Stockton Thunder GAME PREVIEW: Game On(e)!

GAME PREVIEW: Game On(e)!

04/30/2010 12:00 AM

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#6 STOCKTON THUNDER at #1 IDAHO STEELHEADS


GAME 1 - NATIONAL CONFERENCE FINAL
April 30, 2010 - Qwest Arena
FACEOFF: 6:10 p.m.


WATCH PARTY: Stockton Arena (King's Room)
RADIO: None (Online only)
INTERNET: http://www.stocktonthunder.com/ (B2 Networks)


NATIONAL CONFERENCE FINAL
Game 1: Stockton at Idaho - Friday, Apr. 30 - 6:10 p.m.
Game 2: Stockton at Idaho - Saturday, May 1 - 6:10 p.m.
Game 3: Idaho at Stockton - Wednesday, May 5 - 7:00 p.m.
Game 4: Idaho at Stockton - Friday, May 7 - 7:30 p.m.
Game 5: Idaho at Stockton - Saturday, May 8 - 7:30 p.m. *
Game 6: Stockton at Idaho - Tuesday, May 11 - 6:10 p.m. *
Game 7: Stockton at Idaho - Wednesday, May 12 - 6:10 p.m. *
* If necessary

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP
The sixth-seeded Thunder, opens its first trip to the National Conference Finals tonight against the first-seeded Idaho Steelheads (second meeting in the playoffs, first since 2007) at Qwest Arena, a best-of-seven series that follows a "2-3-2" format. The series features two players with NHL playing experience (Colin Hemingway, St. Louis Blues and Bryan Young, Edmonton Oilers). It marks the Thunder's fourth straight playoff appearance and four in five seasons since joining the ECHL. The Steelheads are in their seventh straight playoff appearance and return to the Conference Finals the first time since 2007, when they eventually won their second Kelly Cup championship. Stockton won its second rounds series, 4-1 over Bakersfield and Idaho swept Utah in four games.

GOING FOR THE GOLD
The Stockton Thunder are asking all fans in attendance for Thunder home Kelly Cup Playoff games at Stockton Arena to "go gold" and wear gold clothing similar to the color in the Thunder uniform scheme. The Thunder, who ranked third in ECHL attendance this season and drew over 6,000 fans per game for the fifth consecutive season, will roll out exclusive playoff merchandise including playoff rally towels, collectible playoff pucks and gold bandanas. Special gold playoff t-shirts will be on sale at all home games in the Stockton Arena "Fan Attic" and all in-arena merchandise locations.

SECOND ROUND RECAP: THUNDER PLUCKS CONDORS
The Thunder advanced to the National Conference Finals for the first time in club history, defeating the Bakersfield Condors, 4-1 in the best-of-seven series in the National Conference Semifinals ... the Thunder won two games in overtime at Rabobank Arena and became the first team to hand back-to-back losses in two nights to the Condors, in Bakersfield, since Idaho on Jan. 29-30 ... J.F. Caudron and Oren Eizenman had the overtime winners and Eizenman led the Thunder in scoring for the series with six points (3g-3a) in five games... Stockton defeated Bakersfield, 3-2 in overtime in Game 1 at Rabobank Arena with Caudron's overtime winner with 9:42 left ... Kelly Czuy tied the game with less than three minutes left in regulation ... Eizenman's OT winner with 10:59 left, the next night, lifted the Thunder to a 2-0 series lead in a 4-3 victory at Rabobank Arena ... in Game 3, J.P. Levasseur shut out the Thunder with 35-save shutout in a 3-0 Bakersfield win at Stockton Arena ... the Thunder struck back with Matt Robinson's playoff career-high three points (1g-2a) in a 6-2 victory over Bakersfield at Stockton Arena in Game 4, seizing a 3-1 series lead ... in Game 5, Eizenman's pair of assists, along with 14 skaters hitting the scoresheet, helped the Thunder eliminate Bakersfield in a 7-4 win at Stockton Arena, winning the series 4-1 ... Stockton bursted with a four-goal third period and Colin Hemingway registered the eventual game-winning goal.

