ECHL Bakersfield Condors

Bakersfield opens campaign at Rabobank Arena Friday, Oct. 20th vs. Stockton

Published on July 17, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Bakersfield Condors News Release


BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The Bakersfield Condors Professional Hockey Club have announced their 72- game ECHL regular season schedule for 2006-07, which begins Friday, Oct. 20 versus their Pacific Division rival Stockton Thunder. Bakersfield, which enters its fourth season in the ECHL, will host Idaho Saturday, Oct. 21 before hitting the road for the first time.

This will mark the seventh straight season that Bakersfield will open the regular season at home, dating back to its West Coast Hockey League tenure in 2000-01. The Condors will play its first road game on Oct. 22 against the Long Beach Ice Dogs, who they eliminated in last season's Pacific Division Semifinals. Bakersfield will then take on the defending Kelly Cup Champion Alaska Aces in a four- game home-and-home series, beginning Oct. 27 at Sullivan Arena.

The Condors and Aces will be very familiar with one another, as the two will square off nine times in the regular season. Bakersfield will also play the Fresno Falcons nine times in 2006-07. Fresno eliminated the Condors in seven games during last season's Pacific Division Finals.

Bakersfield will play nine of its first 13 games at Rabobank Arena, highlighted by a five-game homestand from Nov. 10 through Nov. 21. The Condors will also have a five-game homestand from Feb. 7 through Feb. 17. The team will embark on a nine-game road trip from March 2 through March 16. That's the longest trek in club history.

Most home games will begin at 7 p.m. (Pacific Time). The Tuesday, Nov. 14 game against the Utah Grizzlies will be the annual "Field Trip Game" and will start at 10:30 a.m. The Sunday, Jan. 14 contest versus the Fresno Falcons will be a 6 p.m. puck drop. (A few other start times are to be determined. A notification will be released when finalized.)

The Condors will have two special road-game start times as well. Their Monday, Dec. 18 visit to Las Vegas will be the Wranglers' annual "Midnight Game," and the contest on Monday, Feb. 19 in Fresno will be a special 1 p.m. President's Day start.

Bakersfield will be making its only East Coast trip of the season in early December, visiting the Trenton Titans (Dec. 8 and 9) and the Johnstown Chiefs (Dec. 10). The Toledo Storm will make their first- ever visit to Bakersfield on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

"We're certainly excited to get the season underway," Condors President Matthew Riley said. "After last season's playoff run that saw us progress farther than we ever have coupled with the core of players already signed this year, we're itching to get started and can't wait for October." (MORE)

The ECHL welcomes the Cincinnati Cyclones and the Texas Wildcatters back to the ice in 2006-07 and will play 900 games, beginning Oct. 20 and ending April 7, with 25 teams in 16 states and British Columbia.

The division and conference alignments and the format for the 2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs will be announced following the Preseason Board of Governors Meeting in September.

The ECHL raised its average attendance for the third straight year in 2005-06 drawing 3,934,794 for 900 games which is an average of 4,372 per game, an increase of more than nine percent from 2004-05 and the largest per-game average since 1999-2000. Six teams surpassed 200,000 and nine teams averaged 5,000 per game for the first time since 1999-2000 as the league welcomed 39 sellout crowds and 13 of the 22 returning teams raised their average attendance from a year ago. The Condors were fifth in league attendance last season, drawing 5,603 per game, their highest total since 2000-01.

The ECHL takes its annual midseason break in January for the Rbk Hockey ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 17 and Rbk Hockey Skills Competition on Jan. 16 hosted by the Steelheads at Qwest Arena.

There have been 303 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06 and 158 in the past five seasons, and there were 13 former ECHL coaches behind the benches of NHL teams in 2005-06. The ECHL had 416 call ups to the AHL, involving 263 players, in 2005-06. The ECHL has had more players called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined each of the past four seasons with 1,646 call ups involving almost 1,000 players.

Check out the Bakersfield Condors Statistics

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