Stockton Thunder rest up for playoff push

STOCKTON, CA – As the Stockton Thunder get an opportunity to take a much needed rest over a 10 day period, and look forward to the last nine decisive games of the regular season. The Thunder are 29-29-3-2 (63 points) and are still at risk of being left out of the post-season.

Due to the folding of the Fresno Falcons, the Kelly Cup playoff format was revised. This means that the team in the National Conference with the lowest winning percentage will be out. Of the nine teams, Stockton has found themselves in seventh place with .500 percent. The current last team is the Bakersfield Condors with .476 percent not far behind the eighth place team, the Phoenix Roadrunners at .482 percent. The Thunder trails only slightly behind the fifth and sixth place teams, of the Utah Grizzlies and Las Vegas Wranglers, respectively (both at .508 percent). Since Head Coach Matt Thomas took over the team, the Thunder has shown some improvement, but still has some work to do to be playoff ready. One of the problems they’ve encountered is a lack of stability on their lines. As an affiliate and developmental team of the Edmonton Oilers (NHL) and the Springfield Falcons (AHL), several players have been called up to the next level. Some players, without affiliate contracts have been given PTO opportunities with other AHL teams. The constant movement of players has been disruptive to team chemistry. “It’s easy to waiver focus, the line up changes so much in this league. It’s hard to keep them focused” says Coach Thomas. “We’ve lost previous games because we weren’t doing the little things and that can hurt us.” In the last two months, Stockton has played several games with less than the full 20 man roster and a few games with only 13 active players. Granted, they’ve had their share of injuries such as the ones to Jordan Bendfeld, who’s been on the 30-day injured reserve since late October, and Marc-Andre Bernier who has been out all season.One positive is that the team can boast of having great contributions by nearly every roster man. Of the current 16 skaters, only five have less than 15 points. Forwards like Ryan Huddy (31 goals, 32 assists), Cory Urquhart (28 goals, 29 assists), Mike LaLonde (19 goals, 25 assists) and James Bates (13 goals, 28 assists) have been showing some consistency on the ice. Huddy leads the Thunder in goals, assists, and points (63). Huddy is ranked third in the league among rookies for goals, and fifth overall in the league. Huddy is also among those players that have earned a call-up to Springfield, and has appeared in three games. A strong forward with great puck handling skills who’s not afraid to go to the net, Huddy became the all-time highest single season goal-scorer for the Thunder earlier this month. Urquhart has been a constant this season, when he’s been in the Stockton lineup. Urquhart also earned a recall to Springfield and in six games had one assist. Urquhart has been a key player and brings energy with an ability to drive the puck deep in the offensive zone. “We just don’t go to the net hard enough on the power-play, and that’s something we still need to work on”, said Thomas. He continued to say that many of Stockton’s stronger players prefer to play in the outside areas and shoot the long shots. The Thunder leads the league in penalty minutes with 1,357. The bulk of those minutes are due to enforcers Garet Hunt and Adam Huxley. Hunt leads the league with 230 penalty minutes, followed by Huxley in third place with 199. The Thunder’s biggest problem this season has been in their defense. Cleve Kinley (3 goals, 23 assists) has been the highest contributor as far as points, but was out for a few games due to an injury, a single game call-up to AHL, and most recently a five game suspension as a result of a major penalty. When the Fresno Falcons folded, the Thunder acquired blue-liners Daryl Marcoux (3 goals, 14 assists) and Thunder captain Matt O’Dette (5 goals, 6 assists) who has brought experience and leadership to the club. Goaltending has yet to find any consistency. There are two assigned goaltenders, both with NHL contracts, and both have had brief periods of struggle. Andrew Perugini (18-11-2-1) has a .910 save percentage, and was recently selected the Reebok ECHL Goaltender of the Week. Perugini’s has not been able to put together a two game winning streak in his last eight attempts. He will need to find his confidence in order to help the team advance. Back-up net minder, Bryan Pitton (9-17-1-1) has a .890 save percentage. As the season winds down in the ECHL, it is also winding down for the AHL as well. The Springfield Falcons management has conceded their losses and has made a formal apology to their fans with a promise to evaluate and make some necessary changes for positive results next season. The Falcons are currently 19-37-7-2 and are officially out of the playoff run. As the post-season approaches, it’s common that AHL team affiliates will send in reinforcements, and Springfield usually comes through. Only team management knows who will come back for the final playoff run, but there is some hope the team will add on defense some puck moving defensemen. Some of the players the team is hoping to have on the roster are forwards Geoff Paukovich, Stephane Goulet, and former Thunder blue-liners Robbie Bina, Cody Wild and Ryan Constant. With the ten day break, the team has an opportunity to rest up and psych themselves up for the last few weeks of the season. One phrase that has been tossed around in the locker-room is “will beats skill”. The Thunder have the will and continually work on improving their skills that could take them deep into the playoffs. Going into the end of the season, Thomas is not worried about their positioning. “I like it better that we’re in a dogfight, because we’re going to learn how to win and it’s not going to be easy. We don’t want to be in cruise control going into the playoffs. It’s too hard to snap out.” With only three away games and six home games, the team will really need to find their confidence and consistency. One thing that will help them is their fan support. The Stockton fans are extremely supportive and have set attendance records over the past three seasons, and are well on their way in adding to that record. Stockton currently leads the league in attendance with an average attendance of 6,221. If they remain on top the rest of the regular season, it would be a record breaking fourth season in a row with the leagues highest average attendance. Contact the Author: shellie.lima@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer: jack.lima@prohockeynews.com