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Prospect Info: 2014/15 OKC Barons Thread 2: Gerry Fleming Named Head Coach of the Condors

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Zaddy

Zaddy

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Feb 8, 2013
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I feel like Bakersfield are gonna have a pretty good team next year. Slepyshev coming over, Miller and Hunt re-signed, Yakimov is probably due for a big season, then the signings of Connor Ranking and Alexis Loiseau, they should be able to contribute some and hopefully stable goaltending with Brossoit and Laurikainen. Will be interesting to see what kind of impact Chase has too and if Nurse and Drai will play games there, even better!

I never had any interest in OKC Barons and never watched any games but this coming season I might try and brave the awful AHL feeds and get a few games in. I hope with the new Oilers management and relocation of the AHL-franchise that this club will field a lot of promising players and future Oilers in the years to come. I want Bakersfield to be treated as the place to go for prospects in order to get ready for the NHL. To mold them into Oilers and teach them what is needed to play at the NHL level and what is expected of them on and off the ice. I really hope that's the goal here.
 

easternrefugee

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Jun 24, 2013
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Baronsfan said:
Do you live in OKC? If not, how many times did you tour the OKC facilities?
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I live in Bako (Bakersfield) and saw 3 games in OKC. The building is very old and it does not appear to have been updated in over a decade. No I have not toured the ocker rooms etc. It was my impression of the arena itself. I was told that the remodel will mirror OKC to the square inch. It is one very expensive remodel as they are removing concrete walls. Our arena itself is pretty much state of the art. Most of the west is. I am not sure if San Diego is going to get a gut remodel or f they are eventually going to build a new arena for them.

Bako is also a smaller arena seating 9,000 max for hockey. Our base in the ECHL with crap hockey was about 5,000 per game. With AHL and the same prices as our ECHL for a guaranteed 3 years, our sales should be over 6,000 I hope. If the teams is a successful one then the seats could be way higher counting visiting team fans
 
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easternrefugee

Registered User
Jun 24, 2013
296
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Bakersfield, CA
Zaddy Zads said:
I feel like Bakersfield are gonna have a pretty good team next year. Slepyshev coming over, Miller and Hunt re-signed, Yakimov is probably due for a big season, then the signings of Connor Ranking and Alexis Loiseau, they should be able to contribute some and hopefully stable goaltending with Brossoit and Laurikainen. Will be interesting to see what kind of impact Chase has too and if Nurse and Drai will play games there, even better!

I never had any interest in OKC Barons and never watched any games but this coming season I might try and brave the awful AHL feeds and get a few games in. I hope with the new Oilers management and relocation of the AHL-franchise that this club will field a lot of promising players and future Oilers in the years to come. I want Bakersfield to be treated as the place to go for prospects in order to get ready for the NHL. To mold them into Oilers and teach them what is needed to play at the NHL level and what is expected of them on and off the ice. I really hope that's the goal here.
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What I think that will be interesting about the western AHL is that the teams mirror their NHL in terms of division rivals. We are all VERY close with the exception of the Texas teams. The longest bus ride is 4 to 5 hours depending on traffic. I can also see call ups being easy If the NHL teams are playing in Cali.
 
Baronsfan

Baronsfan

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easternrefugee said:
I live in Bako (Bakersfield) and saw 3 games in OKC. The building is very old and it does not appear to have been updated in over a decade. No I have not toured the ocker rooms etc. It was my impression of the arena itself. I was told that the remodel will mirror OKC to the square inch. It is one very expensive remodel as they are removing concrete walls. Our arena itself is pretty much state of the art. Most of the west is. I am not sure if San Diego is going to get a gut remodel or f they are eventually going to build a new arena for them.

Bako is also a smaller arena seating 9,000 max for hockey. Our base in the ECHL with crap hockey was about 5,000 per game. With AHL and the same prices as our ECHL for a guaranteed 3 years, our sales should be over 6,000 I hope. If the teams is a successful one then the seats could be way higher counting visiting team fans
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The Cox Center in OKC is a great building to watch hockey, though it is old. However, keep in mind that though it was built in 1972 it also was equivalent to 130 million in 2015 dollars, whereas rabobank was built for an equivalent to 56 million. So that should tell you that the place was not just a dump. It's an older building, but that doesn't mean it wasn't up to standard. That was my point, that you have not toured OKC's player facilities so that's why it amused me you stating how much nicer Bakersfield will be. Lol

OKC Blazers in the CHL were the highest average attendance minor league team in its time, averaging Over 9,000 its whole existence to 2009. OKC was even in consideration to get the coyotes franchise when it moved to Glendale, Then the NBA came in and completely took the city by storm and you saw hockey here go from a page 1 story to page 4 story as it was no longer the biggest show in town and everyone here wanted a big league team and once they got one, minor league was a thing of the past.
 
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Baronsfan

Baronsfan

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Nov 10, 2010
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Zaddy Zads said:
I feel like Bakersfield are gonna have a pretty good team next year. Slepyshev coming over, Miller and Hunt re-signed, Yakimov is probably due for a big season, then the signings of Connor Ranking and Alexis Loiseau, they should be able to contribute some and hopefully stable goaltending with Brossoit and Laurikainen. Will be interesting to see what kind of impact Chase has too and if Nurse and Drai will play games there, even better!

