Can the Barons make it to the postseason?

With the Barons' roster not being complete, it hasn't stopped new head coach Todd Nelson having confidence in the new Organization. In the most recent "The Pipeline" article Barons' intern Chris Wescott had a Q &A with Coach Nelson. And reading through the article you get the feeling that Nelson is ready to hit the ground running. But what can Nelson do right now with only 2 players that will be playing in Oklahoma City next season? Nelson was brought in too late in the game to have any input on who is going to play here. But it hasn't stopped him from not having the utmost confidence in the Oilers' choice for players for OKC. Also in the article he stats that:

"My expectations are to have a very competitive team and vie for the Calder Cup. And it's one thing that every team in the American League has for expectations. But, with the people we've signed as free agents and also the young talent through the draft process, I think that it's a pretty believable thing."

His statement to Wescott speaks volumes on how hard Nelson wants to get a winning tradition back to Oklahoma City. Can the Barons' repeat what the Stars did last season, by making it to the Calder Cup Finals? It's a lofty goal to get to the finals in year one, but just making it to the post season should be the Barons' goal for this first season. And only time will tell on how successful Nelson will be with the Barons' in the first season.

Stockton Thunder Announce Pre-Season Schedule

2010-11 Preseason Schedule Released

07/23/2010 1:15 PM - Home battle with Ontario coming Oct. 8 at Stockton Arena, two-game series at Alaska scheduled for Oct. 5-6 at 8:15 p.m.

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STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, proud ECHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League, has announced a four-game preseason schedule for the 2010-11 season which starts on the road, Oct. 5 against the Alaska Aces at 8:15 p.m.

The Thunder will host the Ontario Reign in the team's lone preseason appearance at Stockton Arena, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8. Ticket information will be announced soon. The home game is part of a special home-and-home style series with the Reign and both teams meet the following night in Ontario at 7:00 p.m. at a site to be announced.

The Thunder will launch the preseason schedule with a two-game series at Alaska, marking the team's first inter-state preseason battle with an ECHL opponent.

STOCKTON THUNDER 2010-11 PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE (all times PT)
DATE                                  OPPONENT                LOCATION
TIME
TUESDAY Oct. 5             @ ALASKA              Sullivan Arena 8:15 p.m.
WEDNESDAY Oct. 6      @ ALASKA              Sullivan Arena 8:15 p.m.
FRIDAY Oct. 8                    ONTARIO             Stockton Arena 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY Oct. 9         @ ONTARIO             TBA 7:00 p.m.

Stockton and Alaska will meet for the first time since the Thunder eliminated the Aces from the Kelly Cup Playoffs, a 3-1 series win in the 2010 National Conference Quarterfinal. Both teams will also meet nine times during the regular season, starting Wednesday, Dec. 15 at Sullivan Arena at 8:15 p.m.

The Thunder and Ontario, who are competing in their third year as in-state rivals of the Pacific Division, will meet ten times in the regular season including Opening Night, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 15 at Stockton Arena. The Thunder went 7-3-0 in ten games last season against the Reign.

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 are freezing Season Ticket prices for the 2010-11 season, which are on sale now and can be purchased by calling (209) 373-1500 or by visiting http://www.stocktonthunder.com/. Partial-season Mini Plans are also available now and information on individual tickets will be announced soon.

A two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," the 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. 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 the Stockton Thunder-

*reprinted by OilersJambalaya.com with permission from the Stockton Thunder Hockey Club*

The Poll Results / Who Makes The Oilers This Year?

With a simple question of "Who Will Make The Oilers Roster This Season?"

These were the results of the 120 people the voted. Multiple answers were allowed (Thank You!);

Taylor Hall 114 out of 120 (95%)
Jordan Eberle 97 out of 120 (80%)
Magnus Paajarvi 100 out of 120 (83%)
Teemu Hartikainen 6 out of 120 (5%)
Linus Omark 33 out of 120 (27%)
Someone Else 8 out of 120 (6%)
None 0 (0%)

Votes so far: 120
Poll closed

A stunning 95% of people picked Taylor Hall to make the team. No doubt he will. He can't go play with the OKC Barons, so it's either Oilers or the Spitfires. I think he's beyond Juniors and he will play with the Oilers.