FIRST ROUND RECAP: THUNDER FLUSHES ACES
The Thunder advanced to the second round for the second straight season, defeating the Alaska Aces, 3-1 in the best-of-five series in the National Conference Quarterfinals ... the Thunder became the first team in ECHL history to eliminate Alaska in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs ... Kelly Czuy had three straight multi-point games and Oren Eizenman led the Thunder series scoring with nine assists ... Defenseman B.J. Crum scored back-to-back goals, including the game-winner with 2:51 left in regulation to snap a 3-3 tie and help the Aces rally in a third period comeback, defeating the Thunder, 4-3 in Game 1 at Wasilla, Alaska ... a four goal effort in the third period, stamping a string of three unanswered goals, helped the Stockton Thunder sink the host the Alaska Aces in a 5-2 victory in Game 2 - J.F. Caudron had the game-winning goal ... All-star center Chris D'Alvise scored two goals and added an assist, Andrew Perugini made 39 saves and the Stockton Thunder scored a playoff club record five goals in the third period, en route to a thrilling 7-4 victory over the Alaska Aces in Game 3 at Stockton Arena ... the Thunder, who took a 2-1 series lead, scored five times in a span of 6:42 in the third period ... the Thunder erased two separate two-goal deficits in the first period and scored six unanswered goals, led by James Bates' four points (1g-3a) and a pair of goals by Matt Robinson, eliminating Alaska in a 8-5 victory in Game 4 at Stockton Arena ... ten different Thunder players hit the scoresheet and Andrew Perugini made 40 saves in net.

SEASON SERIES: STOCKTON VS. IDAHO
The Thunder was 2-9-1 this season against Idaho and last faced the Steelheads on Jan. 2 ... Stockton went 2-1-0 in the last three games against the Steelheads - all at Qwest Arena ... the Thunder have added seven new players to the roster since the two teams last met at Stockton Arena on Nov. 28 ... the teams opened the regular season with a three-game series in Boise and the Steelheads completed a three-game sweep with a 3-2 win on Oct. 18 ... the Thunder dropped a 2-1 shootout loss at Stockton Arena in the next meeting on Nov. 13 ... Idaho won, 4-2 the next evening on Evan Barlow's pair of goals ... Idaho finished a three-game sweep of the series in Stockton the next evening, 3-1 behind Richard Bachman's 20 saves ... Idaho followed by a three-game sweep of the Thunder, at Stockton Arena on Nov. 25 and Nov. 27-28 ... the Thunder snapped Idaho's nine-game win streak in the series with a 5-1 victory at Qwest Arena on Dec. 31, behind Chris D'Alvise's pair of goals and Bryan Pitton's 40 saves ... Idaho won, 5-1 on New Year's Day behind Sergei Korostin's pair of goals ... the next evening, the Thunder closed out the regular season series with another 5-1 triumph over the host Steelheads - Andrew Perugini made 39 stops and Oren Eizenman led the offense with a two-goal effort ... Stockton was lifted into a tie for second place in the Pacific Division with the victory.

THUNDER CROWDS ROLL IN
The Thunder ranks second in ECHL playoff attendance with an average of 4,433 fans per game and recently completed the regular season third in the ECHL in attendance with an average of 6,031 fans per game, marking the fifth straight season that an average of 6,000 fans have crossed the Stockton Arena turnstiles. On Jan. 30, the Thunder drew 9,158 fans to Stockton Arena against Victoria, the second largest home crowd this year. The Thunder led the ECHL in attendance last year with an average of 6,218 fans through 36 home games. Stockton has 14 sellouts in the team's franchise history and drew a standing room only crowd of 9,392 on Nov. 8 vs. Alaska. Last year, the Thunder became the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for four straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons - 2000-05).

