Condors Weekly: Condors gone wild, win over SF highlights the week

CONDORSTOWN, Calif. – The Bakersfield Condors picked up wins against division rivals Stockton and San Francisco to bookend the week’s action. Friday’s home game also featured a guest appearance by a live condor, who promptly flew amok at the arena, accidentally turning herself into an international sensation over the weekend.

Bakersfield is currently 15-34-2-3 with 35 points in the standings. They trail the 8th place San Francisco Bulls by eight points in the standings, with a pair of home games on the docket this weekend.

COMING UP (all times Pacific):
Friday, Feb. 15 vs. Colorado (7 p.m., Rabobank Arena)
Saturday, Feb. 16 vs. Colorado (7 p.m., Rabobank Arena)

LAST WEEK (Home team in CAPS):

Tuesday
CONDORS 4 vs. Stockton 3

The Condors opened the week’s action by taking a 3-0 lead through the first 24 minutes of the game against the Thunder on Tuesday. Although Stockton rallied to tie it up in the third, RW Scott Freeman scored his first of the season with 3:22 left in regulation to win the game. G Scott Greenham made 34 saves to get the win.

Wednesday
ONTARIO 4 vs. Condors 2

This time is was Bakersfield erasing a third period deficit to tie the game, only to eventually fall in the closing minutes. F Nicholas Tremblay scored twice less than three minutes apart to tie the game up 2-2. But F Derek Couture scored with 2:58 left in regulation to regain the lead for the Reign, who also added an empty netter to seal the win.
Friday
Las Vegas 4 vs. CONDORS 1

Vegas and Bakersfield exchanged tallies in the opening minutes of the game, with LW Jacob Lagace scoring his 12th of the season to make it 1-1. But the Wranglers reeled off three unanswered goals in the next 23 minutes to make it 4-1. Despite a heavy shot lead in the final two frames, the Condors could not close the deficit.


Saturday
SAN FRANCISCO 3 vs. Condors 1

F Jake Morley scored his first goal as a Condor, early in the third to cut the Bulls lead down to 2-1, but it’s as close as they could get in falling to San Francisco 3-1. G Taylor Nelson was solid between the pipes for the Bulls, stopping 34 Condors shots for the win.

Sunday
Condors 4 vs. SAN FRANCISCO 2
The Condors capped off their weekend by doubling up the Bulls behind a 40-save effort by G Brian Stewart and 1g-1a from D Kyle Haines. Four different players lit the lamp for Bakersfield, who salvaged a split of their two-game series in San Francisco, and cut the deficit to eight points in the standings.

NOTES:
  • RW Scott Freeman (five games) and F Nicholas Tremblay (six games) each had point streaks snapped Friday night. Freeman’s five-game assist streak, which included eight helpers, was a season high for the Condors.
  • G Brian Stewart made all three starts on the weekend, and also finished up Wednesday’s game in Ontario when G Scott Greenham came out of the game due to injury.
  • Despite playing in just 18 games this season, F Nicholas Tremblay is fourth on the Condors in goals (12) and points (22).
  • F Jacob Lagace returned from a brief stint with the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, and scored a pair of goals and added an assist in weekend action.  He has ten points (6g-4a) in his last 10 games he has played.
  • F Francis Verreault is one assist shy of the league rookie lead, and two points. He has 20 points (7g-13a) in 19 games since joining the Condors in January.
  • D T.J. Fast made his debut with the Condors on Friday, and played all weekend.
LEAGUE LEADERS:
  • G Scott Greenham is 2nd in the ECHL with 940 saves, and 5th with 1641 minutes played.
  • G Brian Stewart is 5th in the ECHL with 895 saves. 
  • F Francis Verreault is tied for 2nd in the ECHL in rookie scoring with 41 points, just two points off the league lead. He is also tied for 2nd among rookies with 27 assists.
  • F Peter Boyd is tied for the ECHL lead with five shootout goals and is tied for the league lead with two shootout game-winners.
  • G Scott Greenham is tied for the league lead with five shootout wins and is 2nd with a .962 shootout save percentage (the 1st place goalie has faced four shootout attempts).
  • F Brett Lyon is 3rd in the ECHL (and leads all rookies) with 17 major penalties. He also ranks 2nd among rookies with 143 penalty minutes.
  • The Condors goaltenders rank 2nd in the ECHL in the shootout with a .818 save percentage.

TEAM LEADERS

Points – F Francis Verreault (41)
Goals – F Peter Boyd (16)
Assists – F Francis Verreault (27)
PIM – F Brett Lyon (143)
+/- – F Jacob Lagace (+4)

Wins – G Scott Greenham (10)
GAA – G Scott Greenham (3.34)
Sv % – G Scott Greenham (.909)

REAL CONDOR STEALS THE SHOW!
All we wanted was to have the condor sit on its custom Condors perch at center ice during the anthem. But before Queen Victoria’s one minute and forty second appearance in Condorstown was complete, it ended up being legendary.

“Vicki” is an Andean condor that weighs close to 30 pounds and has a 10-foot wingspan, but her footprint has gone worldwide. She went sliding on the ice, hopping up on the Condors team bench, flapping over the heads of the players and coaches, chasing F Peter Boyd down the hall to the Bakersfield locker room, and soaring into Condors history as the most viewed video ever.

At over 300,000 views and counting, her appearance has been highlighted on ESPN, Yahoo!, NHL.com, CNN, ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s The Today Show and literally hundreds of other websites, TV stations and newspapers around the globe.

Queen Victoria was brought to Condorstown by Joe the BIRDMAN, and is an educational ambassador for her species, performing at zoos and other events around the country and has even been on The Tonight Show. She was completely unharmed during the appearance Friday night (although the BIRDMAN is a bit banged up). To learn more about the Andean condor click here.

THIS WEEK:

Rope Necklaces and Batman this weekend!
This weekend, the Condors return to home ice to host the Colorado Eagles next Friday and Saturday. Friday night, the first 2,000 kids 12 and under will get a Condors Rope Necklace, sponsored by La Campesina 92.5. Saturday night meet Batman, hanging out in the Condors Photo Booth, courtesy of La Caliente 96.9.
Tune in to all the action on Fox Sports Radio 970 AM,www.foxsports970am.com or on America One. “Condors Countdown” starts 15 minutes before the drop of the puck.

SAVE MONEY WITH A FUN 4-PACK-FREE SNUGGIES!!!!

Get your Condors ticket plan, become a season ticket holder, and enjoy all the great benefits of being in Condorstown, including saving big money on your tickets. Get in on the action with a Condors Fun 4-Pack – starting at just $32, if you buy two of them you get a free snuggie!
Check out the plan to fit your needs by clicking here or calling 324-PUCK (7825).

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