Oklahoma City Barons Game 5 Preview vs. Hamilton Bulldogs

For Game 1 in what is now a best of 3 series, the Barons look to keep the momentum of their 2 straight wins and to have the series lead as they head back to Hamilton. The goaltending remains to be the key to both team's success. After the 3 goals by Hamilton against Jeff Deslauriers in Game 1, the Bulldogs have only been able to put 6 goals past Martin Gerber in the first 4 games, while the Barons have managed 7 against Drew MacIntyre in the last 2. With Curtis Sanford out for the year for Hamilton, it's very unlikely that we'll see rookie goalie Robert Mayer in net for the Bulldogs after his 9-10-2-2 record and .890 SV% from the regular season.

With Kevin Montgomery and Colten Teubert both out with upper body injuries, Anthony Aiello will step in again. Obviously a big attribution to keeping the Bulldogs from scoring has been the defense, and they'll need to keep it up without two of their big shots from the point for another game.

The Barons needed the secondary scoring from the lower 3 lines to start showing up, and it finally did in Game 4 with the only problem being that the top line didn't make the scoresheet. Once all four lines are able to click together, any team will have a hard time stopping them.

Puck drops at 7:05 Central/6:05 Mountain. Also going on tonight at 7:30 Central is Game 5 of the Lake Erie/Manitoba series. The winner of that series will face the winner of the Barons/Bulldogs series. The Monsters have a 3-1 series lead and look to close out the Moose in what possibly could be their last game in Manitoba depending on how the Phoenix Coyotes situation ends. You can listen to the Barons game on KXY 96.1 in OKC or on The Team 1260 in Edmonton. You can watch the game on AHL Live($). With today being Good Friday, I will be at tonight's game, so you can follow along on my Twitter account, @AHLBarons.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons Game 4 Recap; Brand New Series

After losing 5-2 to Hamilton in Game 1, the Barons dished it right back to the Bulldogs by winning Game 4 with the exact same score. With the 5 players that the Oilers sent down after their season having been with the Barons for a couple weeks now, the lines are starting to work together and the team's starting to get better. The top line of Alexandre Giroux - Brad Moran - Colin McDonald was notably absent on the score sheet on Wednesday night, but the other three lines stepped up and filled the void.

Most notably, just 3:06 into the game as the Barons were in the Hamilton end of the ice, Hunter Tremblay would steal a clearing attempt near the slot and backhand the puck past Bulldogs goaltender Drew MacIntyre to make it 1-0. That goal would be Tremblay's first pro goal. Seven minutes later, Nigel Dawes would get a pass from Dustin Boyd and shoot it towards Martin Gerber. Gerber would make the initial save but Ian Schultz would put it in and tie the game at 1.

The Barons would get a few chances early in the 2nd from Teemu Hartikainen, but he would be denied each time. 5:40 in, Ryan O'Marra would shoot a one-timer towards the net that Zack Stortini would tip and the puck would make it across the line to make it a 2-1 Barons lead. 8 minutes later, Paul Zanette would fire a screened shot past Gerber to tie it back up at 2. As the 2nd period wound down, the Barons would finally break through on the Power Play. After a Kyle Klubertanz holding call, Arcobello would receive a pass at the point and blast it by MacIntyre who was screened and send the teams to the locker room with a 3-2 Barons lead.

The Barons spent quite a bit of time on the Power Play in the 3rd, but wouldn't be able to break through the Hamilton PK. 11:26 in though, Linus Omark would do what he does best. Omark and Hartikainen would come into the zone on a 2 on 1. Hartikainen shot it towards MacIntyre but missed the net. Omark picked up the puck on the end boards and shot it at the back of MacIntyre's legs. The puck banked off and into the net of a stunned MacIntyre as the Barons grabbed a 4-2 lead. Hamilton would get one more chance on the PP, but couldn't score. They pulled MacIntyre for the extra attacker with about 2 minutes left, but Chris VandeVelde would put away the game with the empty netter at 19:20, assisted by Jeff Petry.

The Barons look to head back to Hamilton with the series lead as they head into Friday's Game 5. Still questionable are defensmen Kevin Montgomery and Colten Teubert, but Anthony Aiello stepped up well in their place on Wednesday. Would have to imagine that Gerber stays in net for Game 5 with how well he's been playing this week. Puck drops at 7:05 Central tomorrow.

Oklahoma City Barons Game 3 Recap, Game 4 Preview; Barons Bite Back

The Barons are almost starting their first postseason in franchise history like they started their first regular season in franchise history. First a sizeable loss, then a minimal loss. Only this time, they skipped over the OT loss and jumped right into shutting out the opposing team, which is exactly what they needed. After having trouble figuring out Hamilton goaltender Drew MacIntyre, they finally got the puck past him, while Barons goaltender Martin Gerber stepped up and kept his net empty.

After two scoreless periods that saw good chances by both teams, the Barons finally broke through midway through the 3rd. After the Barons killed off a sketchy Colin McDonald crosschecking penalty, Brad Moran took a shot from the high slot that got past MacIntyre and probably would have gone in, but McDonald wasn't going to take any chances and weaved in past MacIntyre and drove the puck into the net to break the scoreless tie. It wouldn't end there though, as Alexandre Giroux would steal the puck from Frederic St. Denis, fall to his knees as he was battling with him, get back up and just put it right past MacIntyre to make it 2-0.

That would end up being the final score and the Barons would cut into the Hamilton series lead making it 2 games to 1 now. The Barons shift their focus to tonight and look to build on the win as they head into Game 5 on Friday. Colten Teubert went down late in the 3rd last night as he went to check a Bulldogs player but ended up landing awkwardly into the boards shoulder first. He would go to the locker room and the only diagnosis being an "upper body" injury. Hopefully it isn't too serious as him and Richard Petiot were both dealing out some hard checks last night. If Teubert goes out and Kevin Montgomery remains out after his injury in Game 2, it's hard to say who would be next in the lineup. Whether they go with Anthony Aiello, who's with the team on a PTO after the Stockton Thunder's exit in the playoffs, or with an ATO like Brandon Davidson or Martin Marincin. It'll be an interesting dynamic to tonight's game either way.