THUNDER PLAYOFF NOTES
It is the second time the Thunder are meeting the Idaho Steelheads in the Kelly Cup Playoffs, the first since 2007 when Idaho defeated Stockton, 4-2 in the National Conference Quarterfinals. The Thunder has advanced to the National Conference Finals for first time in franchise history and last year, played hockey into the month of May for the first time in team history, losing in seven games to the Las Vegas Wranglers, in the Pacific Division Final (second round). The Thunder achieved its first playoff series win in club history by defeating the Ontario Reign, 4-3, which included five one-goal games. In 2007-08, the Thunder was defeated by Las Vegas, 4-2 in six games of the National Conference Quarterfinal and was defeated, 4-2 to the eventual Kelly Cup Champion Idaho Steelheads in the quarterfinal round in 2006-07. Six players remain from last year's Thunder playoff team.

BREAKDOWN: THUNDER ALL-TIME RECORD BY GAME ONE

DATE ROUND OPP. LOCATION SCORE OT GOALIES (STK/opp) GWG
Apr. 10, 2007 NQF Idaho Qwest Arena W, 4-2 - Dubnyk/Silverthorn Tim Sestito
Apr. 11, 2008 NQF Las Vegas Orleans Arena W, 4-2 - Boron/Lalande Jonas Almtorp
Apr. 10, 2009 PSF Ontario CB Bank Arena L, 3-4 - Perugini-PITTON/Zatkoff Shawn Germain
Apr. 24, 2009 PF Las Vegas Stockton Arena W, 4-3 - Van Buskirk/Fisher-DeCARO Cory Urquhart
Apr. 5, 2010 NQF Alaska Menard Center L, 3-4 - Perugini/Sauer B.J. Crum
Apr. 16, 2010 NSF Bakersfield Rabobank Arena W, 3-2 10:18 Perugini/Levasseur J.F. Caudron
All-time game one record: 4-2

SECOND HALF SWING
After beginning the season 5-11-3 and 1-6-3 on their own home ice, the Thunder roared back after the start of December to finish with a swing of 28-19-7 overall and 16-6-4 at Stockton Arena, at one point moving to a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with Bakersfield in the final week of the regular season. A multiple number of milestones were reached or neared in helping the Thunder secure its fourth straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth:

•James Bates, 73 points (tied Thunder single-season record - Ryan Huddy, 08-09)
•Chris D'Alvise, 34 goals (one shy of tying Thunder single-season record)
•Andrew Perugini, 22 wins (career-high, two win shy of tying single-season record)
•Wins, 33 (second highest in Thunder history)
•Wins - road, 16 (one shy of tying Thunder single-season record)

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
The Thunder has one player (captain J.F. Caudron) and head coach Matt Thomas with pro championship experience - Caudron helped guide the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to a Kelly Cup championship title in 2003, the same team that had Thomas as assistant coach. Additionally, veteran right wing Colin Hemingway (Alaska, 2008-09), right wing Brett Hemingway (Alaska, 2008-09) and right wing Kelly Czuy (Las Vegas, 2007-08) have helped guide their former respective teams to appearances in the Kelly Cup Finals.

Below is a list of the top-5 Thunder players who have the most pro playoff experience in games:

PLAYER - GAMES
KELLY CZUY - 51
J.F. CAUDRON - 40
MATT ROBINSON - 31
DARYL MARCOUX - 29
COLIN HEMINGWAY - 26

ALL TIME PLAYOFF SCORING (Thunder active players)
# Player GP G A PTS
12 J.F. Caudron 40 23 20 43
34 Kelly Czuy 51 16 23 39
20 Colin Hemingway 26 10 18 28
28 James Bates 22 7 17 24
9 Oren Eizenman 15 7 13 20

Written by the Stockton Thunder

2nd Round Stanley Cup Playoff Picks / Plus 1st Round Recap

Here is what I picked for the 1st round of the Stanley Cup playoffs; MY PICKS ARE IN BLUE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Washington vs. (8) Montreal  CAPITALS WIN IN 4 CANADIENS WON IN 7

