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

March 4, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


THUNDER OVERALL RECORD: 27-21-0-5, 59 points (2nd Pacific/6th Western Conference)

LAST WEEK: 2-1-0-0

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: (all times PST)

AWAY: Tuesday, March 4 (7:00 p.m.) at Bakersfield Condors

HOME: Saturday, March 8 (7:30 p.m.) vs. Utah Grizzlies

WEEK IN REVIEW:

STK 3 - ONT 1 (3/2/14): The Thunder still looking for their first win over the Ontario Reign at Stockton Arena this season made the most of their opportunities on Sunday. After a scoreless first period, the Thunder were first to get on the board when Riley Wetmore finished a 2-on-0 breakaway with Adam Brace for the Thunder's third shorthanded goal of the season. The Thunder once again struck the back of the net early in the third period to boost their lead thanks to a beautiful passing play. Michal Spacek picked off a clearing attempt at the blueline and fed to Ryan Hayes in the left circle. Hayes one-touched the pass to Brace on the right circle and the former Florida Everblade blasted his 12th of the season past Ontario goalie Jussi Olkinuora. James Henry scored just minutes later to make the game 3-0. Ontario captain Derek Couture scored the lone tally for the Reign and Parker Milner shut the rest of the way down as he stopped 30 of 31 in the win.

2013-14 TEAM LEADERS:

Points -Joey Martin (51)

Goals - Greg Miller (17)*

Assists - Joey Martin (35)

Plus/Minus - James Henry (+13)

Penalty Minutes - Garet Hunt (118)

* - no longer a member of the Thunder

2013-14 GOALTENDING LEADERS:

Games Played - Brian Foster (34)

Wins - Brian Foster (19)

Goals Against Average - Parker Milner (2.70)

Save Percentage - Parker Milner (.912)

Shutouts -Parker Milner (2)

2013-14 CURRENT STREAKS:

Goals - Joey Martin (3)

Assists - Joey Martin (2)

Points - Joey Martin (5)

Wins -Parker Milner (3)

Losses - n/a (0)

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:

-Lee Baldwin is 3 assists away from 50 in his ECHL career

-Alex MacLeod is 2 games shy of 50 in his ECHL career

-Corey Trivino is 3 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

-Joey Martin is 5 points shy of 200 in his ECHL career

-Ryan Hayes is 5 points away from 150 in his ECHL career and 16 games away from 200

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

-Jason Clark is 12 games away from 50 in his ECHL career

RECENTLY ACCOMPLISHED MILESTONES:

-Riley Wetmore scored his first career ECHL goal on 3/2/14 when he finished a 2-on-0, shorthanded breakaway. -Mathieu Gagnon scored his first career professional goal on 2/22/14 when he stuffed in a goal against Colorado.

TEAM NOTES:

-The Thunder are one of only two teams who have not been shutout this season (Florida).

-The Thunder are 13-8-0-2 on home ice while 14-13-0-3 in road games. At Stockton Arena the team is +8 in goal differential while on the road the team is -8 in goal differential.

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

-In the skills competition, the Thunder have scored just 7 of 40 attempts thanks to Joey Martin (x3), Mitch Bruijsten (x2) and former Thunder forwards Greg Miller and Brayden Irwin. Thunder goaltenders have allowed 9 goals on 41 attempts.

-The Thunder are 21-9-0-3 in games when they've scored first.

-Stockton is 13-10-0-0 against Mountain Division opponents and 14-11-0-5 against Pacific Division opponents.

-The Thunder have the top power play unit in the league as they are the only team that have converted over 20% of their power play chances. The Thunder have an overall conversion rate of 20.3%, but on home ice, the Thunder's PP has struck 22.4% of the time. Away from Stockton Arena, the Thunder are 27 for 141 on the power play, good for a 19.1% conversion rate.

-The Thunder are 4th in the league most goals in the league with 176 behind Cincinnati (187), Alaska (185), and Florida (177)

-The Thunder are 3rd in the league in goals for per game with 3.32 behind Cincinnati (3.40) and Alaska (3.36).

-Stockton is +8 in goals differential in the first period, +3 in the second, -10 in the third, and +4 in overtime.

-The Thunder are averaging 29.47 shots per game while allowing opponents to fire 31.72 per game. The Thunder have outshot opponents 14 times at Stockton Arena and just 11 times on the road.

-Stockton is 15-4-0-2 when leading after the first period, 21-0-0-3 when leading after two, and 17-7-0-1 when they outshoot an opponent. However, the team is 2-16-0-1 when trailing after the second period and 9-13-0-3 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 15-3-0-5 and in games where the team has finished with a 4-goal or more lead the team is 7-1-0-0. The Thunder have only won five contests when the game is decided by 2 or 3 goals in 22 tries.

-The Thunder pick up an average of 17.83 minutes of penalties per game and are 1st in the league with 61 major penalties.

THUNDER AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS:

- Joey Martin is tied 7th on the points leaderboard with 51. Martin is tied 4th in the ECHL with 35 assists.

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

- Ryan Constant is tied 3rd in points on the defensive leaderboard with 33 points. His 26 assists sees him tied 2nd on the defensive leaderboard.

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

- Adam Brace is tied 2nd in the league among rookies with 4 game winning goals. - James Henry is tied 11th in the league among rookies with 33 points.

-In addition, James Henry's 3 game winning goals sees him tied 5th in the ECHL among rookies.

- Mathieu Gagnon is tied for 3rd in the league with 15 major penalties. All of Gagnon's majors have been for fighting. Gagnon is 5th among rookies with 113 penalty minutes.

