip one in past Aaron Crandall making his pro debut between the pipes for the Aces. Alan Quine scored his first ECHL goal to end the scoring just 50 seconds before the second period was set to expire. Neither team would score in the third but after starting the game and being pulled for Brian Foster, Parker Milner returned to the crease and stopped all 11 shots to finish the game with 19 saves on 23 shots.

2013-14 TEAM LEADERS:

Points -Joey Martin (55)

Goals - Joey Martin, Greg Miller* (17)

Assists - Joey Martin (38)

Plus/Minus - James Henry (+10)

Penalty Minutes - Garet Hunt (160)

* - no longer a member of the Thunder

2013-14 GOALTENDING LEADERS:

Games Played - Brian Foster (39)

Wins - Brian Foster (21)

Goals Against Average - Parker Milner (2.81)

Save Percentage - Parker Milner (.910)

Shutouts -Parker Milner (2)

2013-14 CURRENT STREAKS:

Goals - Sean Escobedo, Alan Quine (1)

Assists - Joey Diamond (2)

Points - Lee Baldwin, Joey Diamond (2)

Wins -Brian Foster (1)

Losses - Parker Milner* (4)

* - Milner is 0-3-0-1

2013-14 SEASON LONG STREAKS:

Goals - Ryan Hayes (4)

Assists - Joey Martin (5)

Points - Corey Trivino (7)

Wins - Brian Foster (6)

Losses - Parker Milner (5)

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

-Joey Martin is 1 points shy of 150 in his ECHL career

-Jason Clark is 4 games away from 50 in his ECHL career

-Nick Tremblay is 5 points shy of 50 in his ECHL career

-Joey Martin is 6 assists shy of 100 in his ECHL career

-Ryan Constant is 7 goals shy of 50 in his ECHL career

-Ryan Constant is 8 games away from playing 400 in his ECHL career

-Ryan Hayes is 8 games away from 200

-Corey Trivino is 10 points shy of 100 in his ECHL career

RECENTLY ACCOMPLISHED MILESTONES:

-Ryan Hayes picked up his 150th point in his ECHL career this past weekend after having a 3 point night on 3/14/14 vs. Utah.

-Lee Baldwin has 50 career assists in the ECHL when he assisted on both goals on 3/16/14

TEAM NOTES:

-The Thunder's streak of being the second to last team to not get shutout ended on 3/4/14 when Laurent Brossoit and the Condors kept the Thunder off the board.

-The Thunder are 15-11-0-3 on home ice while 14-15-0-3 in road games. At Stockton Arena the team is +2 in goal differential while on the road the team is -12 in goal differential.

-Stockton has played in five overtime and eight shootout contests. The Thunder have won all five games in extra time and have won two shootout games.

-In the skills competition, the Thunder have scored just 8 of 44 attempts (a league worst .182 success rate) thanks to Joey Martin (x3), James Henry and former Thunder forwards Greg Miller, Mitch Bruijsten and Brayden Irwin. Thunder goaltenders have allowed 12 goals on 46 attempts.

-The Thunder are 22-9-0-4 in games when they've scored first.

-Stockton is 15-13-0-1 against Mountain Division opponents and 14-13-0-5 against Pacific Division opponents.

-The Thunder have the top power play unit in the league as they have an overall conversion rate of 19.9%, but on home ice, the Thunder's PP has struck 21.5% of the time. Away from Stockton Arena, the Thunder are 28 for 149 on the power play, good for a 18.8% conversion rate.

-The Thunder are 6th in the league in goals for per game with 3.15.

-Stockton is +4 in goals differential in the first period, +1 in the second, -16 in the third, and +5 in overtime.

-The Thunder are averaging 28.52 shots per game while allowing opponents to fire 31.57 per game. The Thunder have outshot opponents 15 times at Stockton Arena and just 11 times on the road.

