Jason Pitton Returns to the Stockton Thunder / #StkThunder

Jason Pitton - 8th Returning From 09-10

09/28/2010 10:21 AM - Forward is eighth to return from last year's Conference Finals squad

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MORE: JASON PITTON CAREER STATISTICS
VIDEO: (Coming soon) Matt Thomas comments on bringing back Jason Pitton

STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks, and Thunder head coach Matt Thomas announced today the team has re-signed left winger Jason Pitton (PITT-in). Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pitton, 24, is the eighth player to return from last year's Thunder team that advanced to the National Conference Finals for the first time.

"Jason became a key contributor to our success and everyone remembers how much of a force he was in our playoff run last season," said Thomas. "He's a big body, a great skater, has a great set of hands and brings quite a bit of toughness to our identity. We want to be a big, strong team that can score goals, make you pay physically and he fits that identity to a 'T' with his playing style."

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Jason Pitton (17) lays a check into Logan MacMillan of the Bakersfield Condors. (photo by Sean Blair)

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The 6-foot-2, 230-pound forward was selected by the New York Islanders in the eighth round (244th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and enjoyed a career-high 11 goals and 24 points (11g-13a) in 38 ECHL games. He led the Thunder with seven goals in the Kelly Cup Playoffs and totaled 14 points (7g-7a) in 15 postseason games.

Currently, he is attending AHL training camp with the Manitoba Moose and was signed by Springfield on Jan. 21 on a professional tryout agreement last season. He suited up 25 AHL games, scoring one goal, one assist and adding 22 penalty minutes.

The Brampton, Ontario native has collected 37 career points (16g-21a) in 61 ECHL games with Stockton and Utah. In 161 career games in the AHL, Pitton has registered 24 goals, 54 points (24g-30a) and 198 penalty minutes with Bridgeport and Springfield.

"It wasn't too hard of a decision to come back considering I had such a great time last year with our great group of guys in the room, the fans and the enjoyable experience of playing in Stockton night in and night out," said Pitton. "I know with Matt Thomas and Matt O'Dette back here again, we'll have that same type of feel to it. I've been working off the ice at refining my physical conditioning and on the ice with my hands, and I can't wait use that to contribute offensively."

Pitton scored 60 goals, 104 points (60g-44a) and collected 122 penalty minutes in 204 career games through four seasons (2002-06) in the Ontario Hockey League with Sault Ste. Marie and Guelph.

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.

Training camp opens Sunday, Oct. 3 at Stockton Arena, beginning at 5:00 p.m.

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 the Stockton Thunder-

*Reprinted by OilersJambalaya.com with permission from the Stockton Thunder hockey club*

OKC Barons Training Camp / Day 2 / LIVE TweetCast

Welcome to Day 2 of the Oklahoma City Barons training camp LIVE TweetCast. The OKC Barons are the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers hockey club.

Eric (aka: @AHLBarons ) one half of our OKC Barons news reporting team will be LIVE at the Cox Convention Center today for the OKC Barons training camp. He will be tweeting what he sees and it will give us an inside look at what's going on down in OKC.

Tweet him any questions you may have.

DAY 1 OF TRAINING CAMP VIDEO'S   

GO BARONS!!!

Oilers Deal With 6 Players Today And My Thoughts On Releasing Players

The Edmonton Oilers trimmed down the roster today by 6 six players. These three -- Teemu Hartikainen (LW), Johan Motin (D) and Jake Taylor (D) -- have been assigned to the OKC Barons. They will report ASAP.

The Oilers also placed Brad Moran (C) and Greg Stewart (LW) on waivers for purpose of assignment to Oklahoma City. I doubt anyone takes them so there is another 2 guys for the Barons.

The Oilers also released Jared Aulin (C) completely.

Our good friend Russ Jericho did some digging and the OKC Barons website made a whole bunch of pages in preparation of these guys coming to OKC. Aulin was found to have a page.

Edmonton Oilers

Later on today after all this happened, Ryan Rishaug said that Aulin was indeed invited to try out at the OKC Barons training camp, but no contract was offered. Rishaug went on to say he's considering his options.

There are now 37 players left at the Oilers main camp.

That's it for the news. Now it's time for my opinion.

Why the Oilers only cut 6 players today is crazy. The OKC Barons have started their training camp and with the bulk of their opening day roster still in Edmonton, this makes no sense to me.

