5. Chris Minard – To some, he’ll always be “that guy who played with Scott Gomez”. But to me he’s a great lesson in watching hockey players evolve. During the lockout, Minard went from a decent minor league goal scorer to a 49-goal scorer overnight, skating with Gomez. Everyone doubted him because of his lack of skating prowess. Then they doubted him in the AHL and in a four season span he led his AHL club in goal-scoring three times. Then he was in the NHL. He has almost 300 goals in his pro career, not bad for a guy that’s been overlooked his whole career. Lesson: go to where the goals are scored, and shoot the puck.

4. Dean Larson – Just a scoring machine. In his eight seasons playing pro, all for the Aces, he never had less than 72 points in a season. Four times he had 100 or more points. Six times he had 61 or more assists. I also have a sneaking suspicion that he used to get a lot of “phantoms” on home ice. For those of you who don’t know, a “phantom” is a point you get and don’t deserve. Someone once commented to me that Larson had a four-point night, and was on the bench for three of them. For what it’s worth, he was a really talented offensive weapon that found his way onto the scoresheet, even if you didn’t notice him all night. You’d think he didn’t do much and look down and he’d have three assists. They retired his number in Alaska. How funny is it that Larson is only 4th on my list? You know this is a good rivalry.

3. Ruslan Batyrshin & Jason Boily – I know what you’re thinking. WHO???? But stay with me.

On March 22, 2003 the last place Aces were in town against the Condors, who were challenging for home ice in the first round of the playoffs, and those two players were ejected after delivering illegal hits on Condors players. Batyrshin’s boarding of Christoffer Norgren broke the Condors d-man’s neck, while Boily’s cheapshot on Paul Rosebush led to Rosebush grabbing him and beating the hell out of him. Rosie unfortunately broke his hand on Boily’s helmet. Both Condors were lost for the season. I think what bothered me the most was that Aces team wasn’t any good. Batyrshin had over 250 PIMs that season and two goals in 59 games. Boily had 133 PIM in 35 games and just one goal. It was the only 35 games of his pro career.

It felt like they were trying to take out our good players all night. They were probably just playing with the hard desperation of a team out of the playoffs trying to win a game and ruin someone’s night. Despite the Condors winning 20 more games than Alaska that year, Bakersfield was only 6-4-4 in the season series. Two more wins against them in the regular season and the Condors would have had 2nd place.

Anyway, these two unlikely stars on my list pull in at #3 because I still say that the Condors would have won the 2003 Taylor Cup if they would have had those two guys. Rosebush was Rosebush: a heart-and-soul guy that scored 22 goals and was a +23 who killed the Gulls all season (who eliminated Bakersfield in the first round… again). Norgren was a great shut-down d-man with a booming shot and a physical presence who eventually went on to a big career in the Swedish Elite League after that. That was a great Condors team.

2. Scott Gomez – The aforementioned makes a return to the list. He would be higher for just the one big incident, but he only played one season with Alaska so he’s #2.

Before he became the brunt of “$7 Million players that go a year without scoring” jokes, he was an NHL All-Star who came home to play during the lockout. I gave Gomez credit for not trying to embarrass players in our league – he only scored 13 goals that season (along with a whopping 73 assists to win the scoring title). But Gomez literally ran that team. He WAS the team’s breakout. HE ran the power play. And he is also a part of one of the most infamous moments in minor league hockey in the last decade or two.

When Condors F Ashlee Langdone propelled him through an un-latched door on the Aces bench, the Anchorage native lay motionless in the doorway, half on the floor with his legs sticking out onto the ice. Chaos ensued. A mini-brawl erupted. Almost nobody knew what happened in the arena. It was behind the play and wasn’t even really visible on the game tape. Gomez was rushed to the hospital for outlandishly-rumored reasons from a shattered pelvis to a broken back. The Aces chances at a Cup were over. His career was presumably over the way everyone reacted. Head Coach Davis Payne threatened Californian writer Mike Griffith in the bar after the game. The two teams had a full-scale confrontation in the hotel that almost led to another brawl. Even our fans got into it with their players.

Meanwhile death threats poured into the Condors office. And it was only Game 4 of a Best-of-Five series. For the decisive Game 5 in Alaska, the Condors had a police escort from the airport and our hotel was changed abruptly and secretly. A cop stood next to me during my broadcast. And then the Aces rolled the Condors 4-0 to advance. Even the following season when a Condor was victimized by a cheap shot and broke his leg in Alaska, their PA guy shouted into the mic “That’s for Scotty!” while they replayed it on the big screen in the arena repeatedly, to the delight of the fans.

After the dust settled, despite the hysterics, it turns out that Gomez would go on to live a productive life. He didn’t miss a single game the entire following season, and had the best year of his career with New Jersey. It was probably one of the most overblown “injuries” in the history of minor league hockey.

1. Kimbi Daniels – How can you follow that up? Only with Kimbi Daniels. Our fans just hated him. Or loved him. They chirped him. He chirped back. Either way, Kimbi found a way to impact more games in this all-time series than I care to remember. And he kept doing it after he left the Aces, even as a member of the Roadrunners. He wore that funny tinted visor before anyone had seen one.

