Tag Archives: Bakersfield Condors

Good news for the Reign next season.

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The Anaheim Ducks have their own American Hockey League affiliate, after the team announced a partnership this morning with the Syracuse Crunch.

Here’s why that is good news for the Reign:

The Bakersfield Condors, the Ducks’ ECHL affiliate, got off to a torrid start this season because Anaheim – without an AHL affiliate – was forced to send many of its top prospects to Bakersfield early in the year. Forwards Dan Sexton and Kyle Calder, and goaltender Timo Pielmeier, have all spent time in both a Condors and Ducks uniform this season. The Condors were leading the Pacific Division by 13 points at one point in January, before injuries allowed some of their best players to find homes in the AHL.

With the Ducks’ best prospects heading to Syracuse next season, don’t expect to see them beating up on the Reign early next year.

Two defenseman joining Reign.

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The Reign have received defenseman Patrick Mullen from the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs and have been assigned defenseman Colten Teubert by the Kings. Both will be in uniform tonight when the Reign play the Bakersfield Condors tonight (6 p.m., Rabobank Arena).

Teubert was the Kings’ first-round draft pick (13th overall) in 2008 and finished last season with the Reign, notching two assists in 14 games between the regular season and the playoffs. The recently-turned 20-year-old just completed his final season with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats.

Mullen, 23, recorded three goals, eight points and 14 penalty minutes in 36 games during his rookie season with the Monarchs.

The 6-foot, 181-pound native of Pittsburgh played four years at the University of Denver. from 2005-09, collecting 81 points (20-61=81) and 148 penalty minutes in 152 games. The Kings signed Mullen two a two-year entry-level contract in April of last year and have been using him exclusively as a defenseman in Manchester after splitting time at forward in college.

Mullen’s father, Joe, played in the NHL for 16 seasons with four different teams (Blues, Flames, Penguins, Bruins). The first American-born hockey player to score 500 goals and register 1,000 points, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.

The Web site Hockey’s Future didn’t have much to say about Mullen but rated him a 6.0, and ranked him as the 19th-best prospect in the Kings’ system.

Bakersfield getting two blueliners back.

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The Bakersfield Condors will face the Reign tonight with two of their better players back from the American Hockey League.

Defensemen Sasha Pokulok and Mark Mitera were playing for Abbotsford and San Antonio, respectively, the last time these teams faced each other in February, but will be back in the lineup tonight at Rabobank Arena.

According to the Bakersfield Californian, Pokulok has 28 points in 39 games with the Condors but played in just
three of the last 26. Mitera has 13 points in 32 games but has been gone
for the last 20 games

Reign 2, Bakersfield 0.

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The winning streak is up to six. Tony Voce and Mike Howe scored goals, Curtis Darling had a fairly routine 20-save shutout, and a couple got married at first intermission.

“We were tired,” head coach Karl Taylor said. “I think their team was tired, as well. I think in the
first period we carried the play. We had more energy. In the middle of
the second, they pushed back, did a really good job to get some energy.
I thought in the third period they came hard. (Darling) made two or
three saves again that should have been goals. He’s in the zone right
now. He’s playing really well. He won the game in the end today.”

The six straight wins match a team record set last season. A win Friday against Las Vegas (the Wranglers are in for yet another 3-in-3 next weekend, ending the nine-game homestand) will break it.

A game between two teams desperate not to be the eighth team in a league that sends seven to the playoffs, with a franchise record winning streak on the line, should be a very good one.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Lenes, Pielmeier, etc.

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In case you missed today’s story, including items on Peter Lenes and Chris Curran, click here.

Also, if you’ve been double-dipping in my Ducks blog, you will have noticed that Bakersfield Condors goaltender Timo Pielmeier is in Anaheim. The Reign host the Condors on Sunday, but Pielmeier is expected to be back by then; head coach Randy Carlyle said that Jonas Hiller is supposed to rejoin the Ducks in practice Sunday and he probably won’t need three goalies. 

