Cichocki scopes out players in Canada
Stockton Thunder coach Chris Cichocki has the perfect plan
for a trip to Canada.
He arrived on Sunday, will spend four days evaluation players
and will be back in Stockton before the snow comes.
Cichocki went to the Edmonton Oilers' rookie camp in Leduc,
Alberta to scope out players who might be assigned to Stockton.
The Oilers signed the Thunder as their ECHL affiliate on
Sept. 1, and Cichocki was invited to the camp.
He is scheduled to leave on Wednesday, and he's glad he
won't be around for the weekend.
"They say there's a chance it will snow by Saturday,
so I'm glad I'll get to run back to sunny and warm California,"
Cichocki said. "But it's been a great trip."
Scott Howson, the Oilers' assistant general manager in
charge of the minor leagues, said the Thunder could expect
between three and six players from Edmonton. Cichocki said
those players have not been selected, but he has a pretty
good idea which players are in the mix.
"But you know the pool of players that they will likely
come from," Cichocki said. "I see a lot of very
good young players out there. I know we're going to get
some help."
The Thunder begins training camp on Oct. 6 and plays the
season opener at Bakersfield on Oct. 20.
Ticket sales improve
The Thunder hopes to be better on the ice this season.
But the franchise already knows that it is ahead of last
year's pace at the box office.
The Thunder has sold 2,712 season tickets, an increase
of 38 percent from the same time frame last year. The Thunder
is about six weeks away from the season opened in Oct. 28,
and have already surpassed last year's total of 2,606.
"We're very happy with the pace of the sales,"
said Dave Piecuch, the team's vice president of sales and
marketing. "We expected an increase, and this is a
nice increase."
The Thunder played their first game at Stockton Arena on
Dec. 10, 2005, and had 1,964 season tickets sold six weeks
prior to that date. The team led the ECHL in attendance
with an average of 6,343 fans per game despite having a
18-40-14 record.
Piecuch said while he's thrilled with the early boost,
he doesn't expect the large increase in season ticket sales
that occurred after the inaugural home game. The Thunder
sold 267 tickets after that first contest.
"But that was the first game ever in town, and we
got a huge boost from people who sampled the sport,"
Piecuch said. "I don't expect that. I'd be happy with
50."
Single-game tickets are tentatively set to go on sale on
Oct. 14.
Exhibition season
Cichocki said he's happy that he'll be able to have an
exhibition game at home against the Fresno Falcons on Oct.
15.
Last season, Stockton Arena was not completed and the Thunder
played all three preseason games on the road.
"I'm glad we have three again, I think they help,
and it will be fun to play it at home," Cichocki said.
"It will give the fans an early look at our team."
Tickets for the preason game will cost $10 for general
admission and are available on Oct. 2. Season-ticket holders
can buy in advance for $5.
The Thunder also plays Bakersfield at Rabobank Arena on
Oct. 10 and the Falcons at their practice facility, the
Gateway Ice Center in Fresno on Oct. 13. The game against
the Condors in Bakersfield is officially a scrimmage and
is not open to the public.
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