I can say with confidence that Colin McDonald won't make the Oilers this year. The same can be said for Ben Ondrus or Chris Vande Velde. Are they really that close to making the team? I wouldn't think so. So why are they still there?

Maybe the Oilers want to ensure that the more "quality" guys get a real Oilers experience? Maybe the Oilers just want to push these guys to the limit? See where they stand?

Or maybe they are that close to a roster spot and I'm just to stupid to see it?

Oklahoma City Barons

Whatever the reason is, I don't like it.

Why not let the guys/kids go to OKC as soon as possible so that they can adjust and find a place to live before the long and tiring season begins? Why not let them go and get used to a new city? Why not let them get familiar with the coaching and management staff before it gets hectic?

Why not?

I can tell you this, this will all make less sense if they release more guys tomorrow. There is no game tonight, so why wait till tomorrow?

I guess we will see what happens in the morning.

ON A SIDE NOTE: If I was GM for a day, I probably would have put Deslauriers (my pick) or Dubnyk on waivers today for the purpose of assignment to OKC. Right now, not many teams are needing/wanting a goalie and if the Oilers do need a goalie to replace Khabibulin, Martin Gerber can come back up. This would have been a good chance to sneak one of them (JDD or DD) through waivers. Like Bob McKenzie said, there was a million guys on waivers today. Why not send a goalie?

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

California Natives Among Five to Main Camp In Stockton / #StkThunder

California Natives Among Five to Main Camp

09/27/2010 12:32 PM - Four with California connections among those earning training camp invites

 

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VIDEO: Sanders, Watson Comments after Friday session

  

STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks, announced the following five player have been extended and accepted training camp tryout agreement offers from the Thunder Free Agent Tryout Camp, which concluded on Sunday:

 

Brian Cooke (D) - Los Angeles, Calif.

Jason Lindner (G) - North Vancouver, B.C.

Sean Menton (RW) - Monrovia, Calif.

Drew Sanders (F) - Modesto, Calif.

Marcus Watson (C) - San Jose, Calif.

 

Cooke, a 6-foot-2, 198-pound defenseman, skated as a red shirt freshman for the hockey program at Wayne State University (NCAA) in 2006-07 before the team disbanded and previously was a first team All-star defenseman (South Division) for the Bridgewater Bandits Junior A team of the Eastern Junior Hockey League. A native of Los Angeles, he served as a Head Counselor for the Los Angeles Kings "Kings Camp 2010" during the summer and ended his Amateur hockey career with the LA Kings Midget AAA Major team.

 

Lindner, a 6-foot, 185-pound goaltender, suited up for Utah Valley University of the American Collegiate Hockey Association and spent two years each with the Weyburn Red Wings Junior A and Delta Ice Hawks Junior B teams. During the 06-07 season with Weyburn, he ranked third in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League with 2,753 minutes while recording a .903 save percentage and one shutout in 56 games. He served as a referee last season in the Pacific International Junior Hockey League.

 

Menton, a 5-foot-8, 180-pound forward, suited up in six games for the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League last season and recorded two penalty minutes. The 21-year old also skated for Salem of the Empire Junior Hockey League in 2007-08 and recorded nine points (4g-5a) and 47 penalty minutes in 37 games. He was also named Player of the Game in three contest of the Provincial Championships in Alberta with the North Peace Navigators and scored two goals and added an assist in three games.

 

Sanders, a 5-foot-8, 175-pound forward, returns to Thunder training camp for the second time in his career after skating with the team and suiting up in one preseason game in 2007-08. The 27-year old last suited up for the Jersey Rockhoppers of the Eastern Professional Hockey League in 2008-09, ranking tied for second on the team with 41 assists and fourth in scoring with 58 points (17g-41a) in 50 games.

 

The Modesto native attended local Fred C. Beyer High School and appeared in 129 career games at Sacred Heart University (NCAA) while scoring 26 career points (5g-21a) with 82 penalty minutes. He skated for the local Stockton Colts youth hockey program for two seasons (1992-94).

 

Watson, a San Jose native, has suited up in 103 career junior games in the Western Hockey League with the Prince George Cougars, scoring 27 points (10g-17a) and adding 50 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-2, 198-pound pivot also added an assist and four penalty minutes in six games with Moncton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2006-07. His experience includes an invite to San Jose Sharks development camp in 2007 and participating in the Junior Sharks program.

 

Training camp opens at Stockton Arena at Sunday, Oct. 3 at 5:00 p.m. A full camp roster will be announced soon.

 

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.

 

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 the Stockton Thunder-

 

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