HOLTY’S BLOG: PLAYOFFS?!?

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When two teams are bad defensively, particularly in a Game 7, it makes for an entertaining outcome. As poorly as both teams played last night, at least they put on a show.

You may like low scoring games, and that’s fine, but as I’ll remind you, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.

Now for the blog.

– Could either team make a breakout pass last night? I thought in the second period Freddie Andersen settled into the rhythm he had from the previous two games to frustrate Boston, but he came undone in the third. Edmonton native Jake DeBrusk’s go-ahead goal was nice, but the defensive miscue and the bad read from Anderson were certainly at fault.

– Toronto’s narrative this year was that they’ve had a process in place to build a contender with a young corps. Boston’s narrative has been “who are these guys?” Both can be answered by simply looking at the AHL. Of the 40 players who dressed last, 33 played in the AHL (83%). Stretching it further, 14 of the 40 played in the AHL within the last 3 seasons. Below is a great commercial.

– How’d you do in the first round Holty? 7 of 8 correct and all four Conference finalists still have a shot. I’ll have more in my locks of the week.

– The 2018 Offseason Player Tracker is now live on the website. It will be updated throughout the year as players re-sign in the organization, new players get added, and some players move on. It only features prominent players from this past season or those who finished the year with the Condors. So, for example, while Anton Slepyshev played a game for the Condors this year, he’s not listed.

– Saturday night is the NHL Draft lottery during the intermissions of the Sharks-Vegas game. The Oilers have the 9th-best odds with a 5% chance of getting the number one overall pick and a 16% chance of landing in the Top 3.

– The public service announcement again with the draft is that whoever the Oilers pick (unless they’re playing in Europe) cannot play in Bakersfield (or the AHL) full-time until 2020.

– Nice article on Cooper Marody, who impressed late in the season with the Condors. He’ll be a full-time pro next season.

– Wichita was eliminated in Game 6 of the first round in their series with Colorado. Evan Polei joined the Thunder and had four points (3g-1a) in five games in the series.

– The AHL Calder Cup playoffs are in full swing. Three of my four (one is already out) western conference first round picks could be eliminated tonight, so that’s promising.

– Former Condors coaches Troy Mann and Ryan Murphy were let go by the Hershey Bears yesterday. They led the Condors to their greatest season and deepest playoff run back in 2013-14.  In Hershey, they were 60 games over .500, won two division titles, went to the Calder Cup Finals, and had three playoff appearances in four years. Coaching is a tough business.

– Congrats to former Condors Anton Lander and Rob Klinkhammer who won the KHL (Russia) Gagarin Cup over the weekend with Ak Bars Kazan. Klinkhammer scored the game-winner off a feed from Lander. The Russian call is great.

– The end of season locker room sale is tonight from 5-7 p.m. Great deals on game-worn jerseys (members can take $50 off any of them) and equipment from this season. Most of the stuff is pro stock, meaning you can’t even purchase it at a sporting goods store.

– Locks of the week? I know I’ve gotten away from this, but I still like my four second round selections: Jets, Sharks, Bruins, Capitals. I’ll add in series lengths for some fun. So let’s go Jets in 6, Sharks in 6, Bruins in 5, Capitals in 7.

Until next time Condorstown…

Ryan Holt enters his 8th season in Condorstown in 2018-19. In addition to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s also fully on the Boston Celtics bandwagon. Follow him on Twitter @CondorsHolty for more nonsense or shoot him an e-mail to RHolt@BakersfieldCondors.com with questions, comments, or blog ideas.