While the Barons seem to have figured out a way to beat MacIntyre, seemingly by wearing him down and throwing shot after shot on him, the team really needs to get their PP working. The Barons are 0/12 on the PP against the Bulldogs in the series.

Puck drop tonight is at 7:05 Central/6:05 Mountain. The Barons will also be competing with the NBA Thunder and the Triple-A baseball Redhawks, as all three have games starting at 7. Definitely going to cause traffic problems as 25,000ish people are all going to be in a 3 block radius trying to get to the games and probably trying to leave at close to the same time. You can listen to the game on 96.1 KXY in OKC or on The Team 1260 in Edmonton. You can also watch the game on AHL Live($). I yet again will have to work tonight, so I'll be unable to tweet the game, but you can follow with @ryaber(Ryan Aber of The Oklahoman) or @OKC_Barons if you would like to go that route.

Tuesday's shot count
Hamilton: 6-10-10-26 0/6 PP
OKC: 15-11-20-46 0/6 PP

Tonight's referees: Tim Mayer, Jean Hebert; Linesmen: Randy Sappo, Carl Sasyn

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons Game 3 Preview vs. Hamilton Bulldogs

At 7:05(CDT) in the Cox Convention Center, the Barons head into their pivotal Game 3 against the Hamilton Bulldogs. The two things that the Barons need to figure out to win, are the Nigel Dawes line and the goaltending of Drew MacIntyre. Everytime the Dawes line is on the ice, the Bulldogs do well to set up in the offensive zone and run their shift like a PP. The Barons had lots of good chances in Game 2, but MacIntyre was a brick wall. Once they get past that, they should be in good shape as long as their own goaltending keeps them in the game. When Ben Ondrus is your team's point leader with 2 points when you have a bunch of other scorers, it's not a good sign.

The Barons announced today that they signed Curtis Hamilton to an ATO. Doubtful that he plays, but there's a small chance, seeing as they've had either Tanner House or Hunter Tremblay in the lineup, both on ATOs of their own. Puck drops at 7:05. You can listen on 96.1 KXY in OKC, or on Team 1260 in Edmonton. You can also check out the game on AHL Live($). I started a new job this week, that unfortunately won't allow me to be at the game tonight, so check out @OKC_Barons on twitter for updates if you would like to go that route.

Referees: Jean Hebert, Tim Mayer; Linesmen: Randy Sappo, Carl Sasyn

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons Game 2 Recap; Barons Fall Short

After a rather uninspired effort in Game 1, the Barons were ready to play in Game 2. Todd Nelson tinkered with the lineups by taking out Alex Plante, Milan Kytnar, and Tanner House and replacing them with Colten Teubert, Zack Stortini, and Hunter Tremblay.
The Barons came out hard in the 1st, getting some good chances on Hamilton goalie Drew MacIntyre. Early in the 1st, Kevin Montgomery would take a big hit from Andrew Conboy. He would head to the locker room and would not return for the rest of the game. The Barons would finally punch through as Colin McDonald would bring the puck in on the right wing side and pass it to a hard charging Brad Moran in the slot who would blast it by MacIntyre and make the score 1-0 in the Barons favor at the 17:18 mark. 36 seconds later would begin the turning point of the game however. Zack Stortini and Jimmy Bonneau would begin a shoving match that would end with Bonneau tackling Stortini after the whistle. Bonneau and Stortini would both be assessed roughing minors, but Stortini picked up an additional interference penalty. The Bulldogs came hard on the PP, but the Barons would hold on. 3 seconds after the PP would end however, a shot would bank in off of Richard Petiot's skate and tie the game up for the Bulldogs with 3 seconds left in the period. The teams would head to the locker room tied at 1 with the Bulldogs leading shots 13-12.
The 2nd period would start much the same way the 1st period ended. A really weak hooking call was assessed to Linus Omark 35 seconds into the period. The Bulldogs would capitalize with Nigel Dawes getting a pass all alone on the right side and blast the shot past Martin Gerber 28 seconds into the PP and make it a 2-1 Hamilton lead. The Barons would get a few good chances to tie it up, but the Bulldogs defense and MacIntyre would hold strong as the headed to the locker room.
The 3rd period was all Barons and Drew MacIntyre. The Barons had many chances, but couldn't convert on any of them. With 2 minutes left, the refs threw out the tight calling of the game up to that point as Colin McDonald would be pulled down in the neutral zone, but no call would come of it. Gerber would be pulled as the period ran down, but MacIntyre would hold strong and keep the score 2-1, stopping the 15 Barons shots that period while the Bulldogs only got off 2.
The Barons played well this game. Biggest thing working against them was the refereeing. Despite rolling only 5 D for the majority of the game, they played well, not making any huge mistakes like in Game 1. The series heads to Oklahoma City with the Barons down 2-0 in the series. The biggest question mark is the status of Kevin Montgomery and whether he'll be back healthy for Game 3. No complaints on the forward lines, I thought they all played pretty well, they were just unable to figure out the Hamilton defense and Drew MacIntyre.
Barons shots: 12-12-15-39 Barons PP: 0/3
Bulldogs shots: 13-8-2-23 Bulldogs PP: 1/6
Lines
Alexandre Giroux - Brad Moran - Colin McDonald
Linus Omark - Mark Arcobello - Teemu Hartikainen
Hunter Tremblay - Chris VandeVelde - Ben Ondrus
Greg Stewart - Ryan O'Marra - Zack Stortini
Bryan Helmer - Colten Teubert
Jeff Petry - Kevin Montgomery
Jake Taylor - Richard Petiot

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons Game 2 Preview vs. Hamilton Bulldogs