Now the votes were very close between Paajarvi and Eberle. Paajarvi edges out the new Captain Canada by three votes. Most fans believe that all three of these guys will make the team this year. I still have my doubts, but I'm sure the fans will be right.

Linus Omark did garner 33 votes and tha's not bad. I'm willing to bet that Omark starts the year with the Barons and not the Oilers. What? I like the easy bets too.

The surprising fact, 8 people actually voted for someone else to make the team. Whom may that be I wonder?

Thanks for voting everyone!

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

OKC Blazers Had The Attendance, Did They Have The Players?

After Wade Brookbank signed with Rockford, I got to thinking just how many former OKC Blazers players actually played in the AHL/IHL or NHL. The Blazers were consistently in the top 5-10 minor league hockey franchises in average attendance, but did they have the players? So I went to find out for myself. After a night of going through HockeyDB, here’s what I found.

Keep in mind that I’m only counting players who played in the AHL/IHL or NHL either while playing for the Blazers or AFTER playing for the Blazers. Listed on HockeyDB, there were 316 players that suited up for a game with the Blazers. Of those 316, there were 28* who played in at least the AHL or IHL after or while playing for the Blazers.

*Technically 29, but it didn’t feel right to include Brenden Morrow in that count for the argument that he would not have even touched a Blazers jersey had it not been for the lockout.

To take it a little bit further, I went ahead and separated the players by those who played for the Blazers before the 2000-01 season, and those who played in the 2000-01 season and beyond. Those that overlapped that line will be counted in the second group.

Those that played before the 2000-01 season:

Garrett Burnett - Played 3 games for the Blazers in the 1995-96 season. Went on to play in 261 IHL games and 39 NHL games.

Eric Dubois - Played 25 games for the Blazers in the 1992-93 season. Went on to play in 324 games in the IHL.

Sean Gorman - Played 122 games for the Blazers in three seasons from 1992-96. Played in 60 AHL and IHL games within that same period.

Jamie Hearn - Played 59 games for the Blazers in the 1992-93 season. Played in 2 IHL games with the Phoenix RoadRunners in 1996-97.

Victor Ignatjev - Played 47 games for the Blazers in the 1994-95 season. Went on to play 249 games in the IHL and 11 in the NHL.

Craig Johnson - Played 183 games for the Blazers in five seasons from 1992-99. Played in 38 games in the IHL within that span.

Chris Johnston - Played 84 games for the Blazers from 1996-99. Played in 1 IHL game for the Houston Aeros in 1998-99 season.

Paul Krake - Played 17 games for the Blazers in the 1992-93 season. Played 52 games in the AHL and IHL from 1992-97.

 Sylvain Mayer - Played 2 playoff games for the Blazers in the 1992-93 playoffs. Played 3 games in the AHL with the Cornwall Aces in 1995-96.

Steven Moore - Played 241 games for the Blazers from 1995-99. Played in 1 IHL game with the Kansas City Blades in 1999-00.

Sergei Naumov - Played 28 games for the Blazers in the 1994-95 season. Went on to play 16 IHL games.

Simon Olivier - Played 210 games for the Blazers from 1995-00. Went on to play 41 games from 1999-01.

Alan Perry - Played 112 games for the Blazers from 1992-95. Played 3 games in the IHL with the Houston Aeros in 1994-95.

Cam Severson - Played 15 games for the Blazers in 1998-99. Went on to play in 331 AHL games and 38 NHL games.

Bruce Shoebottom - Played 43 games for the Blazers in 1993-94. Played in 1 game for the Rochester Americans in 1994-95.

Steve Simoni - Played 301 games for the Blazers from 1992-98. Played in 18 in the IHL for the Houston Aeros in 1996-97.

Sergei Tkachenko - Played 16 games for the Blazers in the 1995-96 season. Played 14 games for the Syracuse Crunch in the 1995-96 season.

Those that played in 2000-01 and after:

Gregor Baumgartner - Played 6 games for the Blazers in the 2000-01 season. Went on to play 65 games in the IHL and AHL.

Wade Brookbank - Played 114 games for the Blazers from 1999-2001. Has gone on to play in 352 games in the IHL and AHL and has played in 127 NHL games.