I never had any interest in OKC Barons and never watched any games but this coming season I might try and brave the awful AHL feeds and get a few games in. I hope with the new Oilers management and relocation of the AHL-franchise that this club will field a lot of promising players and future Oilers in the years to come. I want Bakersfield to be treated as the place to go for prospects in order to get ready for the NHL. To mold them into Oilers and teach them what is needed to play at the NHL level and what is expected of them on and off the ice. I really hope that's the goal here.
Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to seeing how they do this season. The only thing that worries me is their lack of C depth if they don't sign an ahl vet to play in their top 6. C depth of yakimov, khaira, Ewanyk, platzer is pretty green. Ewanyk/khaira should both C the bottom 6, interesting to see if platzer can take the bull by the horns for his first pro season and contribute enough to warrant the 2nd line c job all season.
 
DKH

DKH

The Bergeron of HF
Feb 27, 2002
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Who is the head coach of the Condors next season? did they name anyone yet?
 

easternrefugee

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Jun 24, 2013
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Bakersfield, CA
With Eakins being hired as the new head coach of the San Diego Gulls, a new rivalry has just happened. In the past Bako has had a VERY bitter rivalry with San Diego stemming back through two different leagues. Now we enter the AHL and all of the past is gone, but with this hiring a new intense rivalry will begin. Eakins will want to prove that he is the better coach to show up Edmonton and conversely Edmonton will want to show Eakins why he was fired.....This will be an interesting season to say the least.
 
randyc

randyc

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Apr 2, 2007
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Only Will Happen if....

Only if the Ducks do a better job assembling a team than they did in Norfolk last season. Next to last in the entire AHL with 64 measly points. They don't care about winning, just player development. I don't care whether Eakins is a good, bad or indifferent coach he can only work with what is given him.
 

Hoodaha

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Aug 8, 2014
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With Reinhart coming to Edmonton, do Oilers fans think that someone else (Schultz?) is on the way out? What are the odds that this keeps Nurse in a Bakersfield jersey?
 
Baronsfan

Baronsfan

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Hoodaha said:
With Reinhart coming to Edmonton, do Oilers fans think that someone else (Schultz?) is on the way out? What are the odds that this keeps Nurse in a Bakersfield jersey?
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After watching him play first hand in the Utica series for OKC, I will say that more than likely Nurse is ready for the NHL. His skating along with his physicality truly is remarkable for a guy his age. He really stood out to me and was vastly improved from the year before, and I imagine after another solid summer of training he will only come into camp in even better shape. If nurse makes the NHL that more than likely bumps a hopeful like Davidson to condorstown though, but in a perfect world he doesn't have much more to prove in the AHL either.
 

Hoodaha

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easternrefugee said:
I think it comes down to Free agency. Edmonton has a lot of cap room. If they get 2 dmen, then Nurse will be here for a short while, along with Hunt and Davidson.
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Also depends a bit on philosophy. If they really want to make sure and be deliberate with Nurse, they could give him one year in the AHL (sign a UFA to cover for a year or so). Odds are they won't do this though. I would think that it's more likely that he'll either make the team out of camp, or that he'll play in Bakersfield for a short time until there's an injury.

Who are the locks on Edmonton's blueline? How many spots are open for guys like Nurse and Reinhart?
 
Suxnet

Suxnet

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Jan 4, 2012
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I think Nurse could make the Oilers this season. Reinhart is an interesting case, though. Chiarelli and Green both said they expect him to jump right into the NHL, but I have my doubts. His skating still needs work and I'd rather have him playing big minutes in Bakersfield than bottom pairing minutes on the Oil.

Klefbom-Schultz
Ference-Fayne
Nikitin-Gryba

Ference, Nikitin, and Gryba are the weakest links, so one of them will get bumped out of their spots if a younger guy makes the team.
 
McFlyingV

McFlyingV

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Feb 22, 2013
22,867
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Edmonton, Alberta
Qrispy said:
I think Nurse could make the Oilers this season. Reinhart is an interesting case, though. Chiarelli and Green both said they expect him to jump right into the NHL, but I have my doubts. His skating still needs work and I'd rather have him playing big minutes in Bakersfield than bottom pairing minutes on the Oil.

Klefbom-Schultz
Ference-Fayne
Nikitin-Gryba

Ference, Nikitin, and Gryba are the weakest links, so one of them will get bumped out of their spots if a younger guy makes the team.
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I'd much rather have Nurse and Reinhart in the top 6 than Ference or Nikitin. Ideally I'd prefer at least 1 UFA in there with them Nurse and Reinhart fighting for the last spot, unless you can somehow sign Sekera and 1 of Beauchemin/Green/Franson/Ehrhoff/Martin on short term deals then I'd be fine with them both starting in Bakersfield, but I think thats a little unrealistic to expect.
 

Hoodaha

Registered User
Aug 8, 2014
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McFlyingV said:
I'd much rather have Nurse and Reinhart in the top 6 than Ference or Nikitin. Ideally I'd prefer at least 1 UFA in there with them Nurse and Reinhart fighting for the last spot, unless you can somehow sign Sekera and 1 of Beauchemin/Green/Franson/Ehrhoff/Martin on short term deals then I'd be fine with them both starting in Bakersfield, but I think thats a little unrealistic to expect.
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Seems likely that one of the two will be in Bakersfield to start the season. There's a lot of pressure to show improvement in Edmonton though, so both may be in the bigs sooner rather than later...
 
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