(2) New Jersey vs. (7) Philadelphia  DEVILS WIN IN 7 FLYERS WON IN 5

(3) Buffalo vs. (6) Boston BRUINS WIN IN 6 BRUINS WON IN 6

(4) Pittsburgh vs. (5) Ottawa  PENGUINS WIN IN 5 PENGUINS WON IN 6


WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) San Jose vs. (8) Colorado  COLORADO WINS IN 6 SHARKS WON IN 6

(2) Chicago vs. (7) Nashville  CHICAGO WINS IN 5 CHICAGO WON IN 6

(3) Vancouver vs. (6) Los Angeles  CANUCKS WIN IN 6 CANUCKS WON IN 6

(4) Phoenix vs. (5) Detroit  DETROIT WINS IN 6 DETROIT WON IN 7

Here is the link for the 1st Round.

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OK, time for the 2nd round matchups; MY PICKS ARE IN BLUE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(6) Bruins vs (7) Flyers BRUINS WIN IN 6

(4) Penguins vs (8) Canadiens PENGUINS WIN IN 6

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Sharks vs (5) Red Wings RED WINGS WIN IN 6

(2) Blackhawks vs (3) Canucks BLACKHAWKS WIN IN 6

-Smokin' Ray-

Why Not A Wayne Gretzky Award? Sign The Petition

Since the first time the NHL was formed, there has never been an top assists trophy. They have trophies for just about everything under the sun. Points (yes). Goals (yes), The even have a plus minus trophy of all things. Take a look.

So if the NHL can have a Mark Messier leadership award, why not a Wayne Gretzky Assist Leader Award? Considering what he has done in his career (1,963 assists in the NHL), there is no doubt he should have a trophy named after him. His name is all over the NHL assist record book. There is no one better at passing and assists than Wayne Gretzky.

Now I know this trophy idea thing isn't a fresh idea and I know other people have said it before. But what if we go one step further? What if we had an online petition and we submit it to the NHL and maybe, just maybe they consider it and honor a man that SHOULD be honored?

*drum roll* Well, here you go. Click on the link below and electronically sign the petition. Once we get a ton of signatures, we will submit it to the NHL. This award should be made.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/waynegretzkyaward/

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION

Stockton Thunder News / New Role Suits O'Dette Well

New Role Suits O'Dette Well

04/27/2010 10:30 AM

By Lindsay Kramer - NHL.com Correspondent

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Matt O'Dette needed more suits, and better ones at that.

The off-ice wardrobe he had while playing defense for the Stockton Thunder was OK, but he admits he had to step up his sartorial game when he was named a full-time assistant with the team.

"I had to pump up the wardrobe being behind the bench," O'Dette said. "I had some, but some of the suits weren't very nice. That's been taken care of."

With that detail out of the way, there's no reason to believe O'Dette won't wear his new job well.

O'Dette, 34, officially was named an assistant to Matt Thomas before the National Conference semifinals against Bakersfield, but that was a formality. O'Dette was a player-assistant for the Thunder this season, and when he was left off the playoff roster, his new role with the team became obvious.

O'Dette played 13 seasons of professional hockey with the ECHL's Thunder, Fresno Falcons and Roanoke Express, and the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, Quebec Citadelles and Saint John Flames. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound defenseman suited up in 662 career games as a professional, totaling 116 points (38-78) and 1,587 penalty minutes.

"I knew that this was going to be my last year (playing). I knew I'd only play when we were short. I've come to grips with the fact the playing career is over," he said. "In a way, it's invigorated me to stay in the game. You see everything from a different pair of goggles."

O'Dette has a well-rounded perspective of the sport's landscape as it is. He never missed the playoffs in his final five seasons, four of which he served as captain. He helped guide the Thunder to their first Kelly Cup playoff series victory in 2008-09 after signing with the club as a free agent at mid-season.

