Thunder pours it on in preseason victory

Tim Graham

Monday, Sept. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

It's becoming clear the upcoming season is going to be an intense one for the Las Vegas Thunder.

In a game that meant nothing in the overall scheme of things, the Thunder struck early and often to pummel the Utah Grizzlies 6-2 in a preseason exhibition at the Santa Fe Ice Arena Sunday.

But the striking wasn't all goal-related in this rematch of last season's IHL Western Conference Finals, which the Thunder's archrivals won in six games before claiming the Turner Cup.

Gloves were dropped on several occasions as the teams combined to commit 38 penalties for 84 minutes. Four penalties were 10-minute game misconducts, three of which came in the third period.

"I thought this game would be a little more quiet," Las Vegas coach Chris McSorley said. "But all I know is that we beat Utah. We have a lot of new players, and it's important they understand that this team is constructed to be the best in the league."

The Thunder demonstrated its comprehension by being the aggressor.

"It doesn't matter that this is the preseason. It's just part of the battle," said Shane Bogden, the Thunder's new 6-foot-5, 255-pound center who spent 21 minutes in the penalty box. "We have something to prove and against (the Grizzlies) you have to play intense."

Even after the Thunder attained a comfortable lead with five goals in the first half, play remained furious as players from both sides were willing to mix it up.

"Our guys were anxious coming into this game and they jumped on (the Grizzlies) and took control," Thunder general manager Bob Strumm said.

Egor Bashkatov gave the 1,204 in attendance something to cheer about with the first goal just 1:36 into the game. Less than three minutes later, Martin Gendron scored his third goal of the preseason.

Pavol Demitra then made it 3-0 with a four-on-four one-timer off a feed from Gendron with 9:43 left to play.

Patrice Lefebvre stretched the Thunder's lead to 4-0 in electrifying fashion by scoring a shorthanded goal straight out of the penalty box.

With 8:23 left in the first period, Lefebvre left the box after serving two minutes for hooking, ending a brief 5-on-3 situation for the Grizzlies. He took two strides to help Las Vegas kill Utah's power play, but then Andrei Srubko cleared the puck. Lefebvre caught up to it on the other side of the blue line, skated in and fired a point-blank shot past Utah goalie Mark McArthur.

At 15:44, Demitra scored his second goal to make it 5-0. Demitra, still trying to hammer out a contract with the Ottawa Senators, scored three points -- all in the first period -- and was on the ice for four of the Thunder's first five goals.

"He's a crafty player," McSorley said. "He's the complete package. He'll be one of the top points-per-game guys in the league depending on how long we can keep him."

Utah got on the board at 8:26 of the second period when Andrey Vasiljev smacked a power play shot past Las Vegas starter Parris Duffus. The Thunder goalie gave up another power play goal less than six minutes later when Vladimir Orszagh scored.

Duffus, on loan from the Phoenix Coyotes, stopped 14 of the 16 shots he faced. He was relieved by Igor Karpenko to start the third period.

McArthur, who played the entire game for the Grizzlies, was shelled by 33 shots.

The third period had no scoring, but it was far from boring with several raucous fights.

Las Vegas defenseman Rhett Trombley and Utah winger Louis Bedard each received 17 minutes for the same altercation, sending both to their locker rooms at 3:48. At 11:44, Thunder defenseman Jason Simon and Grizzlies winger Mark Deazley went toe-to-toe and each received 15 minutes in the box.

"I like this team better than last year's," said McSorley, referring to the Thunder squad that won 57 games last season to earn the Huber Trophy, annually given to the IHL team with the most regular-season victories. "This team team has more character, more toughness."

Thunderbolts

* GOALIE MUST GO: The Thunder will announce which two goaltenders it will retain either today or Tuesday. The team must keep Phoenix Coyotes property Parris Duffus and will decide between the two remaining goalies in camp, Fred Brathwaite and Igor Karpenko. Brathwaite, who played 40 games with the Edmonton Oilers in parts of the past three seasons, allowed three goals in 31 minutes against the Long Beach Ice Dogs in an earlier preseason game, but didn't dress Sunday for the Utah Grizzlies. The 20- year-old Karpenko played the entire third period Sunday, stopping all seven shots he faced.

* NHL THUNDER: Several Thunder players were left unprotected by their NHL rightsholders Saturday and therefore were made available for today's waiver draft. Current Thunder players left unprotected were Jeff Ricciardi and Jeff Serowik by the Chicago Blackhawks and Kevin Dahl and Jason Simon by the Phoenix Coyotes. Former Thunder charges left unprotected were Anaheim's Joe Day and New York's Peter Fiorentino. Players with Thunder ties who were protected include Anaheim's Alex Hicks, Calgary's Jarrod Skalde, Chicago's James Black, Edmonton's Curtis Joseph, Ottawa's Alexei Yashin and Sergei Zholtok, and San Jose's Greg Hawgood. NHL teams had to decide whom to protect and not to protect from their lists of players with at least three years professional experience. In the waiver draft, the 10 NHL teams that didn't make the playoffs last year can pick twice before the 16 squads that did make the postseason select.

* SLAP SHOTS: Las Vegas center Brent Gretzky was scratched from Sunday's game because of a foot infection, according to team trainer Van Parfet. Gretzky, however, still was healthy enough to play, Parfet said. ... The other Las Vegas scratches were defensemen Ryan Bast and Arturs Kupaks as well as Brathwaite. .. Former Thunder member Jeff Sharples, traded to Utah last year, did not play, and ex-head coach Butch Goring was not behind the Grizzlies' bench, leaving the game's coaching duties to assistant Kevin Cheveldayoff.