After a 5-2 loss in Game 1 on Thursday night, the Barons look to bounce back today and tie the series up before they head home to Oklahoma City. The Barons need to tighten up on defense if they want to make anything happen.
From the sounds of interviews after practice on Friday, Colten Teubert will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch in Game 1. It'll be interesting to see if any changes are made on the forward lines, and who will be scratched on defense to make room for Teubert. It remains to be seen if another healthy scratch on Thursday, Zack Stortini, will see any time in uniform. I don't foresee the lines of Giroux-Moran-McDonald or Omark-Arcobello-Hartikainen getting shuffled, but the line of Kytnar-VandeVelde-House is a definite question mark for today's game, while the line of Stewart-O'Marra-Ondrus is a small area for speculation while having been the line that scored the 1st goal for the Barons in Thursday's game.
My guess on defense would be that Kevin Montgomery is the one that gets scratched, but after Alex Plante's less than spectacular play Thursday, he's a candidate too. If Todd Nelson wants to go with what got them there though, Teubert-Plante would be the pair, and Jeff Petry would move with Bryan Helmer. Having been paired for most of the season, I can't see Nelson splitting Jake Taylor and Richard Petiot without having a sure idea of how the new pairs would work.
After giving up 3 goals in 6 shots in the 1st period on Thursday, I doubt Jeff Deslauriers will be in net today. Martin Gerber came in at the start of the 2nd period and stopped 21 of 23 shots.
Puck drops at 3 PM Central/2 PM Mountain. The game can be heard on 96.1 KXY in OKC, and The Team 1260 will be broadcasting what I'm assuming is a simulcast, in Canada. You can also watch the game on AHL Live($10). Hamilton has one of the better video feeds I've seen this season. You can also follow along with me on Twitter, @AHLBarons.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons Game 1 Recap: Barons Get Bit

Coming into tonight's game, expectations were high. The Barons were getting back 5 call ups from the Oilers, they had the majority of their scoring threats back, and they were riding a great last two weeks of the regular season. Unfortunately for the Barons, the Hamilton Bulldogs didn't want to cooperate.

The game started out in favor of the Bulldogs. Kevin Montgomery took an interference penalty 46 seconds into the game. Nigel Dawes would continue his scoring from the regular season and put the Bulldogs up 1-0 just 1:38 into the game on the Power Play. Despite a few scoring chances for the Barons, the Bulldogs would make their chances count. Olivier Fortier and Ryan Russell would each score in the 1st and the teams would head into the locker rooms with the Bulldogs up 3-0.

After giving up 3 goals on 6 shots in the 1st, Barons coach Todd Nelson would pull Jeff Deslauriers from goal in favor of Martin Gerber. Martin Gerber would help temper the Bulldogs offense, but not enough. At the 7:23 mark, Ben Ondrus would get a pass from along the endboards by Ryan O'Marra and would take it to the net and squeeze the puck past Hamilton goaltender Drew MacIntyre to bring the Barons within 2. It unfortunately wouldn't last long as Aaron Palushaj would put the Bulldogs back up by 3 after receiving along the goal line and blast it by Gerber on the PP. As the 2nd period was winding it's way down, Greg Stewart would wind up taking a boarding major and receive a Game Misconduct at the 19:36 mark. After 40 minutes of play, the Barons would head to the locker room down 4-1.

The Barons would start the 3rd period shorthanded as they attempted to kill the Stewart major. 1:29 later, the Bulldogs would continue where they left off and make it 5-2 from Joe Stejskal after a crazy screen play. 5 and a half minutes later, the Barons would try to put a band-aid on the wound as Bryan Helmer received an awesome pass from Linus Omark and make it 5-2. Unfortunately, the Barons wouldn't be able to muster anything else and that would be your final score as the Bulldogs take a 1-0 series lead.
----
The biggest thing from this game, the pair of Petry and Plante does not work. I'm still confused as to why Nelson broke up Plante-Teubert when they had been doing so well. Saturday will have a few lineup changes, I'm sure. The best forward line of the night had to be Omark-Arcobello-Hartikainen. They did the best to make chances and came close a number of times. McDonald-Moran-Giroux had a few chances, but if the Barons want to have any chance of advancing, these guys need to step it back up to where they were last weekend. Game 2 is always a very important game and the Barons will have to show up more on Saturday than they did this game.

Barons shots: 8-12-6-26 PP: 0/3
Bulldogs shots: 6-14-9-29 PP: 3/6

Lines:
Colin McDonald - Brad Moran - Alexandre Giroux
Linus Omark - Mark Arcobello - Teemu Hartikainen
Milan Kytnar - Chris VandeVelde - Tanner House
Greg Stewart - Ryan O'Marra - Ben Ondrus
Bryan Helmer - Kevin Montgomery
Alex Plante - Jeff Petry
Jake Taylor - Richard Petiot

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons Preview Game 1 vs. Hamilton Bulldogs

Tonight marks the first playoff game in Oklahoma City Barons history, coming in their first season of existence. Earning themselves a spot with the AHL's crossover rule, the Barons move to the Northern Division to take on the division winning Hamilton Bulldogs, AHL affiliate to the Montreal Canadiens. The winner of this series will go on to take on the winner of the series involving the Lake Erie Monsters(Colorado Avalanche) and Manitoba Moose(Vancouver Canucks).

