State of the Bakersfield Condors 2021-22

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - In a strange COVID-19 truncated American Hockey League 20-21 season, the Bakersfield Condors accomplished what they set out to do: played meaningful hockey and won their last game of the season.

That win, 3-2 on May 29 against the Henderson Silver Knights, earned the Condors the AHL Pacific Division championship.

The Pacific Division was the only one which opted to have any form of playoffs last year and winning the John D. Chick Trophy was the ultimate prize in a far from perfect season.

On Saturday night, the Condors will raise a Pacific Division Champion banner, their second in three years,  before hosting the Abbotsford Canucks, the newest member of the division.

"It was nice to win, especially after the season that everyone had to go through," veteran forward Adam Cracknell said. "It was nice to have a good positive coming out of the season and something to look forward to."

But this is a new season, one where the ultimate goal will be a playoff run culminating in the Calder Cup Championship which was unobtainable last season.

"We set a standard here and expectation and we want  to make sure we carry that through this year," Cracknell said. "We know there’s going to be ups and downs throughout the year. We handled it last year."

The Roster

Goaltenders: Llya Konovalov (NHL),  Olivier Rodrigue (NHL), Stuart Skinner (NHL)

Defenseman: Philip Broberg (NHL, rookie), Markus Niemelanien (NHL), Vincent Desharnais (AHL),  Yanni Kaldis (AHL),  Michael Kesselring (AHL, rookie),  Phil Kemp (NHL, rookie),  Filip Berglund (NHL).

Forwards: Tim Schaller (AHL, vet), Otis Safin (NHL), Luke Esposito (AHL), James Hamblin (AHL), Krill Maksimov (NHL), Devin Brosseau (AHL), Brad Malone (AHL, vet), Dino Kambeitz (AHL, rookie), Cooper Marody (NHL), Graham McPhee (AHL, rookie), Adam Cracknell (NHL, vet), Seth Griffith (NHL, vet), Tim Soderlund (NHL), Matteo Gennaro (AHL), Raphael Lavoie (NHL, rookie).

Run It Back

The Condors head into the season returning the majority of players who were with the team at the end of the season.

Perhaps, most notably, that includes goaltender Stuart Skinner, who went 20-9-1 last season with a 2.38 GAA and .914 save percentage. Skinner is coming off a solid training camp with the Edmonton Oilers, playing in parts of three games.

Up front, the Condors return the bulk of their forward corps from last season, including four of their top six scorers. Cooper Marody (36 points) and veterans Cracknell (30 points), Seth Griffith (28 points) and Brad Malone (21 points).

All told, the Condors return nine forwards who played in playoff games last season.

Among those are rookie Raphael Lavoie, Edmonton’s second-round pick in 2019; fifth-year pro Luke Esposito; and second-year player James Hamblin.

Bakersfield Blueline Brings Size And Youth

Defensively, the Condors are going to be big. And young.

Gone are veteran leaders Ryan Stanton and Kevin Gavel.

Three of the seven defensemen on the opening day roster are rookie and four are on NHL contracts. Six stand 6-2 or better, two are 6-5 and Vincent Desharnais tops the height chart at 6-7.

None have played a single game in the NHL. In fact, there is precious little AHL experience with Desharnais having the most at 43 games. Combined, Bakersfield’s defensemen have 125 games of AHL experience.

Prospects To Watch

Highly-touted Ilya Konovalov, Edmonton’s third-round pick in 2019, makes his North American debut after 211 games in the KHL over the past three-plus seasons. Also starting the season in Bakersfield is Olivier Rodrigue, Edmonton’s second-round pick in 2018. Rodrigue played 11 games for the Condors last season.

Rookie Philip Broberg, Edmonton’s first-round draft pick in 2019 (eighth overall) has the highest pedigree and played last season in the Swedish Elite League.