Reign 6, Bakersfield 4.

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The Reign came back from a 3-1 first-period deficit, and a negated goal in the third period, to beat the Pacific-Division leading Condors.

Sean O’Connor scored the game-winner with 2:41 left in the third period. Greg Hogeboom, Tony Voce, Tim Kraus and Jon Francisco also scored, and Mike Egener could have had a two-goal game if not for a disallowed goal with 12:23 left.

Goaltender Curtis Darling got his third win in as many days, stopping 19 of 23.

Robert Pearce had three assists and Michael Pelech and Mike Howe each collected a pair of assists.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Bakersfield 7, Reign 0.

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The Condors raced out to an early lead, got some resistance in the second, then pulled away late to record their first shutout since opening night in Bakersfield — also against the Reign.

This time it was Tyler Sims who earned the shutout, a 26-save effort that included a few beauties when the Reign managed to pressure the net. But Bakersfield enjoyed most of the scoring chances, outshooting Ontario 41-26 and sending the Reign to their largest margin of defeat this season.

Curtis Darling got the start for the third time in as many days, but was pulled after allowing five goals on 28 shots in just over 44 minutes. Mike Zacharias finished and allowed two goals on 13 shots.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Stockton 3, Reign 2.

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If you’ve seen the Reign play recently, neither the game nor the result were out of the ordinary – a few too many pucks off the post, a few too many scoring chances on the other end (they were outshot 31-27) and, at the end, a loss – their fourth in five games.

Karl Taylor said afterwards he felt the team deserved better, and the law of averages says the Reign probably should have more than one win to show for their last five games. It won’t get any easier tomorrow with a 2 p.m. date in Bakersfield. In fact, the team boarded a bus immediately after the game to head north.

Taylor tried some creative things – he pulled Darling with seven minutes left to create a 6-on-4 power play, and it worked when Mike Egener scored 12 seconds later. He also shifted Tim Kraus to right wing on the second power-play unit, and that worked too – the natural center scored to break a four-game drought in the third period.

But for most part it was another offensively frustrating effort. More details – including an update on defenseman Shawn Germain, who did not play – in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Bakersfield 2, Reign 1, SO.

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Greg Hogeboom scored in the second period, and Bakersfield tied it on a power-play goal in the third that was deflected in by Mathieu Aubin. 


In the shootout, Bakersfield’s Timo Pielmeier was perfect against four Reign shooters, while Sasha Pokulok and Aubin scored on Curtis Darling.


Right wing Sean O’Connor signed earlier in the day and made his debut for the Reign. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound power forward took a team-high five shots but was held scoreless. In 60 games last season for the Victoria Salmon Kings, O’Connor had 19 goals and 27 points.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Bakersfield 2, Reign 1, OT.

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The Reign returned to California and pushed the Bakersfield Condors to overtime on the road, before losing their sixth straight game, 2-1 at Rabobank Arena.


A Michael Pelech slapshot eight seconds after a Reign power play had expired, at 14:56 of the first period, was the Reign’s only goal of the game. 

The 1-0 lead held until 10:26 of the second period, when the Condors’ Maxime Macenauer scored off a long shot along the boards.

The Reign could not capitalize on a 2-minute long 5-on-3 power play spanning the second and third periods, then had to withstand an 85-second long 5-on-3 shift for Bakersfield. Darling preserved the tie with some clutch saves late in the third period, and finished with 34 saves as the Reign were out-shot 36-23.

In overtime, Reign defenseman David Walker was sent to the penalty box for slashing at the 50-second mark, and Bakersfield blueliner Sasha Pokulok netted the game winner 36 seconds later.

At 13-6-3-2, the Reign are 11 points back of Bakersfield (20-9-2-0) for first place in the Pacific Division. They’ll get four days off before hosting the Las Vegas Wranglers on Thursday at The Bank.