You don’t come into this building for eight years without fans noticing you, and likely hating you. He was pesky, elusive, talented and did things that just made you hate him. Like take a ridiculous flop to draw a penalty and then score on the ensuing power play. He must have done that 90 times against Bakersfield in his career. He played eight seasons with the Aces but he had at least 60 points in each of his six full seasons with the team. I would love to know how many points in his career he had against the Condors. If he had ever been a Condor, he would have been legendary. Now, however, he’s just infamous.

Kevin Bartl is the Vice President of Communications and a broadcaster for the Condors, in his ninth season in Condorstown. Follow him on twitter @KevinBartl or email with comments at kbartl@bakersfieldcondors.com.

It made me think back to some other memorable trades… and some trades that aren’t very memorable, but proved to be fruitful. The 2008-09 season, for example, was full of good trades, when six of the top 11 scorers on the team were acquired via trade.

But what were the BEST trades in team history? Here are my thoughts, with eight trades listed in no particular order. (Note: Look for a follow up to this in a few days, when I remember other trades that slipped under my radar. I know they’re out there!)

Dave Bonk from the Columbia Inferno for future considerations (Dec. 21, 2005)
In 2005-06 the Condors were struggling for consistency and offense. So was 2nd year forward Dave Bonk, who had amassed just five goals in 24 games with the Columbia Inferno. Along came the Condors, who offered up the infamous “Future Considerations” for a deal to land Bonk. The Brandon, Manitoba, native lit it up for the Condors, posting 19 goals and 36 points in 36 games, which would have been sixth on the team without including his point totals from Columbia. Bonk then led the team with 15 points in 14 playoff games, shattering records along the way. At the end of the year he was lost in a selection of players as “future considerations” to another team, prompting him to venture over to Europe. In 2008-09 he rejoined the team and racked up 82 points, leading the Condors and finishing 5th in the ECHL.

Andrew Ianiero from the Charlotte Checkers for Mike Wirll (Oct. 31, 2003)
What can you say about this deal? Everyone in Condorstown knows who Ianiero is and what he has accomplished here. Do I even need a paragraph to explain Ianiero’s mark on the organization? No, I don’t. Needless to say, when he was acquired on Halloween while the team was on the road in Idaho, the trade didn’t set Condorstown on fire. Wirll wasn’t coming. He signed a deal with the New York Rangers over the summer and they wanted him on the East Coast. All Ianiero did was come in and play the power play, kill penalties, play all three forward positions, drop the mitts a couple times, and finish second in scoring. His +15 was 11 higher than the next closest player.

Wirll, who jumped from juniors to play with the Condors at the tail end of 2002-03, had a decent season with Charlotte, posting 29 points in 42 games, also spent much of the season in the single-A WHA2 with Jacksonville. He would later be acquired by the Condors for D Martin Frechette in 2008-09, in another deal that should probably be on this list.

Mike Wirll from the Mississippi Sea Wolves for Martin Frechette (Nov. 28, 2008)
I’m right, it SHOULD be included on this list, so I’ll do it. Wirll had two goals and 11 points and was a shocking -11 in 14 games with the Sea Wolves at the time of the trade. At first he didn’t want to report, but he changed his mind. I remember this because I had to find a way to get him to Alaska to join us on a road trip. Wirll had a great season with the Condors, posting 22 goals and 51 points in just 43 games. He was also a +5 with two shorthanded goals as well. He finished 5th on the team in scoring that season, but when rookie Matt Pope finished the season in the AHL, he was that much more important as an anchor on the second line.

Frechette was a popular rookie d-man, who had seven goals and 16 points in 39 games. But his -10 didn’t help his cause to stay. He had 1g-6a in 20 games with Mississippi, and quit the pro game after being dealt again later that season.

J.J. Wrobel & Mike Marostega from the Anchorage Aces for Peter McRae (Jan. 9, 2003)
In 2002-03 the Condors had a heck of a team. But they needed some depth. That’s when they convinced the Aces to take F Peter McRae, a rookie out of Sacred Heart University, and give up F J.J. Wrobel and D Mike Marostega. Marostega was a steady, undersized d-man who helped the team with a +12 in just 22 games (especially after losing D Christoffer Norgren to injury late that season). Wrobel was also a bit under-sized, but was speedy and put up 23 points and a +12 in 31 games, helping to shore up the offense in the second half of the season.

McRae had 1g-1a in 19 games with Anchorage and called it a career.

Craig Martin & Rod Hinks from the Phoenix Mustangs for Jason Johnson & David Haynes (Dec. 12, 2000)
The big name in this deal was Martin, who put up 7g-12a-19pts and 287 PIM in 44 games. Haynes and Johnson had a combined four assists when this deal was made. Hinks had 12 points in 15 games with Phoenix and didn’t even report to Bakersfield, but it didn’t matter. Martin was a big deal at that time, and led the WCHL in penalty minutes. He was an enforcer that racked up penalty minutes like it was his job… wait, it WAS his job. Either way, he brought the fans to their feet enough to make dealing a couple of role players a no-brainer.

Donny Grover from the Cincinnati Cyclones for Ryan Nie (Jan. 7, 2009)
At the time, and even for weeks afterward, fans lamented the loss of Nie, who was a personable goalie prone to inconsistency, but he was a gamer. And the fans knew it. But the Condors had affiliated goalie Dave McKee and Yutaka Fukufuji, who was struggling. So Marty Raymond’s choice was to deal Fuji or Nie. Nie was gone.