The Barons enter tonight, having back some major pieces to their offense. Linus Omark, Teemu Hartikainen, Chris VandeVelde, Ryan O'Marra, and Jeff Petry all return after spending a good amount of time in the NHL. Coach Todd Nelson said yesterday on Oilers Lunch that they were trying out some lines with them. With the obvious line of Alexandre Giroux, Brad Moran, and Colin McDonald, the lines that were mentioned yesterday were

Omark-Arcobello-Hartikainen
Stewart-O'Marra-Ondrus
Kytnar-CVV-House
Cornet-Stortini-Tremblay

Whether or not those will be the lines tonight will remain to be seen, but I'd say the first two would be pretty good bets. The Stewart-O'Marra-Ondrus line has seen some time together at various points of the season. Nelson also mentioned the D-pairs that they were running in practice were

Petiot-Taylor
Petry-Plante
Montgomery-Helmer
Marincin-Teubert

Nelson mentioned putting Petiot and Taylor out as much as possible against Hamilton's Nigel Dawes line, something that I think will work out very well. I'm still sure that they'll run Petry with Helmer and keep Teubert and Plante together, but we'll see how that goes.

Photo © Candace Riley

One thing that interested me was seeing how much playoff experience each team had. Looking at the Barons roster, 11 players have had playoff experience in the NHL, AHL, SEL, or KHL. 7 forwards have combined for 2 NHL, 4 KHL, 232 AHL, and 33 SEL playoff games. 3 defensemen have combined for 6 NHL and 161 AHL playoff games. Martin Gerber is the lone goalie with playoff experience, having played in 12 NHL and 25 SEL playoff games. The numbers do get skewed a little bit, as the majority of the AHL games come from Alexandre Giroux(112 AHL) and Bryan Helmer(138 AHL, 6 NHL). When you take their games out of the AHL totals, you go from 393 games to 143 games among 9 players.

Going to the Bulldogs, the majority of their playoff experience came from their run last season, ending in the conference finals as they lost to the Texas Stars. They have 18 players total with 268 AHL, 20 NHL, and 37 SEL playoff games combined. 11 forwards combine for 154 AHL, 2o NHL, and 21 SEL playoff games. The biggest thing that may work in the Barons favor, four defensemen have combined for 75 AHL and 16 SEL playoff games, while their 3 goalies have combined for 39 AHL playoff games.

Referees: Dave Lewis and Marcus Vinnerborg; Linesmen: Kevin Hastings and Jesse Wilmot

Puck drops at 7:30 Eastern/6:30 Central. If you're willing to lay down the money, you can watch the game for $9.99 on AHL Live or purchase both the first and second round for just the Barons for $39.99. You can also listen on KXXY 96.1. In Canada, you can try this one or this one. No guarantees on either of those two working, but I've heard promising things. You can also follow along on my twitter account, @AHLBarons.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Sports Media in a Nutshell

When the Barons clinched their playoff berth on Saturday against the Texas Stars, very little mention was given to the team. The KFOR newscast had extensive Thunder coverage, University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State sports coverage, high school sports coverage and at the very end of the newscast, a mention of the Barons clinching their berth. Even on the nights that the Tier-2 Arena Football team, the Bricktown Brawlers, plays, they'll show highlights of their games before the Barons. A concerned viewer expressed their thoughts through the KFOR website and received this response from their sports director, Bob Barry Jr.

From: "Barry JR, Bob"
To: [Name rescinded]
Subject: Barons Coverage

Didn't really understand your rant [name rescinded]...but it sounds like you want more coverage of the Barons when the playoffs begin. We'll try to provide that but while you suggest no one cares about the Thunder, OU or OSU[Viewer did not suggest "no one cares" -ER] - our expensive audience research shows hockey doesn't even register on the viewers list of what they want to see.

We have shown highlights of probably 60-70% of the Barons home games this year and we had previews of the Barons playoff trip to Hamilton today on our 5-6pm Sportscasts. We'll continue coverage for as long as they remain alive - but we'll also provide a heavy dose of Thunder, OU and OSU sports because - quite frankly - that's what the majority of the audience wants to see the most. And, as I said, it's not even close. ALL high school sports draw more interest than hockey among our viewers too. In fact, even though we carry several regular season NHL games on NBC, those ratings are among the lowest of ANY program the network carries in the OKC television market. Sad, but true.

bbj/

And it sucks to say that if you were to ask any of the other 3 major news stations in OKC, you'd probably get pretty close to the same answer. Ryan Aber of The Oklahoman has been the only person in the city to give the team any type of extensive media coverage, and it's been well appreciated among the fans here. I'm going to give the team as much coverage as I'm able to, because it deserves a lot more than they're getting right now, especially with the playoff run.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons Possible Lines

As the first playoff game in Oklahoma City Barons history moves closer, one mystery still remains. How are the lines going to look for the team, now that they have their complete Clear Day roster? While the call ups were in Edmonton, many players stepped up and showed that they would be an integral part of the postseason line up. So here's my guess on the lines for Thursday night.

Line 1: Alexandre Giroux - Brad Moran - Colin McDonald

This line has been together since the 2nd weekend of the season, when the original line of Giroux-Moran-Omark didn't click. After a slump in the middle of the season, and being broken up when Giroux was called up to the Oilers, this line ended the season strong. Giroux ended the season as the Barons leading scorer(32G, 46A) and finishing as the league's 2nd leading scorer, Moran as the team's 2nd leading scorer(20G, 52A) and finishing tied for 5th in the league, and McDonald as the team's 3rd leading scorer(42G, 16A) winning the league's goal scoring title in the process. This line has worked all season, and there's no way they can break this one up now.

Line 2: Teemu Hartikainen - Chris VandeVelde - Linus Omark

As the call ups slowly started making their way to Edmonton, Hartikainen and VandeVelde did well to step up and fill in the void. Hartikainen has worked well with both VandeVelde and Omark seperately, but it would remain to be seen how Omark would work with VandeVelde as Omark had O'Marra as his center for the majority of his time in OKC. After a very successful rookie campaign, Hartikainen finished as the 4th highest scorer on the team(17G, 25A). Linus Omark only played 28 games with the Barons this season, but he still comes into the postseason as the team's 6th highest scorer(14G, 17A). VandeVelde only had 12G and 4A, but 5 of those goals came in the last 15 games of the season, and he is extremely successful on faceoffs, which is all the other two players would need.

