Mike Griffith: Two hockey teams and their different fortunes
| Saturday, Feb 21 2009 02:27 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:01 PM
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There's often a thin line between winning and losing and the two teams squaring off today at Rabobank Arena — The Condors and Victoria Salmon Kings — are prime examples of how quickly fortunes can turn.
From Dec. 6 through Jan 10, the Victoria Salmon Kings became the talk of the ECHL as the only Canadian team in the league reeled off 15 straight wins.
The Condors had a dramatically different stretch from Dec. 30-Jan. 4 as they found wins hard to come by, going 3-12-2.
Since then, Bakersfield has won seven of eight, including five straight. Victoria has gone 4-9-4 since its winning streak and is 1-7-2 over its last 10.
Goaltending has improved for the Condors, but so has the scoring production as the Condors are averaging 4.4 goals per game over their last five and 4.2 over their last 10.
"When the goaltending isn't coming through, other guys are coming through and that didn't happen before," Condors coach Marty Raymond said. "Now we have some guys scoring goals. Chad Painchaud and Bonker (Dave Bonk) have stepped up to the plate and our defense is playing much better.
"Andrew Thomas (who was just reassigned from Iowa last week) is playing well, (Sean) Hurley is playing much better and (Ryan) Mahrle and (Donny) Grover and (Chris) Kaufman have really stepped up to the plate as well."
And unlike much of the season, the Condors have shown the ability to come from behind for victories.
"I don't think we're as fragile when certain events happen to us or against us," Raymond said. "We keep plugging away. There is a lot more accountability and the atmosphere is a lot more fun. They know they can win every game."
Which is what the Condors need to do to make the playoffs.
"We're not going to win every game, but we need to get as many wins as we can and get points so we can see where we are with five games to go."
And while Victoria may be in a slump, Raymond knows the Salmon Kings are too good of a team to stay down for long.
"They're very good offensively and you don't want to give them rushes," he said. "They're a dangerous hockey team and we have to respect that."
