HOLTY’S BLOG: Homestand starts with a bang

Everyone have fun last night? Good, great, wonderful…

@KevinBartl said that we have too much to do for me to “waste time writing a blog,” but as I reminded him, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.

Now for the blog…

– The seven goals last night tied a Condors AHL record which was done twice last year. The six goal win was the largest in team history. Previous margin was four done on four occasions last year. Highlights below.

– Certainly an impressive way to start the homestand if you’re the Condors, who are home for 12 of their next 14 games. They’ll see everyone in the division except for Ontario during that time.

– How about the line of Hamilton – Khaira – Beck? When they’ve played together (four of the six games) the line has combined for seven goals and 13 assists and are +13.

– Speaking of Beck, he had two goals last night and was the guest on Condors Unleashed on Tuesday.

– There are currently five injured players in Edmonton (Pakarinen, Hendricks, Caggiula, Davidson, Fayne) Conservatively, the Condors will receive at least three players (probably more) in the coming weeks when guys return to full health. A .500 Condors team adding a line of guys who have been in the NHL for two months? Not a bad problem to have.

– Last night’s stretch pass from over 100 feet from Joey LaLeggia to Taylor Beck was something else. LaLeggia, Musil. and Oesterle all recorded assists last night while Mark Fraser was +4, Dillon Simpson was +3, and Ben Betker was +2. A solid showing from the d-corps last night too.

– Speaking of defense, Laurent Brossoit was back to his old ways last night. Everything was under control, there was no scrambling to his game, and he seemed completely at ease despite facing 37 shots. He’s one of the best netminders in the AHL and history has shown that when he gets on a roll, he’s tough to stop in the win column.

– Bakersfield went 1-4-1 against San Antonio last year and 0-6-0 against Texas. The Stars are a difficult matchup for any team because of their track meet nature, but another good test for the Condors this weekend with them in town.

– Slow starts can kill a season before it begins, so a nice bounce back for the team early on to win two games and get back to .500. We saw last year, one game can make all the difference from being a playoff team to having a long offseason.

– Lock of the week? Hey if the Cubs can win the World Series then surely this Holty’s Blog heater can continue this week right? After a thrilling OT win from Dallas, I’m still alive. Love Kansas City at home big over Jacksonville. That team is awful.

Until next time Condorstown…

Ryan Holt is in his 6th season with the Condors. He promises not to be the most obnoxious person at the Team/Staff BBQ on Sunday. Follow him on Twitter @CondorsHolty for more nonsense or shoot him an e-mail to rholt@bakersfieldcondors.com with questions, comments, or blog ideas.