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For the 3 of us on here that like hockey...

I drove up to Bakersfield tonight (1.5 hrs) to catch the Condors versus the Stockton Thunder. What else do I have to do?

In case anyone doesn't know, over the past like 3 weeks I have been following the Ontario Reign. The Reign's division consists of 4 teams, and only 5 pts separate the 4th place team (Ontario) from 1st (Bakersfield). So needless to say, the division race has really come down to the wire. Stockton are 2 pts behind the Condors (Bakersfield) and are taking them on tonight.

Ontario basically needs to win out, and that includes 3 games at Las Vegas, who I hear is the hated rival. I have no idea. I doubt Ontario sweeps and makes the playoffs however.

This Bakersfield arena is a lot more comparable to Johnstown than the arena in Ontario. This is a small market team that appears to be in an area that is, from what I can tell, comparable to Johnstown.

I'll post some more stuff as I encounter it, but here's a few things about this experience.

My ticket, which is a great seat, was 10 bucks.

Every seat in here is padded and there's not a bad seat in the arena.

Concession prices are cheap.

Merchanise booths in at least 2 places and the selection is much better than Johnstown.

Ice looks really good.

This place holds about 9k.so far, with 7 mins before they drop the puck, this place is pretty empty, even for a huge game, which this is.

They have a multi-media banner all the way around the arena that details upcoming events and ads.

The scoreboard, as in Ontario, is all digital and has 4 gigantic screens that are all very clear.

The sound in here is really good. As good as Ontario, and that is by far the best smaller-sized arena I was ever in.

I'm not real impressed with the quality of tail walking around here as yet.

No Chicken Charlie as yet.

They have a pretty nice club on the concourse that is a bar and serves food. Nice atmosphere.

Also in the concourse are a lot of pics and banners of Condors players. There are also a lot of games for kids, etc.

One thing I was impressed with was that they sell quite a lot of shirts with players names and numbers. The t-shirt jerseys go for 20.

Lighting in here is good.

I get the impression that they jazzed this place up, which only makes me sadder about the War Memorial, who made NO effort to get the fans more involved in events. I'm sorry to sound like a little kid who is attracted by shiny objects, but fans want a real scoreboard w replays and pre-game interviews and all that "guess which hat the marble is under" crap. People like that stuff. The War Memorial refused to go down that road.

Its a shame the Chiefs are leaving but the War Memorial association and the Chiefs organization all deserve all the heartache and debt they have accumulated.

A lot more people have now shown up and there's decent chick quality.

Love it.

The Ancient Enemy wrote:Its a shame the Chiefs are leaving but the War Memorial association and the Chiefs organization all deserve all the heartache and debt they have accumulated.

Tis the truth, and couldn't have said it better myself.

Stockton ended up winning that game last night, 6-4. The Bakersfield goalie, for being the goalie of a team in 1st place, was honestly the laziest goalie I have ever seen, was constantly out of position, chased every puck that cam within 10 feet of the net, and the Condors offense had to do everything possible to try and keep the puck as far away from their own end as humanly possible.

I can see where Bakersfield was in 1st place, but if that goalie keeps playing like that, and that defense keeps allowing the opposition to get in close like they did, that team will get bounced in the early rounds.

Stockton doesnt have a lot of size but they are pretty quick. The main difference between those 2 teams last night and the Chiefs was skill set. The skating was very good (best I had seen of any of the 8 ECHL teams I saw this month) and the passing was crisp. Both teams were also pretty good at setting up shots for their teammates. I said in the Ontario / Jtown thread that it seemed like Ontario could see the play develop in their heads before the play actually took place, and they just couldnt accomplish it. With the Chiefs, there seems to be no plan whatsoever, and it appeared as if they were just out there with each player doing his own thing, poorly.

Basically, from the 5 teams I have seen in the West (Ontario, Bakersfield, Idaho, Alaska, Stockton) those teams are all much more organized on the ice, have strong skill sets for the most part, and they play tough, intense hockey were they are trying to win the dang game. It was professional.

If the market in Bakersfield can produce a solid hockey team with legitimate arena attributes, there's no excuse why Johnstown cant.

I still dont understand how there was never a fundraiser to buy a new scoreboard down there. If you cant afford, try to take donations!