ECHL Bakersfield Condors

St. Pierre Named WCHL MVP

April 10, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Bakersfield Condors News Release


Bakersfield, Calif. – The West Coast Hockey League announced today that Condors Goaltender Kevin St. Pierre has been selected as the Most Valuable Player in a poll of coaches, general managers and media from around the league. It's the third major award handed to the Condors in the last three days.

St. Pierre, 28, has already been named to the All-WCHL Team and chosen as the WCHL Goaltender of the Year this season. He is also the second Condor in the last four seasons to be selected as MVP, joining center Paul Willett, who won the honor in 1999-2000.

The Sherbrooke, Quebec native led the league in six categories, including games (56), wins (36), goals against average (2.14), save percentage (.929), minutes (3,315) and saves (1,543). He also broke a number of Condors single-season goaltending marks, several of which have stood since the early years of the franchise.

St. Pierre's value to the Condors this season is most prominent inside the statistics. While he compiled a record of 36-12-7, all other goaltenders for the club this season combined for a record of 5-10-2. On the road this season, he was 17-7-2. He kept the opposition to two or less goals 31 times this year, including four shutouts. He also turned aside 30 or more shots 18 times, in addition to being named the WCHL Goaltender of the Week eight times.

The Condors have rolled through the 2002-03 WCHL awards, with St. Pierre's MVP nailing down the seventh award in the last two weeks. The list includes Head Coach Paul Kelly's Coach of the Year award yesterday and the Goaltender of the Year award on Tuesday. St. Pierre and Willett were both appointed to the All-WCHL Team, and C Jason Jackman and D Jonas Lennartsson were named to the All-Rookie Team. Previously in his career, St. Pierre was the "Outstanding Goaltender" in 1997-98 and won a championship in 1998-99, both with the Shreveport (LA) Mudbugs of the Western Professional Hockey League.

"It's a great honor," said St. Pierre. "But I'd trade all the personal stuff for another championship. Anytime you win an award like this, a lot of credit goes to your teammates, and I've played with a great bunch of guys this year.

"We're very happy for ‘Saint,' he has had an MVP year," said Kelly, about his all-star netminder. "He's had a great season and obviously is a big part of our success this year.

The Condors will host Games One and Two of the 2003 Taylor Cup Playoffs against the rival San Diego Gulls on April 11th and 12th. Both games start at 7:00pm, and doors open at 6:00pm. Everyone in attendance on Friday will receive Condors ThunderStix, and Saturday's game features a "Jersey Off Our Backs" Raffle and Auction for the team's "Go Army" warm up jerseys. Five will be raffled off throughout the night, while the rest will be auctioned off to raise funds for local children's charities. KGET-TV 17, Clear Channel Radio and the Active 20/30 Club sponsor the opening round of the playoffs.

Individual tickets can be purchased at the Centennial Garden Box Office, which opens at 10:00am Monday through Saturday, by calling Ticketmaster at 322-2525, online at ticketmaster.com or stopping by any Ticketmaster location. Season tickets and group outings may be purchased by calling 324-PUCK (7825) or by visiting the Condors office next to Centennial Garden.

Condors droppings: The Condors and KGET-TV 17 and 970AM will host a "Support the Troops" rally on the Garden Plaza on Saturday night before the playoff match against the Gulls. There will be guest speakers, patriotic songs and donations being collected by the Marine Corps League. A photo of the group will be taken for the local troops serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. International phone cards are being collected as well, to send to those troops overseas. The festivities begin at 5:00pm.

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ECHL Stories from April 10, 2003


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