Among his accomplishments was helping lift the Falcons to their first Pacific Division title, 100-point season and berth in the National Conference Finals in 2005-06. He was a part of two Calder Cup finalist teams, with Saint John in 1997-98 and Hamilton in 2002-03, and was a member of the Montreal Canadiens' "Black Aces" during the team's 2003 Stanley Cup Playoff run.

I think the biggest thing I bring to the table is I like to think I was a professional, the way I approached the game," he said. "Guys see how I take the game seriously. It's been a fine line with the coaching aspects and how you handle the players.

"It (being an assistant) is almost the same role (as captain). But it's a step beyond that. It's being on the same side as the guys, but parlaying that on to the coach because I'm an assistant coach."

Written by Lindsay Kramer for the Stockton Thunder.com

Fernando Pisani, Masterton Fail

Today the Masterton trophy nominee's were released today. The three guys nominated were Kurtis Foster, Jed Ortmeyer, and Jose Theodore.

HERE ARE ALL THIS SEASON'S NOMINEE'S

Anaheim: Teemu Selanne

Atlanta: Jim Slater

Boston: Mark Recchi

Buffalo: Ryan Miller

Calgary: Craig Conroy

Carolina: Rod Brind’Amour

Chicago: Brent Sopel

Colorado: Matt Hendricks
Columbus: Jared Boll

Dallas: Mike Modano

Detroit: Tomas Holmstrom

Edmonton: Jason Strudwick

Florida: Bryan Allen

Los Angeles: Brad Richardson

Minnesota: Guillaume Latendresse

Montreal: Jaroslav Halak

Nashville: Joel Ward
New Jersey: Patrik Elias
NY Islanders: Jack Hillen

NY Rangers: Chris Drury

Ottawa: Matt Carkner

Philadelphia: Mike Leighton

Phoenix: Vernon Fiddler
Pittsburgh: Bill Guerin
San Jose: Jed Ortmeyer
St. Louis: Erik Johnson
Tampa Bay: Kurtis Foster
Toronto: Jonas Gustavsson
Vancouver: Henrik Sedin
Washington: Jose Theodore

Now I will never knock those three guys for being nominated, they all deserve the recognition. Here are their stories.

I will however knock the Edmonton Oilers nominee choice -- not the guy, but the choice itself -- Jason Strudwick. Yeah, the guy is a great guy to be around and he's not an NHL regular (due to lack of skill) so he has shown perseverance and dedication. Jason also does a great job in the community.

The definition of the Bill Masterton trophy is, "it's awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey."

By that definition, it does describe Strudwick like I said in the two paragraphs up above, but it describes Fernando Pisani even more.

Pisani has been suffering from a disease called Ulcerative Colitis since August 2007 and it's very deadly. In fact, Pisani was near death when it first hit him. He has since recovered enough and has came back to the NHL and continues to play today. It's very amazing that Pisani is back playing. There was a point in time where he might not have ever played again. But he fought and did a great job at recovering.

Pisani had this to say about his Ulcerative Colitis, "It's not one of those illnesses that a lot of people enjoy talking about and it's obviously a private matter, but at the same time, so many people have come up to me and said I have a brother, sister or uncle or aunt that has been affected by this, and hasn't really been able to come out and say anything because they just felt embarrassed about it until my situation came up."

Pisani's situation has created a lot of awareness for Colitis. His story has been terrible for him, yet good for the public awareness. Fernando Pisani is a hero. A modest hero, but still a hero.

Maybe since Pisani was nominated last year, that took him out of the running this year? I don't know. All I do know is Pisani would have been my choice every year until he won the Masterton trophy.

Since it appears that Pisani most likely won't be back next season with the Oilers (or maybe the NHL period), this year just might be his last chance at this award. It's a shame that Fernando wasn't a winner of the Bill Masterton award. He is that award.

Here is a more in depth look at what Ulcerative Colitis is all about.

-Smokin' Ray-