Stockton Thunder!
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Our new October tradition... Stockton Thunder Hockey!
Early last year, when we heard that Stockton's new arena would be home to a minor league hockey team, we were less than impressed. Hockey was never a sport that we followed in our house and it didn't seem to match very well with our warm weather and culture. We were much more excited to be getting Arena Football and Major League indoor soccer.
As the season started to get closer we decided that we wanted to be part of the hype of the new team and went to the second home game. From the moment we walked in the arena we knew this was going to be cool! When the game started we were on our feet, along with 9,000 other Stockton Thunder fans and we have been hooked ever since.
So, tonight we showed up, decked out in Thunder gear, ready to scream our lungs out for our hometown Thunder!
If you're a sports fan and live within an hour of Stockton, you have to check this out! Trust me when I say that hockey is meant to watched live; so many people have the same comment after watching their first game: "I could never get into hockey on TV... but this is awesome!"
What a game! The Thunder start the season 2-0 and right in the middle of the Pacific Division and end tonight's game being the only undefeated team in the ECHL.
The first fight of the night. The Arena went crazy when Huxley (Stockton) knocked Neilson right on his bum.
The Long Beach Ice Dogs scored an early first goal but the Thunder tied it up before the end of the first period (click here for the video from the first goal scored at home this season). The same pattern would continue for the second and third period with Long Beach scoring first and then Stockton getting a goal. The final shot in regulation came from Stockton with only 34 seconds left on the clock. The 5 minutes of overtime passed with no scoring so we were treated to a nail-biting shoot out. We tied throughout the first group of attempts so then we went into sudden death shoot out mode!
After 6 failed attempts by each club, Brendon Hodge slaps one in and the Thunder win a close one!
Congrats Thunder... you rock!