Line 3: Mark Arcobello - Milan Kytnar - Ben Ondrus

Arcobello was called up to the team from Stockton as the injured list in Edmonton grew a lot and he made the most of his time with the Barons. In 26 games, he scored 11 goals, added 11 assists and finished at +7, tied for 2nd behind O'Marra. Arcobello performed well enough to earn himself an upgrade from his AHL deal to the Oilers signing him to a 2 way NHL deal. The Captain, Ondrus, has done well in adding a physical presence to his lines. Kytnar has been on a tear the last few games, with a 7 game point streak scoring 6 goals and adding 4 assists. Kytnar and Arcobello's scoring with Ondrus' physicality would be a solid third line.

Line 4: Andrew Lord/Greg Stewart - Ryan O'Marra - Zack Stortini

Lord and Stortini have been an extremely effective shutdown pair and add the strong men to the lineup. O'Marra's faceoff success would help that out even more. Stewart's the odd man out for me, as he hasn't really done much, but he's a strong body on the ice.

Photo © Candace Riley

D-Pair 1: Colten Teubert - Alex Plante

During the long road trip, Todd Nelson paired these two together and it's been a solid pairing. Plante beforehand looked like he was floundering around on the ice, not being able to do a lot. Since getting paired with Teubert, he looks like he gained some confidence and isn't afraid to hit people. Teubert's been a beast since getting traded to the Barons. His cannon of a shot has helped a lot on the PP and hits like a wall.

D-Pair 2: Jake Taylor - Richard Petiot

This pair has been together for most of the season, barring the time that Petiot was injured early on in the season. Petiot's checking is tremendous and both do well to break up the other team's play. Both guys lead the team in +/- with +14.

D-Pair 3: Bryan Helmer - Jeff Petry

Helmer's experience and Petry's scoring along with the experience he gained in Edmonton, this is going to be a tough pair.

Kevin Montgomery is the last one out, but should there be any type of injury, he's definitely a great defenseman to have waiting in the wings.

Goalies:

Jeff Deslauriers has stepped it up tremendously in the last couple weeks. After a tough weekend in Houston for their 3 game series, JDD has 3 shutouts in 4 games and only letting 2 goals in San Antonio past him. Hopefully it isn't a short peak, they're going to need all the goaltending they can get.

Martin Gerber has been injured for the last almost-month after suffering a neck injury in Grand Rapids. He returned last weekend in Houston, letting in 6 goals but it was with a roster full of players not getting regular starts. It still remains to be seen how well he does after coming back, but hopefully it'll be at the same level or above where he was at before the injury.

On the reserve list, the Barons also have Matt Marquardt, Jesse Gimblett, and Philippe Cornet, as well as Tanner House, Martin Marincin, Hunter Tremblay, and Brandon Davidson on Amateur Tryouts who would be eligible to play should there be any number of injuries. I wouldn't be surprised either if Bryan Pitton joins the team, just in case.

Game 1 is Thursday at 6:30 CDT. There hasn't been any indication of a free internet stream or anyone showing the game on television. AHL Live released their playoff packages. A single game is $9.99 and if you order the 1st and 2nd rounds together for a single team, it'll be $39.99(a potential $10 a game to a potential $3 a game).

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons First Round Playoffs Set

The Oklahoma City Barons have clawed their way through a lot to get themselves into the Calder Cup Playoffs. Fighting through call-ups, other teams peaking, and their own scoring slumps, the Barons finish the 2010-11 regular season in 5th place of the Western Division. With the offset divisions, the AHL has it where the division with the 8 teams get an extra chance at a playoff spot. If the 5th place team in the bigger division finishes with more points than the 4th place team in the smaller division, they cross over and play within the smaller division. This was the case this year as the Barons finished with 91 points and the Abbotsford Heat(the Calgary Flames affiliate) finished in 4th place in the Northern Division with 86 points.

The final weekend was a big one for the Barons though. They started the weekend needing 2 out of 3 wins to virtually guarantee themselves a playoff berth. The game on Friday against San Antonio was the biggest to start. A win would put them in a great position to clinch on Saturday. The Barons came out hard and strong and got a tally on the board early with a goal from Ben Ondrus from a nice pass by rookie Tanner House. San Antonio would answer minutes later on a PP goal by Alex Picard. Colin McDonald would continue his hunt for the scoring title, scoring number 37 six minutes later and the teams headed to the locker room with the Barons leading 2-1. The 2nd period was all Colin McDonald as he would complete a natural hat trick, scoring at 2:45 and 18:34, his 38th and 39th goals. After 40 minutes the Barons lead by a score of 4-1. In the 3rd, Milan Kytnar would make it 5-1, picking up a Tanner House rebound. San Antonio would get one back as they break up a pass during a Barons PP and get a 2 on 0 rush, putting it past Jeff Deslauriers. The Barons would get it back 46 seconds later into the PP from Mark Arcobello, making it 6-2. Then just 2 minutes later, Colin McDonald would get his 4th of the night, number 40 on the season, and put the Barons up 7-2, which would be the final score. Brad Moran and Alexandre Giroux assisted on all 4 of McDonald's goals, JDD would make it 3 wins in a row.

Photo © Candace Riley

The next night, the Barons traveled to Cedar Park, Texas to take on the Texas Stars. After the win the night before, the Barons just needed a single point to clinch their playoff berth. The Barons wouldn't be content with just one point though, as Milan Kytnar and Colin McDonald would both score in the 2nd period and Jeff Deslauriers would pick up his 3rd shutout in 4 games as the Barons grabbed 2 points and a playoff berth. Colin McDonald's goal would be his 41st and the other player he was battling with, Nigel Dawes, would be held scoreless in his last season game, sending both players tied at 41 goals heading into Sunday.