Enter Grover, a physical d-man with AHL experience and 10 assists in 31 games. Coming to Bakersfield turned around his season, however. He had twice as many points (21) in just about the same amount of games (37), plus he a flair for the dramatic, scoring two “Grover-time” game-winning goals that season, and shoring up the defense on a pretty wide-open, offensive hockey club. He finished as the club’s highest scoring defenseman. The rest of the defensive corps combined for a -30 that season, making his +9 look fantastic.

The irony was that it’s a great trade because of a player that wasn’t involved in the deal: Fukufuji. A month after this trade he got hot, going 15-3-0 over his last 18 starts, leading the league in wins over the last two months. If he didn’t turn it around that season and finish the way he did, leading the team into the playoffs, this might have been a trade that made the opposite list. Nie went 16-6 with a 2.69 GAA and three shutouts the rest of the season with Cincy.

Ryan Menei from the Johnstown Chiefs for Matthew Myers (Dec. 26, 2009)
Myers had a rough go in Bakersfield. First, he had immigration problems at the beginning of the season, coming over from the UK, then he struggled for ice time on a roster that had a ton of AHL-caliber affiliated players. By late December he had just three points in six games. Then he was traded to Johnstown for Menei, a third-year forward that had 21 points in 24 games. Needless to say, even on paper, this was an excellent trade. But Menei, a former 35-goal scorer in the WHL, became more and more important as the Condors lost players to the AHL. By season’s end, he ranked third on the team in scoring and second in goals, putting up 14g-18a-32pts in 42 games with Bakersfield (18 goals and 53 points, combined totals). He also was tied for second in the playoffs with eight points in 10 games.

Myers had just two goals and five points in 22 games with the Chiefs after the deal, and has since returned to familiar ground in the UK, where he is a perennial all-star with Nottingham. It just didn’t work out for him in his one season on North American soil.

Evan Stoflet & Jason Dale from the Utah Grizzlies for Patrik Prokop (Dec. 8, 2009)
The second trade from the 2009-10 season to make the list – this one was a landslide – even though at the time it didn’t make a lot of headlines. Stoflet had one assist in 13 games. Dale had two goals in 12 games. And Prokop had no points in seven games with Bako. But Dale, who never really earned a regular role on the team, was a perfect depth guy for the Condors (who has now played a bunch in the AHL and lit up the CHL), and Stoflet was Mr. Steady on the blueline. He scored just one goal that season – it came in the playoffs – but the fans appreciated his hard work, defensive play and cool demeanor off the ice. He came back for the next season as well, and posted five goals and 22 points, along with a +15.

Prokop played eight games with Utah before they dealt him to Cincy, where he had 1g-1a in 18 games.

So… what do you think? Did your favorite Condors trade make the list? Tweet me or email me if I’ve overlooked someone.

Kevin Bartl is the VP of Communications for the Condors and part of the broadcast team, in his ninth season with the organization. Email him at kbartl@bakersfieldcondors.com or follow on twitter @KevinBartl.

I’m disappointed to see a lack in blogs being posted on the team’s website this year. That has always been one of my favorite ways to keep up with the team. Whether it is Bartl, a player or other staff member, they are always fun to read. When can we expect to see more?

I’m sorry, Matthew. I’ve gotten into a bad habit the last three seasons, that it’s just too time consuming to blog during the season. I do one a week during the off-season, and then the puck drops and I just run out of time every week. I promise to blog frequently over the remainder of the season, if anybody cares to read it. It’s been a weird year, there never seems to be time to get everything done. I’m sitting down now, so here goes…

Quick hits:

For all our struggles this season, if the season ended today, I think it would truly be difficult to single out only eight players whose rights we should reserve. That is what is facing ECHL teams every off-season. If you don’t re-sign players immediately, you have the right to issue qualifying offers to only eight guys. Who would your eight players be? Email me your list at kbartl@bakersfieldcondors.com. It would be interesting to know what fans thought. Remember, the point of reserving players is as much so they don’t end up playing AGAINST you as it is making sure they play WITH you.

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I understand people’s frustration at the team’s record. But please don’t insult us in the front office by saying that nobody cares. Here’s the reality in our world: no matter what the team’s record is, our job doesn’t change. The ticket staff still has to come in and bust the phones non-stop. The PR guys still have to update game notes and interview the players. The creative guy still has to make website slates and posters and sales collateral. The game ops people still need to put together contests and promotions for game nights. The merchandise guy still has to count the t-shirts and order hats.

Winning games just makes all of those tasks a little easier and a little more fun. And in many ways that the fans don’t understand, we live and die by the team’s fortunes on the ice more than anybody.

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Not for nothin’, but how many places in the immediate vicinity of downtown Bakersfield is there to get a GREAT hamburger? I count nine. And that’s just downtown… and I’m also not including national fast food chains.

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There is plenty to critique this season, but let’s not revise history to do so. Somebody on Facebook recently said this season’s team is embarrassing the legacy of the early years of the Condors. I’m not sure what she was referring to. Maybe it was the 41-loss season in 1998-99… or maybe it was the legacy of the three losing seasons out of the first four years of the team.