-Stockton is 16-4-0-2 when leading after the first period, 23-0-0-4 when leading after two, and 17-8-0-1 when they outshoot an opponent. However, the team is 2-20-0-1 when trailing after the second period and 11-17-0-4 when they are outshot by an opponent.

-Oddly, the Thunder are great in games decided by 1 goal, or games decided by 4 or more. In 1-goal games, the Thunder are 17-5-0-6 and in games where the team has finished with a 4-goal or more lead the team is 7-2-0-0. The Thunder have only won five contests when the game is decided by 2 or 3 goals in 24 tries.

-The Thunder pick up an average of 18.23 minutes of penalties per game and are 1st in the league with 70 major penalties.

THUNDER AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS:

- Joey Martin is 10th on the points leaderboard with 51 despite being called up to the AHL.

- Joey Martin also is tied atop the league with 2 Shootout Game-Winners.

- Ryan Constant is tied sixth in points on the defensive leaderboard with 33.

-In addition, Ryan Constant is tied second in the league with 15 powerplay assists.

- Adam Brace is tied third in the league among rookies with 4 game winning goals.

- James Henry is tied 18th in the league among rookies with 35 points.

- Mathieu Gagnon is tied for third in the league with 17 major penalties. All of Gagnon's majors have been for fighting.

- Brian Foster ranks third in the league in saves made with 1086. Foster's 21 wins sits him tied third in the league. He has played the second most minutes in the league with 2336.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

-With Greg Miller now gone, Joey Martin leads the team in powerplay goals with 6. Miller had 7.

- Joey Martin and James Henry lead the team with 3 Game Winning goals. Other game winners came from Andrew Clark, Garet Hunt, Ryan Hayes, Corey Trivino, Landon Oslanski, Shawn Boutin, Matt Bergland, Adam Brace, Ryan Constant, Lee Baldwin, and the departed Brayden Irwin, Nathan Deck, Greg Miller, Mike Dalhuisen and Kirill Kabanov.

- Matt Bergland now leads the Thunder in shots on goal with 129 followed by Garet Hunt (121), Joey Martin (119), and Landon Oslanski (119)

-For Thunder shooters who have fired over 50 shots on net, Ryan Hayes has the best shooting percentage on the team, having scored on 17.6% of his 51 shots.

INJURY REPORT:

-Shawn Boutin was placed on the 21-day IR with an upper body injury on 2/22/14

-Nick Tremblay was placed on the 21-day IR with an upper body injury on 3/15/14

-Mike Keenan was placed on the 21-day IR with an upper body injury on 3/24/14

LAST WEEK'S ROSTER MOVES:

-Alan Quine reassigned to the Thunder by the New York Islanders on 3/17/14

-Joey Diamond reassigned to the Thunder by the New York Islanders on 3/17/14

-Riley Wetmore recalled by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on 3/17/14

-Adam Brace recalled by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on 3/17/14

-Brice O'Connor signed to ATO on 3/21/14

-Joey Martin returned to Thunder by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on 3/21/14

-Brady Ramsay signed to ATO on 3/22/14

-Brad Stebner signed to ATO on 3/25/14

-Adam Brace reassigned to the Thunder by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on 3/25/14

-Ben Rosen recalled by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on 3/25/14

-Brice O'Connor released from ATO and signed to the Thunder on 3/25/14

LAST CHANCE TO GET GAME WORN AND ISSUED ROUGH & READY JERSEYS

The final six Rough & Ready jerseys that were worn or were issued to the team up for bid on Ebay ! See if you will be the lucky winner to take home a Game Worn Joey Diamond, Jason Clark, or Andrey Pedan jersey, or a Game Issued Andrew Clark, Landon Oslanski, or Riley Wetmore jersey.

FINAL PUBLIC SKATE WITH THE TEAM THIS SUNDAY

Sunday, March 30th will be the final opportunity for the public to skate with the team! Fans can purchase their $5 ticket at the Box Office window located inside the building next to the Silver Bullet Bar and Thunder Information Booth.