Sebastien Centomo - Played 52 games for the Blazers from 2005-07. Played 12 AHL games with the Manitoba Moose in the 2005-06 season.

Justin Chwedoruk - Played 54 games for the Blazers in the 2005-06 season. Went on to play 3 games with the Springfield Falcons in the 2007-08 season.

Shawn Germain - Played 55 games for the Blazers in the 2005-06 season. Played one game with the Hershey Bears in 2006-07.

Jason Goulet - Played 108 games for the Blazers from 2004-06. Played in 8 games with Bridgeport in 2006-07.

Brad Herauf - Played 79 games for the Blazers from 2003-05. Has played in 91 AHL games with the Albany River Rats the last two seasons.

Brant Nicklin - Played 19 games for the Blazers in the 2000-01 season. Played one game with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2002-03.

Reagan Rome - Played in 1 playoff game for the Blazers in the 2001-02 season. Played in 42 AHL games from 2004-07.

Hardy Sauter - Played 590 games for the Blazers from 1996-05. Played in 1 IHL game with the Houston Aeros in 1996-97.

Marty Standish - Played 445 games for the Blazers from 2000-09. Played in 18 AHL games in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.

Random Stats: 11 of the 28 players played in less than 10 AHL/IHL games. Bump it up to 20 games and the number is 16 of the 28.-- There were only 11 players that played for the team after the turn of the century. Standish is the only one that played for the Blazers after 2007, but it has been 8 years since he played in the AHL. -- The four players that have played in the NHL combined for 251 games played, 10 goals, and 6 assists.

This goes to show just how much of a higher level of hockey is coming to Oklahoma City.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Stockton Thunder Re-Sign Steve Vanoosten

Steve Vanoosten Re-Signs For 2010-11

07/21/2010 9:30 AM -
Free agent blueliner is third member returning from 09-10 Conference Finalist

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MORE: Steve Vanoosten career statistics
VIDEO: Matt Thomas discusses Steve Vanoosten re-signing


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers, and head coach Matt Thomas announced today that the team has re-signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Steve Vanoosten (Van-OO-stehn). Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Steve progressed really well in his first pro season and we're eager to see what he can do in continuing to develop as a solid, two-way defenseman," said Thomas. "I thought he was, arguably, one of the best players on the ice for us consistently throughout the playoffs. He was solid in shutting down the other team's top units and was huge on our power-play. The sky's the limit for him in terms of what he's capable of doing."

Steve Vanoosten's highlight game was a 3-assist effort in Game 4 of the National Conference Final against the Idaho Steelheads.

(photo by Sean Blair)

Vanoosten, 25, returns for his second season in a Thunder uniform after suiting up in 52 games for the club last year, scoring 19 points (3g-16a) and adding a +6 rating from the blueline.

His scoring output improved into the Kelly Cup Playoffs, when he registered seven points (2g-5a) and two power-play goals in 15 games, helping guide the Thunder to their first ever appearance in the Conference Finals.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound blueliner was originally signed by the Thunder as a free agent on August 4, 2009 and posted a career-high three points (assists) in the playoffs, against the Idaho Steelheads on May 7 (Game 4, National Conference Final).

Vanoosten, a native of Langley, B.C., previously spent four years (2005-09) of his college hockey career at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA) where he skated in 145 career games, scoring 20 points (3g-17a) while amassing 93 penalty minutes.

He recorded a college career-high seven points (1g-6a) and added 22 penalty minutes in 38 games as a 2006-07 sophomore.

"Definitely, the excitement is high to come back this next season," said Vanoosten. "We finished on a good note last year by making it far in the playoffs and I'm excited to see what our team can do in building off it. Coming back to the city of Stockton is exciting because of the fan support and it was a pleasant surprise to see how the game has grown in California. I'm expecting to pick up where I left off last season, contribute with a growing role, and help our team make another great run together."

The contract signing marks the third player to return from last season's Thunder roster, joining captain and center Craig Valette and defenseman Daryl Marcoux.

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 are freezing Season Ticket Prices for the 2010-11 season, which are on sale now and 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 StocktonThunder.com-

*reprinted by OilersJambalaya.com with permission from the Stockton Thunder Hockey Club*