Again, I get it. But we’ve had some rough years in the past. Let’s remember those seasons for what they were, and keep that perspective when assessing this season. This team is still working hard. They haven’t thrown in the towel – and Wednesday’s game against Alaska is perfect proof, coming back from three goals down against one of the best teams in the history of the ECHL. I’m guessing in four or five years some folks will look back on the 2011-12 season and remember that Scott Freeman or Jesse Gimblett or Tyler Helfrich was their favorite player, and they’ll long for the days when they were here playing for us.

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Someone asked on our facebook page why we allow so much negativity to be posted. I wish we didn’t, truth be told. But I would rather have people going to our facebook page to write stuff than some other miscellaneous page that doesn’t actually cater to the entire Condorstown fan base. My hope is that the supporters of the team answer back and post their own positive comments.

We draw the line at insults. When people use names or insulting comments, we delete them.

It’s actually quite interesting reading everyone’s comments. Some have constructive views and comments while other just froth uncontrollable hate.

A wise man once told me, don’t listen to those who praise you, and don’t listen to those who cut you down constantly. Somewhere in between is the truth. I always remember that when reading the posts on our facebook page.

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Superfan Rich Kleiner still owes me a soda for not being able to out-historian me, in regards to the Gimblett’s being the only twin combo in Condors history. I give him credit for hauling up some names from the Condors record book, but hopefully he has learned a lesson! It’s safe to say after calling well over 500 Condors games and watching all the others during my time here on America One/B2, that other than Marty Raymond and Matthew Riley, I have probably seen more Condors hockey than anybody on planet Earth. Approximately 12 – 17% of my brain is filled with Condors information, for better or worse.

I’m thirsty, Rich.

By the way, we get free soda here in the office. Wanna make it a Jamba Juice or a milkshake instead?? I earned it!

That is all.

Kevin Bartl is the Vice President of Communications for the Condors and part of the broadcast team. He is in his ninth season with the Condors.

5. Look Don’t look for guys that aren’t here yet – That will include D Joe Loprieno, F Hans Benson and D Dan Lawson. All three are in training camps at the American Hockey League level. Lawson is a rookie trying to make his mark, while Benson and Loprieno are guys that have been there before, proven themselves, and if they don’t prove themselves enough this time around, will be arriving next week some time, most likely. All three, obviously, have the potential to have a big impact on this team.

4. Look for energy out of the Condors forwards - With the amount of players attending training camp this season, it stands to reason that not all of them will make it. I have a feeling we will see some great energy out of the rookies, especially, of which we have many. And those guys that show not only that they can tickle the twine, but they are also willing to chase down loose pucks in the corners, win the one-on-one battles and take hits to make plays, have the best chance to make it.

3. Look up - D Erik Burgdoerfer, D Alain Goulet, LW Michael Gurtler, RW Ian McKenzie, RW Parker Stanfield, both goalies and three other players that are not officially on the roster yet so I can’t name them, all stand 6-foot-2 or taller. Size matters, but size WITH mobility and even speed, can win hockey games. The monster out of the group is McKenzie, who rolls in at 6-ft-5. Goulet and G Bryan Pitton are both 6-ft-3.

2. Look for names you have heard before - Burgdoerfer, Gurtler and F Michael Gergen are the three guys returning from last season. Personally, after watching Burgdoerfer and Gergen in their rookie seasons last year, I’m looking forward to seeing them on the stage again. They both have the ability to be contributors. Gurtler we didn’t see too much of, but he had a taste last season and is ready for more. You always have a different perspective when coming to training camp in a city you’re familiar with. You might also look for Pitton between the pipes… you’ve probably seen enough of him, rolling up a 7-2-0 record against Bakersfield over the last two seasons.

1. Look for names that you haven’t heard before - Most people look at our roster on the website and see 17 players, but obviously we aren’t starting training camp with only 17 guys. There are three players in particular who are arriving this week and will become official once camp gets underway. One of those is a goalie, who may or may not have been prematurely announced in the newspaper today. There is a trade pending that could help us as well. There aren’t just players coming in that we haven’t announced, there are good players who we haven’t announced. All of that will change when Friday comes and the players hit the ice. There will be no secrets then.

Kevin Bartl is the Vice President of Communications and broadcaster for the Condors, entering his 9th season with the team. His blog is supposed to come out every Tuesday. Follow him on twitter @KevinBartl.

5. Youth is king. The Condors certainly hope so. Bakersfield has probably never had a class of rookies coming to training camp like they have this season. Some of them WILL be contributors this season. This differs in past years when Bakersfield would have one or two rookies take key positions in the lineup, while veteran players abound. Jimmy Martin, Parker Stanfield, Mike Gurtler, Kevin Lohry, Mathew Sisca… and there will be more. This isn’t a question of if the young players will contribute, but how much? Now, I would be surprised if all of them make the squad, especially if a few more players are added in the next week or so, but many of them will, and they will be expected to be a part of the team’s success. Stay hungry, my friends.

4. Turning his back on riches? I know a million bucks is a million bucks, but I’m not sure two years at $2 million on an NFL contract is really turning your back on “riches,” when you’re lining yourself up for a six-figure salary instead. But that’s how a story was phrased on Yahoo! about Jason Wright, who abandoned an opportunity to continue playing so he could go to school. Either way, I’m giving Wright a ton of credit for walking away from the game he’s known and loved since he was a boy, to go back to school.

