HOLTY’S BLOG: COWBOY CAL
Boy, the calendar flips to November and all of a sudden it’s winter in Condorstown. Hope you all enjoyed the two days of Fall we had.
You may like this weather, and that’s fine, but give me the heat any day, and as I’ll remind you, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.
Now for the blog…
Cowboy Cal-vin Pickard backstopped the Condors to a month-opening win last night. He stopped 27 and more impressively, he had a few timely stops in the second period after the Condors had peppered Lukas Dostal with 34 through 40 minutes. It’s not easy getting called upon after the guys in front of you have spent the better part of the period in the offensive zone, but it was a nice night for Picks. He got the post-game Cowboy Hat as well, as you can see in Behind Closed Dors brought to you by Cisneros Decorative Concrete.
Here are last night’s highlights. One thing that stood out to me was the penalty kill having a much needed big night. Getting Vinny Desharnais back certainly helps in that regard, but collectively, it is an aggressive group of killers. The team leads the league in shorthanded goals and I would expect, just based off the system that we’re not done seeing the penalty kill come through offensively.
Michael Kesselring leads all AHL d-men in goals with five now through seven games. He had a pretty funny moment with Mike Hart post-game as he was interviewed as the first star of the game when he was asked if he expected to be the team’s leader in goals. “No.” he said bluntly with a smirk.
Laurent Brossoit was assigned to Henderson this week on a conditioning loan by Vegas. And, taking a look at the schedule…why of course, his first opportunity at game action comes against the Condors Friday & Saturday! I don’t have any intel, but would assume they’re not sending him on the 4.5 hour bus to Condorstown and back to Henderson on Saturday, but would be cool to have LB back in Bakersfield. After all, he’s still on the front facade of the building!
Speaking of members of the 25th Anniversary Team (you can buy the program for just $2 on Friday night), Kevin Truelson will be honored with a ceremonial puck drop and video tomorrow. He still is the team’s all-time leader for points by a d-man. Other alums upcoming: Brian McCarthy (Nov. 12), Andrew Ianiero (Nov. 18), Glen Mears (Nov. 26), and may or may not have a certain tough guy who once had 358 PIMs in ONE SEASON in the works for later this season. Stay tuned!
Until next time Condorstown…
Ryan Holt aka Holty is the Voice of the Condors in his 12th season. Follow him on Twitter @CondorsHolty for more nonsense or shoot him an e-mail to RHolt@BakersfieldCondors.com with questions, comments, or blog ideas.
