Newest Stockton Thunder Player is a Star on YouTube

By Scott Linesburgh, Recordnet.com   Published on: Wednesday August 18, 2010

Scott Howes didn't expect his fancy stick work would lead to more than 1 million hits on YouTube. But he admits it's been a pretty cool thing.

Last season when he played for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL, he and two of his teammates were involved in a goal which was considered one of the top hockey plays of the year and got plenty of play on television and the Internet.

Click Here to view the goal

This season, he hopes to create more highlights while playing his home games at the Stockton Arena, where he has had some of the best and worst moments of his career.

The Stockton Thunder signed Howes to a one-year contract on Tuesday, making the forward the seventh player to join Stockton, which opens the season Oct. 15 against the Ontario Reign at the Stockton Arena. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Howes, 22, said he understands that people want to talk about the play. It occurred on Jan. 15 when the Salmon Kings beat the Bakersfield Condors. Howes started the play by twice maneuvering the puck through the legs of a Condor, and Dirk Southern adding some nice moves before Howes sent a pass to Aaron Taylor for the goal in the first period. Howes said the trio had no idea they were about to be Internet sensations. As of Tuesday, the video clip on YouTube had garnered 1,057,000 views.

"It happened so fast and early (in the first period). We had to go out and play more periods, and after the game it began to blow up," Howes said. "It was a pretty cool feeling and a pretty exciting experience, but at the end of the day it was a good goal and you go back out there and try for another."

Thunder coach Matt Thomas has seen the video, and he sees a promising future for the second-season forward. "He's obviously capable of creating highlight-reel types of plays and can change the flow of the game," Thomas said. "He's a good finisher, which we need on this team. I think he's a guy that has only scratched the surface of how good a pro he's going to be."

Howes said he only considered playing for the Salmon Kings or Thunder this season. He has a mixed history in Stockton, getting his first hat trick at the arena in 2008-09, but also suffering a broken leg on the same ice last season.

"I'll just say that I'm very excited about coming to Stockton," Howes said. "Even playing against Stockton, I liked the atmosphere there. It's a good organization with great fans."

The Thunder have also signed forwards Dan Bartlett, Jordan Foreman, Craig Valette and Jordan Cyr, and defensemen Steve Vanoosten and Daryl Marcoux.