The Barons headed to Houston to finish up the regular season. With the playoffs guaranteed, the team would sit 4 veterans, and allow the rookies a chance to play. Brad Moran, Bryan Helmer, and Alexandre Giroux would all sit in the press box for the game as Jake Taylor headed back to OKC to be with his wife as they celebrated the birth of their daughter. Martin Gerber would make his long awaited return, his first game after suffering a neck injury back in March against Grand Rapids. The Barons would start out well, taking a 1-0 lead into the 1st intermission with a goal by Mark Arcobello. The Aeros would storm back though, scoring 4 goals in the 2nd to the Barons 1 by Milan Kytnar. The 2nd period would end with the Aeros up 4-2. The Aeros would score twice more in the 3rd to make it 6-2 until the Barons' Colin McDonald would make it 6-3 with his 42nd goal of the season, clinching him the AHL Goal Scoring Title, the Willie Marshall award. 6-3 would be the final score though, to end the Barons regular season.

The Barons loss guaranteed them the 5th spot in the Western Division, crossing them over to the Northern Division. The Barons will take on the Northern Division champions, the Hamilton Bulldogs(Montreal Canadiens affiliate) in the 1st round. Credit to Patrick Williams of The Hockey News for this stat, this is the 4th time since 1987 that the AHL affiliates of the Canadiens and the Oilers will meet in the playoffs. They also shared an affiliation in the 2003 playoffs.

Photo © Candace Riley

The Barons season series was only 2 games, which the teams split. The Barons won the first meeting between the two, Oct 24th, which came at the end of rough 3 in 3 weekend, winning 3-2 in OT. The 2nd meeting came on Dec 17th, in which the Bulldogs handed the Barons their first shutout in franchise history, beating the Barons 3-0.

Here's the regular season stats for the teams.

The Barons and Bulldogs will open the series at Hamilton on Thursday at 6:30CDT/5:30MDT.

All Times Central
Game 1 - Thursday @Hamilton, 6:30
Game 2 - Saturday @Hamilton, 3:00
Game 3 - Tuesday, April 19 @OKC, 7:05
Game 4 - Wednesday, April 20 @OKC, 7:05
Game 5 - Friday, April 22 @OKC, 7:05*
Game 6 - Sunday, April 24 @Hamilton, 3:00*
Game 7 - Monday, April 25 @Hamilton, 6:30*
*-if necessary

----

Just some final thoughts, the Barons have peaked at the right time. They look like they're in playoff form.... Their defense in the crease and slot has gotten 10 times better from a few weeks ago, which has helped their cause tremendously.... The Oilers officially sent down Linus Omark, Ryan O'Marra, Teemu Hartikainen, Jeff Petry, and Chris VandeVelde today, further bolstering the Barons lineup.... Milan Kytnar ends the season with a 7 game point streak with 6 goals and 4 assists....

The Barons are going to be a very formidable team in the playoffs, and I'm looking very much forward to the next month and hopefully 2.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons Playoffs in Sight

Last weekend, the Barons won when they needed to, and in great fashion. Jeff Deslauriers stepped his game up after getting pulled the previous weekend in favor of Brian Pitton, and turned in two straight shutout wins. The Barons 7-0 win against Rockford and their 2-0 win against Texas put the Barons in prime position entering the final week of the AHL season.

Two games with playoff implications happened during the week. Tuesday night, the Rockford IceHogs traveled to San Antonio to finish off their road games of the season. Rockford entered the contest last in the division and San Antonio entered clinging to playoff hopes. Trailing 2-1 entering the 3rd period, Rockford scored 2 straight and put away the empty netter to give them the 4-2 win.

Wednesday night, the Texas Stars were in Peoria to begin their 4 games in 5 night stretch to end their season. Entering the 3rd, the Stars led 2-1 but the Rivermen were able to tie it up midway through the period and score the game winner at 18:05.

As we enter the final weekend, here's how the standings look:

And the weekend's schedule for the teams in playoff contention:

If the Barons win on Friday, they'll have a chance to clinch a spot on Saturday, barring any freebie points being given out. The Barons have had their struggles against the Rampage. They lost the first 4 meetings between the two, but would then go on to win the next 4 meetings. Their last game, the Rampage won 4-3 in San Antonio on March 10th. Martin Gerber has definitely had the better success against the Rampage, going 3-4 with a 2.45 GAA and .922 Sv%.

Gerber is still a question mark for the rest of the season. He spent most of the last two home games with backup Brian Pitton outside the endboards. Still day to day with a sore neck at last check.

The big thing to look at, the Texas Stars have a horrible 3 in 3 this weekend. After playing in Peoria on Wednesday, the play in Milwaukee on Friday, at home on Saturday, and finish the season in an afternoon game in San Antonio. I won't say that I don't see them making it in, but it's still entirely possible for the Barons to stay out of the crossover spot.

Friday and Saturday are going to be huge for the entire division. Of the 4 open spots in the entire league, 3 of them lie within the division. Be sure to stay tuned to Oilers Jambalaya for final weekend coverage, and for live updates throughout the weekend and hopefully into the playoffs, be sure to follow me on Twitter. The future is bright Oilers fans.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

OKC Barons (7) vs Icedogs (0) Video Highlights (April 1st)

The Official Box Score

OKC Barons Game Recap

Viktor Fasth Future Oilers Goalie?

Bob Stauffer said today on Oilers Lunch that there is a good possibility that the Oilers send Nik Khabibulin down to the minors (OKC Barons) next season. Who will replace him with the big club? Viktor Fasth is the name he said.

Who in the hell is Viktor Fasth? No idea...



Apparently he won goalie of the year (Honken Trophy) in the Elitserien league this season. In the this years playoffs he has a 1.78 GAA and a .945 SVS. Not bad numbers at all. What did he do in the regular season? In 42 Games Played he's earned a 2.26 GAA and a .925 SVS. Again, really decent numbers.

He's 28 years old and was born in Kalix Sweden. He's listed as 6'0" and 198lbs.