I’m guessing most of the NFL-aspiring college football players don’t realize that while going to Michigan or Ohio or USC or Notre Dame might land you an average career in the NFL, the reality is that having an honors degree from one of those football powerhouse universities is likely to earn them more money in the workplace over the course of an average lifetime than that of an average football player. The average NFL career is 3.2 years and the average salary is $770,000, which equals $2.46 million. Wright’s (free) MBA that he’ll pursue will earn him an average of $100,000 a year in the workplace. And he probably runs a much smaller risk of getting a concussion on the job or being released at the drop of a hat.

Wright played seven years in the NFL and made over $4 million, so he’s in good shape right now. So I’m not saying to give up the NFL dream. But as long as you’re there on a free ride for four measly years, you might as well take it as seriously as you can. You never know, you might get rich a little slower, but it could still happen whether or not that whole “NFL thing” pans out.

3. Winning? Charlie Sheen’s Roast on Comedy Central was pretty entertaining, albeit a bit repetitive. But he can laugh all the way to the bank with recent revelations that he will rake in about $100 million in syndication salary for his show (which was horrible without him on Monday, in my opinion). We got some negative comments on our Charlie Sheen Night last season, and a lot of people seemed curiously concerned for the over-indulgent actor. His state at the roast the other day was remarkably sober, considering he’s a millionaire with NOTHING to do all day. The thing to remember in regards to his meltdown is this: he is an ACTOR. That’s what he does. His ACT was the tirade… his ROLE was the crazy man who will stop at nothing to defeat his evil “troll” bosses… his lines were well delivered and his delivery calculated. And we all bought it.

And by the way, we can thank Charlie Sheen Night for landing us The Green Men for our Oct. 28 game, since they were so impressed all the way up in Vancouver with the idea, that they told us they’d love to come down for a Condors game. #winning? No. #epicwinning.

2. Are you going to San Francisco? I’m sure we’ll see a lot of Condors fans up there next season, when the Condors take on their new neighbors, the SF Bulls. The Bulls are scheduled to play in 2012-13 at the legendary Cow Palace, the former home of the San Jose Sharks (while they had their building constructed) and the ill-fated San Francisco Spiders of the old International Hockey League (There is actually a Condors fan who frequently wears his Spiders jersey to games, and it always makes me grin), who lasted only a year. The Spiders won 40 games that season, averaged over 5,000 fans a game, and reported losses over $6 million for that season (the financial disaster of the IHL’s member clubs is an entirely different blog altogether). According to Wikipedia, coincidentally, the Spiders were preparing to relocate to Victoria but couldn’t get a new building built. A weekend Condors/Bulls series is a really great excuse to visit a great city.

1. The Big D - If goaltending and defense win championships, I like where the Condors are starting out. With a defense that poses the question of whether Erik Burgdoerfer is a number four or a number five d-man, and “two NHL-drafted goalies with significant AHL experience” manning the back end of this Condors team, I have an open mind about their potential.

Head Coach Matt O’Dette revealed at Wednesday’s Media Round Table that very description of his goalie tandem, which he thinks will be among the best in the league, and hinted at the signing of Jonathan Zion and another AHL-experienced defenseman, to go with Alain Goulet and rookie Dan Lawson, who is attending AHL camp in Connecticut and had a good career at UVM. Meanwhile Burgdoerfer led the Condors in +/- as a rookie last season, and was probably the team’s best d-man in his own zone. He’s a good player who is only going to get better, and he’ll have some good company on the blueline this season.

Kevin Bartl is the Vice President of Communications and broadcaster for the Condors, entering his 9th season with the team. His blog is supposed to come out every Tuesday. Follow him on twitter @KevinBartl.

5. Does Donald Fehr have another big defining issue on his hands? - I was thinking the other day about Donald Fehr being in charge of the NHLPA now, while his players and the sport of hockey are on the verge of an issue that could change the game forever. The word concussion is running rampant through the sport, and it seems to be such a pervasive problem that there is no solution.

However, it occurs to me that as head of the MLBPA, he looked the other way while his representatives were destroying their bodies, the record book, their potential Hall of Fame careers, and the reputation of the entire sport during the height of the steroid era. He and his organization did nothing about it, and in fact, fought tooth and nail against testing for PEDs.

Maybe I’m putting a connection where one doesn’t exist, but if the players themselves don’t do anything on their own to at least address the infection of concussions roaming through their sport like the Grim Reaper, there will be another generation-defining issue that he presided over and did nothing to help fix, that threatens the future of the sport and his representatives’ careers. Namely, stop doing crap like this.

4. What’s up Chuk? – Something I’ve always wondered about… only because I saw another player that fits the bill today – is what’s up with all the hockey players with last names of “-chuk”? I can’t really say that I’ve met someone else with a last name like that, but in hockey they’re literally everywhere: Malarchuk, Andreychuk, Sawchuk, Kovalchuk, Boychuk, Babchuk…

I entered “chuk” as a last name on www.eliteprospects.com and it spit out a list of 219 players. TWO HUNDRED AND NINETEEN. that’s amazing. Consider this: two of the most common names in the english language are Smith and Johnson, and their lists were only 464 and 334, respectively, and how common are those names? But __chuk comes up 219? That’s weird to me.

