The Latest Stockton Thunder Signing, Scott Howes #StkThunder

Scott Howes is Latest to Come Aboard

08/18/2010 8:07 AM - Third year pro makes Stockton his second ECHL stop after two years in Victoria

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MORE: SCOTT HOWES CAREER STATISTICS
VIDEO: "The Goal" - TSN Highlight of the Night
VIDEO: Matt Thomas discusses signing left winger Scott Howes


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks, and head coach Matt Thomas announced today the team has signed unrestricted free agent left wing Scott Howes (HOWZ). Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Scott Howes, at just 22 years of age,
brings 13 career multi-point
games to the Thunder.
(photo by Anne-Marie Sorvin)

Howes, 22, will enter his third year at the professional level after spending the last two ECHL seasons with the Victoria Salmon Kings, scoring 22 goals and 48 points (22g-26a) while adding a +1 rating in 86 career games. He was originally signed to an American Hockey League contract by the Manitoba Moose on July 3, 2008.

"Scott brings an elite level of skill and scoring ability that we're excited to add to our lineup," said Thomas. "Additionally, it's thrilling to realize that he still has room to grow as a young player at the pro level. Through the recruiting process, it's become very evident that his thirst for success and competitive desire will make a terrific fit for the group and type of culture we've developed here in Stockton."

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound forward earned a career-high 12 goals and 26 points (12g-14a) last season in 47 games last year for Victoria. During the season, he earned an assist on a Jan. 15, 2010 goal by Adam Taylor against the Bakersfield Condors that was featured in Canada as the "TSN Highlight of the Night" and also on ESPN.com. The originally posted highlight video has collected over one million views on YouTube.com.

Howes suited up in five AHL games for Manitoba in 2008-09, collecting two penalty minutes.

"If there was any new team I was going to end up with, I told my agent, right from the start, that I wanted it to be Stockton," said Howes. "I'm looking forward to staying in the same conference and the support in each game from Thunder fans, who are the loudest and most loyal I've ever seen in one building for my pro career. It's also where I scored the first hat trick of my career, so it already holds a special meaning."

The native of Toronto spent two years (2006-08) of his major junior career with Drummondville and Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, skating in 113 career games while scoring 118 points (68g-50a) and 68 goals.

Howes led the Sea Dogs with 42 goals in 2007-08 and was the club's leading scorer in the playoffs, notching 26 points (15g-11a) and 15 goals in 14 postseason games.

OPENING NIGHT AND TICKET INFORMATION

Opening Night is Friday, Oct. 15, when the Thunder opens the 2010-11 regular season at home against the Ontario Reign, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena. The Thunder and Alaska Aces meet in the preseason opener on Oct. 5 at Sullivan Arena, beginning at 8:15 p.m. The Thunder and Ontario Reign square off in the only preseason game at Stockton Arena on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

The Thunder are freezing Season Ticket Prices for the 2010-11 season, which are on sale now can be purchased by calling (209) 373-1500 or by visiting http://www.stocktonthunder.com/. Thunder Season Ticket Holders enjoy the highest-demanded seating locations in Stockton Arena, preferred parking options, benefits including admission to Season Ticket Holder-only events, discount opportunities on Thunder merchandise, a free e-newsletter, an exclusive gift, admission to the first two rounds of the Kelly Cup Playoffs and more. Information on individual and group tickets will be announced soon.

A two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew over 200,000 fans for the fifth consecutive season in 2009-10. Season Tickets and mini-plans for 2010-11 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

-Written by Stockton Thunder-

Summer Winds Down

As summer winds down, it signifies many things, the most important being, the new hockey season. For the Oilers it has not been the whirl-wind offseason like it was last year with a certain selfish sniper named Dany Heatley. But, that is long forgotten (somewhat), and as we Oilers fans begin to speculate who has it to make the NHL squad, let's take a look back at what transactions took place in this rather satisfying offseason for the Edmonton Oilers after their historic draft:

June 29 - Oilers waive Captain Ethan Moreau, who is picked up by the Columbus Blue Jackets on June 30th

June 30 - Oilers trade Patrick O'Sullivan for more than he's worth (a bag of pucks in my opinion), and received Jim Vandermeer from the Phoenix Coyotes (O'Sullivan's contract is bought out by the Coyotes hours after the trade)

June 30 - Oilers buy out the remainder of Robert Nilsson's contract, he signs with KHL's Salavat Yulaev on July 23rd

July 1 - Oilers sign big D-man Kurtis Foster, who has a had a very tough career but is a very solid player.

July 1 - Oilers UFA Charles Linglet signs with KHL's Nijni Novgorod

July 2 - Oilers UFA Chris Minard signs with the Detroit Red Wings

July 2 - Oilers sign UFA Richard Petiot to a 1-year contract

July 2 - Oilers re-sign UFA Jason Strudwick to a 1-year contract

July 2 - Oilers bring back UFA tough guy Steve MacIntyre on a 1-year contract

July 3 - Oilers sign former AHL MVP UFA Alexandre Giroux to a 1-year contract

July 5 - Oilers sign Number 1 Pick Taylor Hall to a 3-year Entry Level Contract

July 7 - Oilers UFA Ryan Stone signs with the Calgary Flames

July 7 - Oilers sign UFA Brad Moran to a 1-year contract

July 9 - Oilers sign UFA Ben Ondrus to a 1-year contract

July 9 - Oilers UFA Colin McDonald signs an AHL contract with the Oklahoma City Barons