Rentals will be provided to those who purchase tickets on a first come, first serve basis, however if your size runs out you can receive a refund from the building. If you own your own skates, you may bring them and check them in at the Thunder Information Booth after you've purchased your ticket. Space is limited to the first 160 fans and sign ups begin on the day of.

KIDS CLUB SKATE WITH THE TEAM ON MONDAY

The Stockton Thunder will be holding a "Skate with the Team" event for the Thor's Kid's Club on Monday, March 31.

The event will take place at Oak Park Ice Arena from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Kid's Club members must sign up in advance and can do so by contacting Stephanie Maynard at 209-373-1519 or by e-mail at SMaynard@StocktonThunder.com . Admission is free and skates can be rented at Oak Park for $3.75. Happy skating!

IT'S THE FINAL COUNT DOWN! (NAH-NAH-NAH-NA)

With 10 games left on the schedule after Wednesday night's contest, the Western Conference playoff race is heating up. The team currently sits in 6th place in the standings with 64 points. Remember, winning percentage will determine the final playoff spots since not every team will play 72 games due to San Francisco folding earlier this year.

The Thunder have a winning percentage of .525, just ahead of the Bakersfield Condors in 7th at .508. Positions three through five are held by Utah (.597), Colorado (.573) and Idaho (.562). Ontario can clinch its third straight Pacific Division title with a point against the Las Vegas Wranglers tonight. Las Vegas cannot move out of the 8th spot with only 41 points on the year and just ten games left. Even if they won all their games the best they could do is move up to a winning percentage of .424.

Similarly, Bakersfield can only reach 81 points with just eight games left on their schedule. The Thunder can reach a maximum of 86 points if they win all of their remaining games, including tonight. Since the Thunder and Condors both play 72 games in their season, we can still use points to figure out how the playoff seeds would shake out. That means if the Thunder earn 11 more points in the remainder of the season, they would clinch finishing no worse than 6th in the conference.

The magic number would be six wins (or five wins and an overtime or shootout loss) to clinch a spot ahead of Bakersfield, and the number falls with every Condors loss. Idaho also plays a 72-game schedule, but only has seven games left. That makes these three games left against Idaho very important. With three regulation wins, the Thunder could limit the Steelheads to a maximum of just 81 points if they won every other game on their schedule, while the Thunder could still potentially reach 86 points.

ROUGH & READY IRISH RED BEER

You fans really did a number on the Thunder's new beer, Rough & Ready Irish Red! The response to everything, the videos, the shirts, and of course the beer was truly overwhelming.

The response to everything was so amazing that we ran out and the certain sizes of the shirts were out as well!

Well the beer is back and so to are the shirts, and our distribution has grown! You can now get your own Rough & Ready Irish Red beer at the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel provided you are 21 years of age or older.

FROZEN MOMENT:

No doubt about this week as Lee Baldwin's heroics in Overtime secured the second straight win over the Aces for the Thunder...err...Rough & Ready Islanders! Combine the celebration, with the fans in the background roaring, and the goaltender's head in his hands after his final mistake cost his team the game and you have a great Asvitt Photography photo!

FAN PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

Dr. David Norris emailed this picture to us of him wearing his new Rough & Ready Islanders jersey! Norris was one of a handful who preordered the jersey and received it prior to game day. There will be a handful of blank jerseys that will be available in May but the only way to be sure you come away with one of your own is to bid on the jerseys currently at online auction!

TWEET OF THE WEEK:

One thing about being a professional hockey player is everyone wants your John Hancock! The guys have enjoyed coming over to greet fans, pose for pictures, and sign items at the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel all season long!

Of course some game days are easier to do than others and after Sunday's poor outing, you'd think the guys wouldn't want to go but both Brian Foster and newcomer Brice O'Connor were more than happy to pose for pictures and sign whatever they could because those are the types of guys they are. It was recognized by fan Chris Allison who sent us this tweet. We're proud to employ these kinds of guys and we're so happy that all of you fans have had the opportunity to meet the players, take pictures, and get autographs this season!

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