Stockton Thunder ready for the holiday break

STOCKTON, Calif. – The Christmas break comes none too soon, as the Stockton Thunder appear ready to step back and get back to the basics.   After 26 games, the Thunder has a 12-11-1-2 record, with 27 points, placing them in third place in the Pacific division, and sixth in the Western conference.   The Thunder has split their last ten games, going 5-5-0 overall, but have had better success on the road, with 8-4-1-1 versus 4-7-0-1 at home.  
Their record is not indicative of the caliber of their players.   Goaltender and Oilers prospect Olivier Roy is currently ninth among all ECHL goaltenders with a 4-7-3 record, including two shutouts, a 2.75 goals-against-average and .912 save percentage.   Roy was also named ECHL Goaltender of the Week on November 22 and runner up for the award in December. Roy was sent to the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL over the past weekend.
The other goaltender, Thomas Heemskerk (8-4), a Sharks prospect will take up the slack, as Matt Pamidi was signed as backup goaltender.   Heemskerk has a 3.23 goals-against-average and .893 save percentage.
Among the forwards, veterans Kevin Baker (13 goals, 8 assists) and Matt Foy (8 goals, 13 assists) lead the team with 21 points each.  
Unfortunately the players that have been known for their goal scoring abilities have yet to produce.  
The Thunder faced their rival to the south, the Bakersfield Condors a week ago, taking two of three matches.   In the Saturday evening home matchup before 6,750 fans, the Thunder scored their franchise high game of 9-6.   Ten players celebrated multi-point games, including a first hat trick collected by Baker.  * Only to be defeated the following afternoon by the same team with a final score of 5-2.   The Thunder came out hard, but became lethargic as the game progressed.   The loss helped the Condors to end their franchise record 12 game winless skid. Then, over the past weekend, the Thunder faced the Idaho Steelheads, and despite outshooting their opponent 40-28, lost Fridays match 6-2.   Then, on Saturday, fell short following a frantic comeback attempt losing 5-4 to send the team into the break.  
Stockton’s special teams are severely lacking, ranking 14 (80 percent) in penalty killing and ninth (18.8 percent) on the power play.
However, on the bright side, the fans of the Stockton Thunder have continued to show up, and lead the ECHL in fan attendance after 12 games with 5,716 average attendance. Fans of the Thunder do not get discouraged; historically the team frequently suffers some downs around this time of the year, but has always found a way to rebound after the holidays. At the turn of the new year last season, the Thunder was trying to break a 7 game skid, but prevailed, finishing strong in the season. Contact the writer at Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com and the photographer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com