3. As a PR guy, should I worry about players tweeting? – The NHL has recently addressed the issue of players and their twitter accounts, by throwing a blanket over the whole thing and saying ‘just don’t do it on game days.’ To which Sean Avery said he’d set up a fake account and keep tweeting. But then again, if it’s a fake account, I don’t think he’ll be able to get 15,000 followers, nor would it be quite as fun to follow him (presuming you think he’s amusing).

But I’m not sure it’s really something that I can worry about that much. If a player does something silly, like send out tweets defending the honor of Osama bin Laden, I think that’s his problem. I don’t know about this one – never before has it been so instantaneous that a player could get himself in trouble for his foot-in-mouth syndrome. But I think that’s what makes the social media so effective with the fans – that direct, getting-inside-his-head type of connection to the athletes. I think it’s just good to remind all of our players just to think first about what they say or what pictures they post on twitter or facebook.

But then again, I think it’s a good question for everyone to ponder. Only you are in control of the image of yourself that you put out there.

2. Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird to see the Winnipeg Jets being discussed? – I can’t be the only one who thinks about Daniel Berthiaume and Dale Hawerchuk (there it is again!) when they see Winnipeg Jets headlines. But this isn’t Dave Ellett’s Jets. Nor is it Pat Elynuik, Thomas Steen, Fredrik Olausson, Darrin Shannon, Randy Carlisle, Bob Essensa or Teppo Numminen’s Jets. We’re living in the now. And it’s a little weird to me.

1. How does the operation of a minor league hockey team appear from the fans’ perspective? - This one I’ve though a lot about lately. Basically because we are getting emails from fans panicking that we’ve only signed 12 players so far. They are literally asking if we’re going to have enough players to field a team in training camp.

At first this question appears preposterous. Do people REALLY think that we’re not going to have an actual team? Is there an appearance that we will just have a bunch of scrubs on the squad? Maybe it does look that way, I don’t know. I just know how things really operate. That recruiting takes time. That the mail takes time. That players wait until their agents have exhausted all their options. I’m not overly clear on how others outside our office think or perceive the roster-building process.

All I can say is that some of our best players are waiting for FedEx to deliver their contracts as we speak. And you’ll have to trust the coach.

Kevin Bartl is the Vice President of Communications and a broadcaster with the Condors, entering his ninth season in Condorstown. His blog is supposed to come out every Tuesday, if he gets around to it. Follow him on twitter @KevinBartl.

I got home to Kansas City in late April, a little earlier than normal, but had an issue to take care of.  My best friend of 14 years had to be put down.  Our Cocker name after John “Winston” Lennon had lived a good and faithful life and was now deaf and blind.  I think, no I know I cried more when the Vet gave him those shots to ease his pain than I did at my parents passing.

On a lighter side, the love of my life, my grandson Cillian, started to visit for what we call sleep over’s.  On his first visit he convinced me that his Fisher Price bike was broken (even though it was not).  So off we go and get him a new bike.

Then came the first hot day in the Midwest.  Turned on the AC and nothing.  The year before we spent $600 on having the AC recharged…Wow what they get for a pound of Freon is crazy.  As my father would say “Don’t throw good money after bad”.  So we opted for a new furnace and AC unit.  There  went my plans for a 55-inch LED that I had been looking at all last season at Sam’s.

Of course when I get home my wife has the eternal Honey-do List.  We painted this room, bought blinds for those rooms, carpeted that room, bought her a new car, had trees trimmed and a lot of yard work.

In June my father-in-law left us.  I didn’t know how much I respected the man ‘till that event.  I knew he had been shot twice in the Pacific during WWII and had spent his working life as a molder in the steel mills of Pittsburgh.  But I just remembered his garden that he loved to tend to, and only telling my son Brendan of his exploits during that great conflict which he was part of.  “The Greatest Generation”…

The remainder of the summer was normal.  Getting up Saturday morning, going to the farmer’s market, and continuing doing things on that list that never gets shorter.

I drove out to Bako on the 30^th, and hit the ground running, Odie has some great ideas about the direction he wants his team.  We are in the process of painting the dressing room, laying new carpet and installing motivational slogans to fire up our players

On the culinary side, my first lunch when I got to town was at the car wash. If you haven’t been you have to try the pastrami burger.

So, if Kevin approves this format, I’ll be back soon, if not, I guess my “A” in basic writing was all for not.

-Dools

John Doolan is the Condors Equipment Manager, entering his 39th season in professional hockey. His career has taken him to Pittsburgh and the Islanders in the NHL, as well as Kansas City, San Antonio, Quad City and Bakersfield in the minors. in 2011-12 he will work his 2,800th professional game. His blogs will appear frequently on BakersfieldCondors.com

5. Adam Chorneyko (Colorado Eagles) - Sometimes as a coach you like a guy as a rookie, and think he can do something good to help your club, even though you’ve never seen him in game action before. Chorneyko was that guy with Marty Raymond last season, and he actually stuck around for a week after the season started without having a roster spot. Eventually, Marty had to let him go, and he ended up signing in the CHL with Colorado, where he posted 32 points (14g-18a) in just 40 games, ranking 7th among rookies. Pretty good. But in the post-season he exploded, leading the league with 28 points (10g-18a) and a +19 in 22 playoff games while the Eagles reached the finals. There are some, including your humble narrator, who don’t believe all CHL stats translate equally in the ECHL, but it’s hard not to wonder what could have been if he’d stuck around. We’ll see how he does this season…

and did I mention the Eagles also signed Liam Huculak? FYI… Opening night vs. Colorado is only 47 days away.