- Brian Foster ranks 2nd in the league in saves made with 979. Foster's 19 wins sits him tied 3rd in the league. He has played the 3rd most minutes in the league with 2071.

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, Greg Miller, Landon Oslanski, Shawn Boutin, Matt Bergland, Adam Brace, Ryan Constant, 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 121 followed by Joey Martin (116), Garet Hunt (110), and Landon Oslanski (102)

-For Thunder shooters who have fired over 50 shots on net, James Henry has the best shooting percentage on the team, having scored on 16.9% of his 83 shots.

INJURY REPORT:

-Jason Clark was retroactively placed on the 21-day IR with an upper body injury on 12/26/13

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

LAST WEEK'S ROSTER MOVES:

-Joey Martin signed a Professional Tryout Contract with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on 2/26/14.

-Ryan Hayes activated from injured reserve on 3/2/14.

WELCOME BACK RYAN

After missing 39 games, Ryan Hayes returned to the lineup against the Reign on Sunday and made an impact in his 2014 debut. Hayes made a great pass to Adam Brace to pick up his 18th point on the year in just 14 games played. Hayes has only had three games this season where he didn't register a point and is currently on a 3 game point streak (1-4-5) dating back to November 17th vs. Bakersfield.

YOU GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO HOLD "˜EM...KNOW WHEN TO FOLD "˜EM:

That's right fans the Delta Casino's 5th Annual Stockton Thunder Charity Poker Tournament will be held Wednesday, March 12 at 6:00 p.m. The tournament includes a dinner, 7 tickets to a Thunder game of your choice, tournament t-shirt, Thunder hat, and entry into the tournament!

The tourney will last no more than 5 hours and prizes and the location will be announced at a later date. Thunder players will be participating and one will be at every table. Plus, if you knock out a Thunder player, you win a special knock out prize!

Tournament is $100 to enter and proceeds from the event will go to the Stockton Thunder Foundation! Sign up now by visiting StocktonThunder.com/Poker or call Mike Weaver at (209) 373-1507.

ADULT JERSEY GIVEAWAY IS SATURDAY

Who says the jerseys are just for kids!?!? The adults get to join in on the fun this Saturday when the first 1,500 adults and teenagers 13-years old and over receive a FREE Thunder black jersey pictured to the right. The black jersey features the Thunder's now home jersey with the logos of KAT Country, Ray Morgan Company, News10 and YP on the back of the jersey. Be sure to get to the building early as the doors to the arena open at 6:30!

EASY BEING GREEN AWARD WINNER

The Thunder would like to congratulate American Recycling Company for being selected as the Thunder's 6th annual Easy Being Green Award winner! They were selected in conjunction with the Valley Green Team, in part because of their commitment to recycling collection and for their continued commitment to keeping jobs here in California.

A portion of proceeds from Covanta Energy Easy Being Green event will go to the charity of American Recycling Company's choice, United Cerebral Palsy of Stanislaus and Tuolumne Counties.

SOMEDAY WE'LL FIND IT

Covanta Energy Easy Being Green is next weekend when the Thunder host the Utah Grizzlies. A number of energy conscious companies will be out to support the event next week including Amtrak, California Water Service, H&R Block, The Surtec System, The Solar Company, Central Valley Auto Recyclers Association, Electric Vehicles International, Green Team San Joaquin, Kaiser Permanente, Micke Grove Zoo, the Stanislaus Green Team, KWIN, KAT Country, KJOY, and our Green Team winner American Recycling Company!

HEY VEGAS!!

They may be in the Pacific Division but you couldn't tell from the amount of times the Thunder play them this year. That's right the team will finally be playing the Las Vegas Wranglers for the first time this season on March 16th to finish off a stretch of three games in three days (although the Thunder will be playing Utah the first two games of that three game series). The Thunder play Las Vegas just one other time, as the Thunder will host the Wranglers on the final game of the season (April 12).

GET READY TO GET ROUGH

Get ready for the Thunder to get Rough & Ready with the team's Rough & Ready Islanders jerseys on March 22 when the team takes on the Alaska Aces here at Stockton Arena. The first 1,000 fans in the building receive a mini bobblehead of Thor sporting his Rough & Ready Islanders jersey. Team issued jerseys will be available in a number of different ways including live, silent, and online auctions during and after the game.

FROZEN MOMENT:

Sunday was a big win for the Thunder over the Reign but it could have been bigger! Asvitt Photography captured the moment perfectly as Matt Bergland nearly capitalized on a breakaway but the puck hit the post and fell on top of the goaltender Jussi Olkinuora. The Thunder did win that game 3-1 but Bergland had one of the best chances to make that lead bigger...just a matter of inches!

FAN PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

Here's a picture of one of our favorite little helpers from Kids Take Over Stockton Arena night as Zoltan and his father Michal Grebac posed with one of their favorites, Michal Spacek during the Season Ticket Holder Skate with the Team. The Grebac family are neighbors with Spacek as the Grebac's hail from Slovakia (hence the nice Slovakian shirt on little Zoltan) while Spacek calls the Czech Republic home.

TWEET OF THE WEEK:

After the Bulls ceased operations, we were all disappointed. We loved the rivalry, we loved how our fans could go to San Francisco to watch our team play, and vice versa. Most importantly, we want the sport to grow and succeed everywhere. It was an unfortunate circumstance with the Bulls ceasing operations, but at least the team's fans finally got their proper chance to say goodbye. Thanks to all that came out and said goodbye to the Bulls.



ECHL Stories from March 4, 2014


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