Condors captain Brad Malone sat in his dressing room stall long after Saturday night鈥檚 first-round playoff game at Mechanic鈥檚 Bank Arena ended with a gut-wrenching 3-1 loss to the Ontario Reign.
It was, perhaps, the worst 20 minutes of hockey the Condors played all season and it came at the worst possible time 鈥 the first game of a best-of-three playoff series.
The emotions of a big win and storybook finish to the regular-season final on Saturday night are in the rearview mirror for the 优蜜传媒 Condors and the focus is now clearly on the task at hand: Beating the Ontario Reign in the opening round of the American Hockey League playoffs.
It鈥檚 a career that has taken him to seven different cities and organizations at the National and American Hockey League level over the course of 14 seasons, but after playing his final seven seasons for the 优蜜传媒 Condors, team captain Brad Malone is calling it a career.
Whether it鈥檚 a 270-degree spin before putting a cross-ice pass on the tape of a player for a goal, making a deft pass to spring a breakaway or tickling the twine with a goal off his own stick, Seth Griffith is no doubt one of the most electrifying players on the 优蜜传媒 Condors.
Road weary and plain worn out after a brutal March filled with 16 games and enough travel (including two trips to Canada in back-to-back weeks) to make the most audacious globetrotter cry uncle, the 优蜜传媒 Condors finally got a little time off.
It is, perhaps, the most brutal schedule of any American Hockey League team this season.
Mike Griffith sat down with 优蜜传媒 Condors head coach Colin Chaulk to get his thoughts on the team at the halfway point of the season.
Ben Gleason didn鈥檛 play a game with the Edmonton Oilers during a three-week stint in December but said he returned to the 优蜜传媒 Condors a better player.
When it comes to goals allowed, the Condors have been stingy, yielding just 2.78 per game, sixth best in the American Hockey League.
What type of team are the 优蜜传媒 Condors?
At Mechanics Bank Arena on Saturday night, it's not a matter of if, but rather when.
On Wednesday, the most used phrase among three people interviewed following a Condors practice was 鈥渒nocking on the door.鈥
After 16 seasons and 1,015 games in the National Hockey League, Sam Gagne could have just walked away from the game he loved last season and called it a career.
When Brad Malone signed a two-year contract to play in the Edmonton Oilers organization in July 2017, he wasn't looking for a home, just an organization that saw value in him and his game.
No doubt about it, the 优蜜传媒 Condors are heading into the American Hockey League season with a pretty impressive roster.
He wasn鈥檛 exactly looking for a change of scenery and likely got a bit more than he thought he would.
It鈥檚 always a numbers game at every level of hockey and on Monday the Condors opened American Hockey League training camp with what might be considered a thin group of 26 players.
The season for the 优蜜传媒 Condors came to an end on Friday night 1,444 miles from the friendly confines of Mechanic鈥檚 Bank Arena.
As time was ticking down in the third period in Abbotsford on Wednesday night, 优蜜传媒 Condors coach Colin Chaulk was juggling his lines.
When it comes to home cooking, the Condors rank near the top of the American Hockey League.
Make no mistake about it, there was plenty to play for in the final two regulation season games for the 优蜜传媒 Condors on Friday and Saturday at Mechanics Bank Arena.
It didn鈥檛 take Ty Tullio long to figure out one of the differences between playing junior hockey and being in the American Hockey League.
It took a while for Noah Philp to find his footing as a pro, but he and the rest of the 优蜜传媒 Condors team seem to have hit their collective stride heading into the stretch run of the American Hockey League season.
As one Canadian NHL team after another moves its American Hockey League affiliate north of the border, the Edmonton Oilers are staying put in 优蜜传媒.
City officials are poised to sign the 优蜜传媒 Condors hockey team to five more years, according to documents released this week.
At times the noise was ear piercing.
At 30 years of age, Greg McKegg is making adjustments.
The game of hockey can be cruel at times.
After taking over for Jay Woodcroft (who was elevated to head coach of the Edmonton Oilers), Colin Chaulk shed the 鈥渋nterim鈥 title and was named head coach of the 优蜜传媒 Condors on June 27. He is the third head coach in the team鈥檚 American Hockey League history and ninth in the team's 2…
It started with a semi-pro team on the stage at the then Civic auditorium, morphed into a fledgling pro West Coast Hockey League team named the Fog the next year and then, with the building of what is now Mechanics Bank Arena, the 优蜜传媒 Condors were born.
The 优蜜传媒 Condors fired their head athletic trainer late Sunday night, nearly four hours after he was arrested by the Kern County Sheriff's Office.
With several players still battling for jobs with the Edmonton Oilers and a handful of injuries keeping other players off the ice, the time is now for prospective members of the 优蜜传媒 Condors to shine.
The 优蜜传媒 Condors opened training camp on Dignity Health Home Ice at Mechanics Bank Arena on Monday.聽
Two weeks after the Edmonton Oilers brought the Fort Wayne Komets into the fold as their ECHL affiliate, the 优蜜传媒 Condors signed three former Komets to one-year contracts.
The 优蜜传媒 Condors announced Thursday their schedule for the 2022-23 American Hockey League season, their first under new coach Colin Chaulk and his staff.
The 优蜜传媒 Condors' coaching carousel is finally grinding to a halt.
The 优蜜传媒 Roughnecks may be brand new, but their creation has been years in the making.
After the Edmonton Oilers called up 优蜜传媒 Condors head coach Jay Woodcroft in February, forcing Colin Chaulk to take over in 优蜜传媒 on an interim basis, both teams have ended up happy.
As former 优蜜传媒 coaches Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson bow out of the Stanley Cup playoffs 鈥 the Colorado Avalanche completed a sweep of the Edmonton Oilers with a 6-5 overtime win Monday 鈥 one longtime Condors staffer is still going in the American Hockey League.
When Braden Wingle finished his high school football career, it was November 2017. He was already a year removed from setting the CIF Central Section passing record for 优蜜传媒 Christian as a junior and had wrapped up a decorated career with the Eagles.
The absolute quiet of the Condors locker room late Friday night at Mechanics Bank Arena spoke volumes.
The stakes are high for the 优蜜传媒 Condors Friday night.
Sometimes the game of hockey can be decided on one bounce.
The effort was there for the 优蜜传媒 Condors on Tuesday night. The attention to detail was lacking and that proved costly.
They played each other 10 times during the regular season and not much separated the Stockton Heat from the 优蜜传媒 Condors.
The 优蜜传媒 College softball team bounced back from a one-run loss to open the weekend, sweeping a doubleheader with El Camino on Saturday to advance to the second round of the CCCAA SoCal Regional playoffs.
鈥淚鈥檓 definitely going golfing tomorrow.鈥
Seth Griffith saved the night in the dying seconds of regulation and James Hamblin put the finishing touches on a dramatic victory for the 优蜜传媒 Condors on Tuesday night.