4. Judd Blackwater (Las Vegas) - When rivals lose players to other rivals, it always makes for an interesting story line. The Wranglers, who also re-gained D Mike Madill from a season in the Asian league, attracted some attention by getting former Stockton/Alaska winger Judd Blackwater. Blackwater returns to the West conference after scoring 20 goals in just 49 games last season with Allen in the CHL. He had 26 goals and 55 points in 2009-10, when he was dealt from the Thunder to the Aces in mid-season. He can be a game-breaker, even though I didn’t think he always played to his potential. He was talented enough that two AHL clubs gave him a serious look during his rookie season, which started out in Fresno. He’ll play for his 4th Western Conference team this season.

3. Dylan Yeo (Ontario Reign) - This should be a familiar name to Condors fans, who saw the 5-11, 200-lb blueliner skate for two seasons with the Victoria Salmon Kings. He resurfaces on the West Coast this season with Ontario, after splitting the last two campaigns between South Carolina and Hershey in the AHL. Yeo is a bonafide superstar d-man at the ECHL level. He has accumulated 105 points in 166 ECHL games, with 54 AHL games to his credit. The Reign’s penchant for defensive play over the last few seasons will make him look like Paul Coffey in an Ontario uniform. He’ll quarterback their power play, he can rush the puck, he can make a good breakout pass. In 2008-09 he was a 1st Team All-ECHL and the league’s Defenseman of the Year, posting 43 points (10g-33a) in 52 games.

2. Jack Combs/Chad Costello (Colorado Eagles) - The Eagles have made some interesting moves this summer, picking up these two from their CHL rivals in their move to the “new” league. I’m cheating here, counting this as one move since they were announced together (it’s my blog, I can do what I want!). Any time you can nab two Top-10 scorers from any league, you know you’re getting pretty good players. Combs pounded home 40 goals and 82 points in 64 games, and appeared in a handful of AHL games, while Costello rang up 34 goals and 84 points in just 54 games, and added 19 points in 10 playoff games, while also skating in eight games in the A. The catch here is that they played together in Tulsa, which adds a comfort and familiarity factor as well. Together again, but on a new club, even in a new league, they could do some damage.

1. Kevin Baker (Stockton) - When you score 57 goals in the ECHL and win an MVP, people tend to remember your name, even if they don’t see it again for a few years. The Thunder made a big splash this summer by digging up Baker from Italy, where he spent last season. He posted 102 points with Florida in 2008-09, winning a scoring title and being named a 1st Team All-Star as well. He has recorded 21 goals and 36 points in 83 AHL games (good full-season numbers to judge his value in the AHL), and has 141 goals and 297 points in his ECHL career as well (249 games). That 2008-09 campaign, everything seems like it came together for Baker, but in 2006-07 he had 81 points and 36 goals, earning him 1st Team All-ECHL honors as well. He has bounced around in his career, and at 32 he probably doesn’t have 102 points in his bag, but he will be a force out West in 2011-12 and that was a huge pickup for the Thunder.

Kevin Bartl is the Vice President of Communications and broadcaster with the Condors, entering his 9th season with the team. His blog comes out every Tuesday. Follow him on twitter @KevinBartl.

With that analogy in mind, I’ll bring you into our office to look for the tell-tale signs that the season is almost here. Here goes…

5. The promotional schedule is out - Ladies and gentlemen, please refer to the safety card in the seat pocket in front of you……. So much goes into the sculpting of the promotional schedule that it could be its own blog. It’s not as easy as it looks. You have to coordinate all kinds of schedules – how long does it take to produce the giveaway item? what is the relevance of the date in relation to our Jersey Off Our Backs nights? what are the available dates for the monkey that rides the dogs? who are the sponsors for the season and which dates/promos do they prefer? It usually takes all summer to piece this whole thing together, so when I’m writing a press release about it, I know the season is sure to follow.

4. The “Critical Dates” list is distributed by Matthew Riley – Please put away all electronic devices…….We just went from day-to-day routine to 100 mph instantaneously. Open House, the Job Fair, National Anthem Tryouts, Game Day Staff Orientation… all of these are not just one-day events, but coordinated efforts that take hours to plan. We don’t just put a date on the calendar and show up

3. The ice is nice - Please put away any carry-on luggage you have brought with you…….. You can’t play a Condors game without ice. And you can’t keep a sheet of ice in the blistering heat of Bakersfield all summer long. So when I write on my calendar the dates that the ice is going in – and this season it’s Sept. 28 – you know that we’re almost there, and everyone in the building is planning accordingly.

2. Program ad proofs start circulating around the office - Please return your tray tables and seat-back to an upright and locked position……. Ryan Hanson, our creative director, has a few big projects at the beginning of every season, and one of them is the design of the game program, along with pocket schedules, magnet schedules, nightly notes designs and a few others. When Hanson drops an ad or two on my desk to proof before it goes into the program, I know that the days are numbered. There’s only so many things in the program that can be done in advance, and sponsor ads are not one of these things. Thanks, Ryan, for giving me this Whispering Meadows ad today… I guess I’ll get ready for the season.