July 13 - Oilers re-sign RFA Devan Dubnyk to a 2-year contract

July 13 - Oilers sign UFA Shawn Belle to a 1-year contract

July 14 - Oilers re-sign RFA J.-F. Jacques to a 1-year contract

July 15 - Oilers re-sign RFA Theo Peckham to a 1-year contract

July 16 - Oilers UFA Slava Trukhno signs with KHL's Novosibirsk

July 16 - Oilers sign UFA Gregory Stewart to a 1-year contract

July 16 - Oilers re-sign RFA Ryan O'Marra to a 1-year contract

July 23 - Oilers UFA Marc-Antoine Pouliot signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning

July 27 - Oilers re-sign RFA Gilbert Brule to a 2-year contract

July 31 - Oilers re-sign RFA Jeff Deslauriers to a 1-year contract

August 6 - Oilers sign UFA Martin Gerber to a 1-year contract

August 9 - Oilers re-sign RFA Liam Reddox to a 1-year contract

August 11 - Oilers UFA Dean Arsene signs with the St. Louis Blues

August 18 - Oilers UFA Fernando Pisani signs with the Chicago Blackhawks

Oilers UFA's unsigned: 6 (Mike Comrie, Josef Hrabal, Aaron Johnson, Matt Nickerson, Geoff Paukovich, Ryan Potulny)

Oilers RFA's unsigned: 2 (Andrew Cogliano, Sam Gagner)

If you look at last years roster, and then this years roster, you will notice that there are huge changes. It's a new era in Oil Country folks. We've finally gotten ridden of the small, inconsistent players that we've had for the better part of four seasons. Here are my projected lines for this year:

Forwards

Penner - Gagner - Hemsky

Hall - Eberle - Brule

Paajarvi - Horcoff - Cogliano

Jones - Fraser - Stortini/Jacques/MacIntyre

Scratches: the two tough guys that aren't in the lineup

Defensemen

Whitney - Gilbert

Smid (Souray*) - Foster

Vandermeer - Strudwick

Scratches: Chorney

Note: Souray will have to accept the fact that no one wants his contract, and will play in Smid's spot if so, leaving Strudwick the odd man out.

I will hold off on fully evaluating the roster until the final roster is announced after pre-season, but I can promise this, there's something special going on here in Edmonton.

-Nick "Oilers Fan" Walker

(As posted on NHLTALK202.com)

Days of Summer

We're less than a month from training camp, I'm completely bored without any hockey or Oiler talk and there are two significant names that have yet to be signed by our Oilers: Cogliano and Gagner. They're restricted free agents and we've waited all summer for their signings. We still wait. It's actually been very quiet on the Gagner front from both sides. I'm confident it will get done but it is interesting that it's taking so long. My guess is they're arguing over term?

Staples mentioned the Capitals were interested in either our Souray (used to be known as Big Sexy) or the Canucks' Bieksa. The Oilers have been trying to trade or give-away Souray all summer. I'm a bit surprised by this but if the Oilers can dump him for a bag of pucks, I'd be quite happy. And once again, Cogliano's name is being thrown in the mix as well. His name gets added to every single trade rumor.

And one last shout out to Pisani who signed with the Hawks. He will forever be remembered in Edmonton for his play during the spring of 2006. One of my favorite moments, game 5 of the finals and a beautiful overtime goal.

OKC Barons on CBC

The AHL and the CBC announced today a one-year agreement to broadcast 10 AHL games this season. The ten games will feature all Canadian NHL affiliated teams. The Oklahoma City Barons will be shown in the second featured game on Oct 24th as they take on the Hamilton Bulldogs at Noon Central/11 Mountain. So finally, the Barons have an announced game with a set date and opponent. Now if we can just get someone in the OKC area to broadcast the game as well, we'll be set.

AHL on CBC 2010-11 Broadcast Schedule
Schedule subject to change...
All games also available live and on-demand on CBCSports.ca
Sunday, Oct. 17 – Binghamton at Toronto, 1:00 ET
Sunday, Oct. 24 – Oklahoma City at Hamilton, 1:00 ET
Sunday, Nov. 21 – Hamilton at Toronto, 1:00 ET
Sunday, Dec. 12 – Toronto at Hamilton, 1:00 ET
Sunday, Jan. 16 – Toronto at Abbotsford, 2:00 ET
Sunday, Jan. 23 – Abbotsford at Manitoba, 1:00 ET
Sunday, Feb. 27 – Manitoba at Toronto, 1:00 ET
Sunday, Mar. 6 – Hamilton at Toronto, 1:00 ET
Sunday, Mar. 27 – Abbotsford at Manitoba, 1:00 ET
Sunday, Apr. 3 – Manitoba at Toronto, 1:00 ET

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

The Burnt's Were On Vacation!

FOR SOME STRANGE REASON THIS NEVER POSTED!!!! BUT I'M BACK NOW!

This is it folks, I'm outta here!

I bought a new van and I'm off for 7 days to the wonderful West Kootenays in British Columbia with the family. Our parents all still live there so we are taking the kids and we are going home.

No posts or hanging around here for me. I promised the wife that I would for real "take a break" from OilersJambalaya.com. I still don't know what I'm going to do for 7 days. Probably drink. A lot.

Oh... I will have my phone so if anyone wants to call me, I have the time to talk. (no, I'm not posting my number.) I'll also be hanging around twitter so I'm not dead totally to the world. ;)

Don't worry... your in good hands with Eric and Scott, I'm sure they won't burn the place down. Will they?

I'll be back by Wednesday and I'll keep y'all posted!

-Written by Smokin' Ray-