Bakersfield Condors re-stocking the core

BAKERSFIELD , Calif. – The Bakersfield Condors (9-13-1, 19 points) had a rough spurt, but it appears that the reinforcements have arrived ready to produce.   The Condors played host to their Northern California rival, the Stockton Thunder (11-5-1-3, 26 points) on Friday night at the Rabobank Arena with 4,377 fans in attendance, defeating them with a final score of 5-3.
 
Rarely do teams from the Western Conference travel to the Eastern Conference cities for games.   The Condors just returned home from a deflating trip east to play a trio of games against the Toledo Walleye and one against the Cincinnati Cyclones earlier in the month.   The four-game road trip began with a short trip south to the Ontario Reign, before heading east.
 
In Ontario, the Condors defeated the Reign in a back and forth battle of 5-4.   Peter Hirsch was in the net for the Condors, with Kellen Briggs in the net for Ontario.
 
The Condors Adam Naglich opened the scoring in the first.   Other Bakersfield goals from Mark Magnowski, Stephane Goulet, Carter Smith and Erick Lizon, who never trailed in this match. Ontario goals came from Jeff Corey, Brett O’Malley, Justin Taylor and Aaron Lewadniuk.
 
In their first ever game against Toledo, scoring for the Walleye opened in the first period with goals by Kyle Page and Peter Leblanc. A goal in the second period by Jean-Francois David would help to close the gap.   Despite their attempts and two goals from Condor’s Naglich, they could not muster enough.   The Walleye’s Willie Coetzee and Slava Trukhno scored two more goals, giving the Walleye the 4-3 win over the Condors for the night.   Jordan Pearce was the winning goaltender.
 
In their second game against the Walleye, in as many nights, the Condors opened the scoring with a goal in the first by veteran Andrew Ianiero, but less than 20 seconds later, Randy Rowe evened the score.   In the first minute of the second period, Andy Bohmbach scored his seventh goal of the season, and the Walleye never looked back.
 
Newcomer Joe Rullier scored his first goal with the Condors, Jean-Marc Beaudoin and a second goal by Ianiero were still not enough to come back.   The Walleye added a second tally from Bohmback, and goals by Coetzee, Sebastien Piche and Tyler Doig to seal the Condors loss with a final score of 6-4.      Walleye net minder Joe Palmer gets the win.
 
The Condors traveled on to Cincinnati for their next game on Tuesday evening, only to be shutdown by the Cyclones in a 5-0 game. With Condor’s Josh Tordjman in the net for the third successive game, the Cyclone’s offense gave their fans a show.
 
Cyclone’s forward Dylan Hunter scored two goals, with a single goal by Mathier Aubin, Christiaan Manella and Chris Clackson.
 
Needless to say, the Condors were glad to get home and rest up for Fridays match.  With more additions and changes to the roster, the reinforcements were sorely needed.  
 
Among the additions is signing of NHL veteran forward Kyle Calder and two players reassigned from the AHL Houston Aeros, Peter Zingoni and Joel Broda.   Calder is a 31 year old veteran, and appeared with the Condors last season in the Kelly Cup Playoffs, while on assignment from the Anaheim Ducks. In addition to this experience, Bobby Robins was activated from the injured reserve.  
 
“It was a rough road trip,” said Condors coach Marty Raymond, “We played softly. We didn’t have the consistency or the manpower.   Missing the core of our team has been a big problem,” adding that the core provides leadership “as far as getting deep and going in the corners and fore-checking.   Now we have a few things to correct and we can play at the next level.”
 
This seemed to be the formula needed to support a change in the direction of the Condors.   In Friday’s game against the Thunder, the Condors were hard hitting and maintained a fully physical style of play.  
 
The Thunder was trying to defend their streak of no losses in regulation on the road, but it came to an end before an energized Bakersfield team.
 
The first period opened with a slapshot goal from the top of the circle from Joey Ryan at 3:03 that sailed past Bryan Pitton.   Stockton’s Marcus Watson scored his first ever professional goal with an assist from Jim McKenzie and Chris Lawrence.   Bakersfield regained the lead with Broda’s first goal in the Condors uniform.
 
The second period, Stockton came back to even the score when Lawrence’s persistence on the power play paid off when he slipped the puck under Tordjman’s glove.   But less than two minutes later, the Condors Calder scored his first goal of the season followed by Broda’s goal to give the Condors the lead 4-2 going into the third.
 
The game became very physical in the second, as fighting majors were issued to Trevor Hunt and Rullier, Garet Hunt and Erick Lizon, and Lawrence and Robins.
 
Calder added a power play goal early in the third period.   Additional fighting majors were served to Bretton Cameron and Robins, with each also receiving game misconducts.   Despite Stockton’s attempt to come back, a single goal in the third, by Garet Hunt was the final for the night.   The Condors were victorious with a final score of 5-3.
 
“It got a little chippy there, but it’s a lot more fun to watch these guys in action,” said Raymond.
 
Following the loss, Stockton’s coach Matt Thomas remarked, “I thought we played hard. Our execution wasn’t as great as it could have been.   We had a couple of breakdowns that led to goals.”
 
On the final outcome of the game, Thomas said of the Condors team, “They played a good game. Their execution was good too. They scored some nice goals.”
 
Both teams will return to play tonight at their respective home ice.   Bakersfield will take on the Ontario Reign, while Stockton will welcome the Utah Grizzlies at the Stockton Arena.
 
In an additional note, veteran Andrea Ianiero surpassed former Condor Paul Rosebush for the most games in a Condor uniform earlier this week.   The game against Stockton marked 419 games.   Rosebush skated in 417 games with the Condors from 1999 – 2006.
 
Contact the writer at Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com  
Contact the photographer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com