1. John Doolan arrives - You are cleared for take-off………… Nothing yanks me out of my summertime slumber like seeing Condors Equipment Manager John Doolan come strolling through that front door. His arrival is usually a month out from the opening of training camp, so that he may dig all the equipment out of storage, review his inventory and start ordering goodies, and contacting players for specifics on what they like to wear, what sticks they like, charting sizes, etc. There is stuff he has to do down in the dungeon to prepare for the players that I don’t even know about, and I’ve been doing this for over a decade. When “Dools” is here, he’s working. And when “Dools” shows up, it’s time for all of us to really get to work.

I hope everyone is buckled up. Now who’s ready to get to work?

Kevin Bartl is the Vice President of Communications and broadcaster for the Condors. His blog is supposed to come out every Tuesday, but that didn’t quite happen this week. Follow him on twitter @KevinBartl.

5. Hire an assistant - This is something that isn’t very hard, but is time-consuming. We received just over 100 resumes for the position in a week; the vast majority of which were eliminated upon simply reading the resume. The great thing about posting jobs on the internet these days is also the worst thing – it’s WAY too easy to apply for jobs. As an applicant, you can have a resume on file and within a few clicks on your computer, have it uploaded for a job that you aren’t qualified for, don’t know anything about, or don’t even care if you get.

And here’s a little unsolicited advice for young job seekers out there: your cover letter MEANS A LOT. Don’t start your cover letter for a Condors job with “I’d like to apply for the position with the Abbotsford Heat.” The only reason I would even keep reading is to count your errors. There are 100 resumes to sort through… when you have the employer wrong in your cover letter, I’m going to assume you sent it to me by accident, and delete it immediately.

4. Finish the media guide – the trick here is that the media guide has to have the upcoming season’s team info in it. And that isn’t finalized until a week before the season starts. So the other 130 pages or so needs to be done and ready to go, because I don’t have time to proofread miscellaneous statistics during training camp.

Part of the media guide preparation is preparing the game notes, which I start during the summer. As Coach O’Dette has signed players, I have researched them, dug up photos or videos, and put together their bios for the game notes. Even with websites dedicated to players’ histories and stats and various teams, it still takes many, many hours to put together information on every player we have joining the team each year. Now is when I have time to compile honors and awards that each guy has accumulated every season, not the Thursday before Opening Night.

3. Finalize team travel plans - believe it or not, most of this is done prior to training camp even starting. I have a travel agent we work with to find flights for us, call group reservations desks and process our purchases. This gets started the second we have a finalized schedule in the middle of the summer. As it stands right now, we have all of our flights reserved for the regular season. We have a bus company we’re working with as well, and after mapping out a rough outline of our travel schedule in June, I collected quotes, met or spoke with the various companies, and selected a carrier to work with.

I still need to find out exact travel dates of the teams coming into town for submission to our host hotel, the Bakersfield Marriott (so they can make sure they have rooms available for those dates), have Coach O’Dette approve my proposed travel schedule, and also make sure other teams know the dates that we’ll be in town, and communicate with their host hotels.

2. Get the players into town – To me this includes everything to do with Training Camp. I have my contact list. I talk to each guy – find out where they are coming from and when they need to arrive. Do they have a wife or girlfriend or a pet they are traveling with? Are they driving here or do they need a flight? If physicals are on Thursday night and the first day on the ice is Friday, and they are traveling by car from Nova Scotia, perhaps I should suggest they get here on Tuesday or early Wednesday, to get rid of their road legs. But I can’t control their driving time. Most flights will have them arriving Wednesday or Thursday.

I also need to have a rooming list and inform the hotel when they will arrive. I need to make arrangements for airport pick ups and make sure they have a training camp schedule. We have to organize the team meals during training camp, which is waaaaaay more complicated than it sounds (“platter serving size = 10 people” is translated as “platter serving size = 6 hungry hockey players”). I need to put together exact numbers for per diem. I need to alert Pearsey’s Rentals and Whispering Meadows so they can plan the move-ins. And to top it off, I need to put together all of our immigration paperwork.

Training camp is one of the most hectic two weeks of my life, every season. The more I can do before the players actually arrive, the better.

1. Relax - This is supposed to be a fun, renewing time of the year for us. The new team is here, everybody has their eyes on the prize, and mostly, we’re just excited for hockey to get started. The ice is in, the arena is filled with sounds of whistles blowing, skates grinding, pucks hitting the boards, and players yelling. All the guys are happy to be here and many are taking in Bakersfield for the first time. Wading chest-deep in the duties and minutia can drown the fact that this is a unique, privileged position that I have.

It’s really easy to get overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done, and trying to take care of all the last-minute, unexpected hiccups that will arise when your life is tied to 25 people who are all just visiting. It’s like trying to plan your wedding every year. During training camp I keep a paper and pen next to my bed so when I wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, or lay in bed staring at the ceiling thinking about all the things I’ve forgotten to do, I can just write it down and rest peacefully. As I’ve been through this, that bedside list gets smaller and smaller year after year.

Maintaining a good “to do” list in June, July and August and looking ahead can mean the difference between a good night’s sleep in October and completely stressing out.

Come to think of it, that’s more unsolicited advice for the youngsters: a good “to do” list = less stress. Trust me.

Kevin Bartl is the Vice President of Communications and broadcaster for the Condors, entering his 9th season with the team. His blog comes out every Tuesday. Follow him on twitter @KevinBartl.