Tambellini was there watching him not long ago and maybe Stauffer is right. Maybe this will happen? But you never know as Fasth is signed to play one more season with AIK. Read it here.

Stay tuned...

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

Oilers Sign D Taylor Fedun

The Edmonton Oilers announced today that they signed 6'1", 210 lb. defenseman Taylor Fedun to a 2-year deal. Fedun was coming out of Princeton University as a senior and free agent. In four years on the team, he amassed 20 goals, 48 assists and 154 PIM. His last season he scored his highest college goal total, with 10 goals, 7 of those coming on the Power Play. Prior to entering college, he played a season with the Spruce Grove Saints of the AJHL, scoring 10 goals, 33 assists, and 103 PIM. The Oilers announced that he will report to the Oklahoma City Barons.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons: Happy Clear Day

March 7th was the set deadline by the AHL for each team to submit it's 22 man playoff roster. From the AHL:

"Only those players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the AHL regular season and in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension.

Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts after Clear Day, but only once their respective junior or college seasons are complete."

Ryan Aber of the Oklahoman reported earlier today that Alexandre Giroux, Linus Omark, and Alex Plante would be included on the Clear Day roster, with Phillipe Cornet, Matt Marquardt, and Anthony Aiello being left off.

The Barons forwards are Giroux, Brad Moran, Colin McDonald, Omark, Ryan O'Marra, Teemu Hartikainen, Andrew Lord, Zack Stortini, Milan Kytnar, Greg Stewart, Ben Ondrus, Chris VandeVelde and Mark Arcobello.

The defensemen are Plante, Richard Petiot, Jake Taylor, Colten Teubert, Kevin Montgomery, Bryan Helmer, and Jeff Petry.

And the goalies are Martin Gerber and Jeff Deslauriers.

As the Junior seasons roll on and come to an end, I'm sure we'll be seeing some of those prospects as the playoffs come closer. The Barons currently sit in a tie for 6th with San Antonio, 1 point out of the 5th place crossover spot. The Barons and Rampage both have played 62 games, and have games in hand to all the teams in front of them. The Barons take on the Manitoba Moose on Tuesday night.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma City Barons at the Trade Deadline

Two trades were made by the Oilers today. The first, an AHL only deal, sent defenseman Shawn Belle to the Lake Erie Monsters in exchange for defenseman Kevin Montgomery. Belle has been scratched since February 3rd, following Zack Stortini being sent down. Stortini put the Barons over the AHL vet limit, and Belle had been playing through an injury.

22 year old Kevin Montgomery comes to OKC in his 2nd full season from the Monsters. The 6-2, 188 lb. defenseman played last year in 65 games, where he was a -18 with 1 goal and 6 assists. This season has been much kinder with 2 goals, 17 assists, and a -2. He was drafted #110 overall in 2006 by the Colorado Avalanche. He played his junior seasons for the London Knights and was on the 2007-2008 U20 Junior Championship team for the United States.

The 2nd trade today involved the Barons getting a player, but he packaged from a deal that sent Dustin Penner to the Los Angeles Kings. Colten Teubert, drafted #13 overall in the 2008 draft, joins the Barons in his first full professional season. He played for the Regina Pats, which he captained in the 2009-2010 season. The 6-4, 195 lb. defenseman has 2 goals and 8 assists in 39 games with the Manchester Monarchs, skating with a +7. The 20 year old played for Team Canada in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 U20 Junior Championships, scoring 1 assist in 12 games between the 2 tournaments.

With 9 defensemen currently on the Barons roster, I'm sure there'll be some demotions to Stockton. Right now, I have Johan Motin and Alex Plante on the bottom of my depth chart. Anthony Aiello is under a Professional Try-Out, but he has played very well in his time here.

Clear Day has been set for Monday, March 7th at 3 PM Eastern. All 30 AHL teams must submit a 22 man roster, with those players being the only players eligible to play for the remainder of the season and playoffs. The only exception would be in the case of recall, injury, or suspension. Junior and college players may be signed to Amateur Try-Outs, but only after their respective club's season has ended. With the inclusion of Teubert and Montgomery, the Barons currently have 25 players on the roster.

This week will be very interesting to see if Edmonton sends any of the rookies down for Clear Day, and who gets left off the roster.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Oklahoma, Where the Snow Comes Sweeping Down the Plains

When I last posted...
The Oklahoma City Barons had lost a shootout against Chicago after coming off a road trip where they had won 6 of 7 games, and they were sitting 4th in the division with only 2 points separating them from the division lead. 25 days and 8 games later, the Barons went 5-3-0-0 while the rest of the division has caught up in the Games Played column to help figure out just where the Barons stood.

So just what happened?
Two nights after the loss to Chicago, the Stars came into town. This was a crucial game as the Stars are one team I think it's going to come down to in the end as to who gets the 5th spot in the division and who misses out. After a scoreless 1st period, the Stars' Aaron Gagnon scored on the end of a Colin McDonald roughing penalty to put them up 1-0. Teemu Hartikainen answered 2 minutes later to tie the game off assists from Jake Taylor and Philippe Cornet. Unfortunately the tie would be shortlived as Colton Sceviour would put the Stars up 2-1, which would remain the final.

The next night, the Wolves would be back for another game, the third meeting between the two in a week. Riding an Alexandre Giroux hat trick and his two helpers on goals by Brad Moran and Colin McDonald, the Barons would finally get a home win and beat the Wolves 5-2.

Now the title of the post gets explained
Snow's a bit of a rarity in Oklahoma, even more so when it sticks around for more than a couple days. The week of a two game set against Peoria, one of what would be two snowstorms would hit the state. Luckily, the roads would be cleared enough for some people to make the Friday game. In what has been a custom between these two teams, the visiting Rivermen took that game, winning 4-1. Brad Moran would have the lone goal in that game.

