Stockton Thunder holding on mid-season

STOCKTON, Calif. – The Stockton Thunder made a strong recovery for the month of January in strong contrast to December.   The Thunder is 22-12-2-5 to date, winning ten of 13 games for the month.   They are currently second in the Pacific Division with 51 points, and fourth in the Western Conference.   The Thunder is 10-6-1-3 at home, while on the road they are 12-6-1-2.
 
Many changes to the roster due to call-ups and some injuries have led Coach Matt Thomas to make some minor changes to the lines to earn the wins.   But the combinations seem to be working.
 
Goaltender and Oilers prospect Bryan Pitton (14-5-2-1) is among the players recently returned from call-up to AHL this month has 2.75 goals against average and 0.902 save percentage.
 
Sharks prospect, Tyson Sexsmith, was recently returned to the roster following a two month stint on the injured list due to an injury sustained in a battle with Condors Goaltender Josh Tordjman in November.   Sexsmith appeared in his first game back on Sunday against the Idaho Steelheads, posting the shoot-out win.
 
When Sexsmith was injured, Thomas acquired Garrett Zemlak from Kalamazoo.   Zemlak appeared in 15 games, primarily while Pitton was up in the AHL, posting 4-7-2 and 2.61 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.   While the wins don’t appear to be many, the offense seemed lacking in many of these games, and one could argue that the win column numbers are slightly skewed against him.
 
Now that the Thunder have two healthy goaltenders on NHL contracts, Zemlak was dealt to Elmira in exchange for Tyler Donati.  
 
Donati is slated to appear in Friday’s home game against the Utah Grizzlies.   Fans are excited about the news.   Right-winger Donati was the leading goal scorer for the ECHL last season, and is expected to bring some well needed goal scoring capabilities to the Thunder.
 
Donati is a native of Oakville, Ontario led the league with 114 points (38g-75a) in 67 games in 2009-10, only five points off the all-time leader.   He signed a contract with Connecticut Whale (AHL) earlier this season and has skated in nine games.   Donati has appeared in 18 games with the Jackals, and has 21 points (10g – 11a) with 34 penalty minutes.
 
Under Thomas, Stockton has been known as a physical team and with that comes penalties.   Stockton is ranked third overall in penalty minutes with an average of 22.44 per game.   Utah leads with just over 24 minutes per game, followed closely by Bakersfield.    Forwards Garet Hunt (105) and Jesse Gimblett (80) lead the team in penalty minutes.
 
Players such as Jason Pitton, Anthony Aiello and Chris D’Alvise are all up on AHL assignments, leaving the rest of the team to find players to fill in the gaps.   Fraser Clair and Bretton Cameron have certainly stepped up.   Clair leads the Thunder in points with 32 (12g, 20a, plus-3) and 59 penalty minutes in 41 games.  
 
Cameron has appeared in 32 games and is plus-9 with 23 points (13g, 10a) and 63 penalty minutes and leads the team in goals scored. He also received ECHL Player of the Week honors in mid January, after topping off a seven point week (3g, 4a).   He is the first player to win the honor this season.
 
Center Chris Lawrence has played in 33 games leads the team with plus-11, and 29 points (9g, 20a).
 
Ryan Constant is the leader on the team among the blue-liners and fourth overall, with 24 points (8g, 16a, plus-4) and 65 penalty minutes.   He is also ranked third in goals and power play goals overall.   He was recently placed on the injured list following the game last Saturday, and the loss was evident, especially while Stockton worked to kill off penalties.
 
When it comes to special teams, Stockton is fourth overall in their power play (19.8), but their penalty kill ranks them at 15.  
 
Mark Arcobello (7g, 13a) was the solo representative to the All-Star game last week and was the first Thunder player in history to score a hat trick and pick up the most valuable player award in the match.  
 
The Stockton team has always been popular among the local fans.   They were first in the league in attendance their first four years, only to be outdone by new teams and arenas in Ontario, California and Toledo Walleye last season.   The Thunder are currently leading the league in fan attendance after 20 home games, posting an average attendance of 6,263. Some might wonder if the weather out east has been a factor.
 
The Thunder is on the road for a single game in Las Vegas Tuesday and will return home Friday, February 4 to face the Utah Grizzlies.
 
In their last match up against the Grizzlies in January, Stockton became the first team since 2006-07 to hand the Grizzlies a four game sweep.   Though it wasn’t easy, in one game the Thunder accumulated 68 penalty minutes, including six fighting majors, setting their season high.   Both teams combined for a total of 149 penalty minutes and 12 fighting majors in the game.     It’s clearly evident these teams are not on good grounds as both teams have posted a combined 401 penalty minutes over their five head-to-head games.
 
Contact the writer at Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com
Contact the Photographer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com