The next night, the 2nd game of the set, the Barons would finally break the visiting team streak, and win in the shootout. Peoria's T.J. Hensick would score at the 8:41 mark of the 1st on a Jake Taylor elbowing penalty. The Barons would answer in the 2nd, off an Alexandre Giroux PP goal at the 2:21 mark with assists from Bryan Helmer and Brad Moran. It would stay that way for the remainder of regulation and overtime, and the teams would head to a marathon shootout. After 9 rounds of stops by both Martin Gerber and Jake Allen, Gerber would make one more stop on Mark Cundari. Chris VandeVelde would step on to the ice next and would get it past Allen to give the Barons the first home win of the series by either team. Zack Stortini would make his first Barons appearance this game.

The next night would take them to Austin, Texas to take on the Stars once again, where they would be shutout for the second time this season, losing 3-0 with Richard Bachman in net for the Stars.

More snow!?
To add to the Oklahoma snow woes, after a week of below freezing temps kept the snow from the last week on the ground, another snow system comes in the night before the scheduled Kid's Day game against San Antonio. 6-12" may not sound bad to those in Edmonton, but when Oklahoma City only has about 1 plow equipped vehicle for every 40+ square miles in the city, it's not great. Luckily, what fell was a bit lower than what was projected, but the schools in the city had already announced they were going to be closed, and the team had already announced they were going to play the game as planned. I luckily only had a bit of a problem getting through one area, but I was able to traverse the mostly snow covered roads and make it to the game. After a very informal team introduction, and a recording of the national anthem, the game was played in front of about 200 fans. The Barons played what was probably their best game against San Antonio this season. Alexandre Giroux opened up the scoring at 10:10 of the 1st with assists from Colin McDonald and relative newcomer Anthony Aiello. Chris VandeVelde would cap off the 2-0 win with a goal at 13:25 of the 2nd with assists from Greg Stewart and Zack Stortini. The Barons were then generous enough to let the crowd onto the ice with the team to take a photo.

Hockey withdrawal...
After the "Barons Blizzard" game, the team had a 9 day rest period before they headed to Canada to take on the Abbotsford Heat for a two game set. This was a bit of a nail-biting time, as the rest of the division got a chance to catch up in the GP column. Luckily, the North Division won when it needed to against the West Division foes, and the Barons ended up only being 1-2 points behind a playoff spot. As they headed to Calgary for game 1 as part of the Heritage Classic, the Barons were hoping to come out with at least 2 points. The Heat's goalie, Leland Irving, was coming off a 4 game win streak, which included two shutouts. Game 1 started out with both teams going back and forth until a giveaway in the defensive zone to Ryan Stone put the Barons down 1-0 after 20 minutes. At the 7:18 mark of the 2nd, Mark Arcobello would answer with his first career AHL goal with assists from Ryan O'Marra and Richard Petiot. It would stay tied at 1 until the 18:54 mark of the 3rd, when Alexandre Giroux would give the Barons the lead from assists by Brad Moran and Colin McDonald. Chris VandeVelde would put the game away with an empty netter 48 seconds later.

Game 2 would take the teams to Abbotsford, hometown of center Brad Moran. The Heat would take a quick 2-0 lead 12:49 into the 1st after goals by Greg Nemisz and Logan MacMillan. Brad Moran would cut into that lead 5:14 later from assists by Colin McDonald and the recently sent down Jeff Petry to send the teams to the locker rooms with the Heat leading 2-1 after 1. The 2nd period would go scoreless and Teemu Hartikainen came out swinging in the 3rd, tying up the game just 1:34 into the 3rd on a Power Play with assists from Alex Plante and Jeff Deslauriers. Tied at 2, the teams headed to OT, where Mark Arcobello scored his 2nd goal in as many games by backhand shoveling the puck past Leland Irving from a Hartikainen pass, giving the Barons 4 points on the weekend.

Next on the schedule...
The Barons are back home this week for 3 games of their 4 in 5. The Barons take on the division leading Admirals on Wednesday, the Rampage on Friday, the Aeros on Saturday, and then head to Austin for another matchup against the Stars. This will be a very crucial weekend for the team, as all 4 teams are ahead in standings by 1-4 points. 18 of the last 24 games for the Barons are against division teams.

Lost in standings watching...
Clear Day should be coming up in the next couple weeks. Last year's deadline for the rosters was March 10th, one month before the season ended on April 11th. This season will end on April 10th, so it would be my guess that it will be very near to the same date this year. For those who are unaware, Clear Day is the day all the teams have to submit a 22 man roster. Only those players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the AHL regular season and in the playoffs, unless something happens such as a recall, injury or suspension. Amateur players, such as junior players or college players, are eligible to sign tryout contracts within that time however, once their team's season is over.

Tough roads ahead for the Barons. The playoffs are really going to come down to the wire, and it won't get any easier with the majority of the remaining games against division teams. Stretch run, here we come.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

OKC Barons Zack Stortini March Wallpaper by @SAVEMEX29

Click To Enlarge

Oilers vs Blues and OKC Barons vs RIvermen / A LIVE TweetCast

Welcome to the Double Game Day, LIVE TweetCast of the

Edmonton Oilers vs St. Louis Blues 

and

Oklahoma City Barons vs Peoria Rivermen.

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OKC Barons vs Peoria Rivermen
6:00pm MT Start

GAME STATS

GAME PREVIEW

BARONS ROSTER

MEDIA KIT

Listen to game HERE!

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Edmonton Oilers vs St. Louis Blues
6:00pm MT Start

GAME PREVIEW

POSSIBLE LINES
Jones - Horcoff - Hemsky

Hall - Cogliano - Eberle
Paajarvi - Gagner - Omark
MacIntyre - Fraser - Reddox

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Peoria Rivermen (28-17-2-1) at Oklahoma City Barons (26-17-2-5)
&

Edmonton Oilers (15-27-8) at St. Louis Blues (22-20-7) 

This LIVE TweetCast is brought to you by

OilersJambalaya.com and OilFieldHockey.com