Showing posts with label Texas Stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas Stars. Show all posts

Sunday, April 10, 2011

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-

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Two Fer Tuesday / OKC Barons vs Stars & Oilers vs Sabres / A LIVE TweetCast


Welcome to the Double Game Day, LIVE TweetCast of the
Edmonton Oilers vs Buffalo Sabres 
and
Oklahoma City Barons vs Texas Stars.

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OKC Barons vs Texas Stars
6:00pm MT Start

GAME STATS

GAME PREVIEW

BARONS ROSTER

MEDIA KIT

Listen to game HERE!

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Edmonton Oilers vs Buffalo Sabres
7:00pm MT Start

GAME PREVIEW

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Texas Stars (18-11-2-2) at Oklahoma City Barons (16-12-1-3)
&
Buffalo Sabres (14-18-4) at Edmonton Oilers (12-16-6) 


This LIVE TweetCast is brought to you by

Monday, December 20, 2010

Barons Game 31 Preview: Hopes for a Happy Holiday

Away: Texas Stars (17-11-3); Last game: 3-2 OT Loss vs. Hamilton
Home: Oklahoma City Barons (16-11-4); Last game: 4-2 Loss vs. San Antonio

The Barons and Stars play in the lone AHL game tonight. The Barons come into tonight facing their first real down swing of the season, losing their last three games in regulation. This last weekend gave them their first shutout in franchise history, losing 3-0 to Hamilton. The Barons have been outscored 9-3 during their streak, 2 of those coming on the Power Play Saturday night. Saturday showed a bunch of changes to the lineup after the shutout. Dave Bonk and Alex Plante were sat out to make a point to the players that Todd Nelson isn't afraid to sit anybody. On one of the few high points, Alexandre Giroux reached his 600th AHL point, assisting Colin McDonald's goal on Saturday. Jeff Petry was probably the best player on the whole team throughout the weekend. He made a few big plays on defense to prevent chances and had a scoring chance or two. Tonight will be a huge game for the Barons, looking to get back on the winning track before the Christmas break. It will be interesting to see if there are any more line changes to try and find a hot line after Omark and O'Marra's call up.

PP: OKC: 29 of 175 (16.6%) 19th in the league; TEX: 22 of 142 (15.5%) 24th in the league
PK: OKC: 140 of 159 (88.1%) 2nd in the league; TEX: 83 of 105 (79.0%) 26th in the league

OKC Last 10: 3-5-0-2
TEX Last 10: 4-3-2-1

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Friday, November 19, 2010

Oilers vs Coyotes and OKC Barons vs Stars

Friday, November 5, 2010

2 for 1 Deal / Oilers vs Red Wings & OKC Barons vs Stars LIVE TweetCast


Welcome to the LIVE TweetCast of the Edmonton Oilers vs the Detroit Red Wings and the Oklahoma City Barons vs the Texas Stars.

This LIVE TweetCast is brought to you br OilersJambalaya.com and OilFieldHockey.com.

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OKC Barons vs Texas Stars 
6:00pm MT Start

GAME STATS

GAME PREVIEW

Listen to game HERE!

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TONIGHTS OILERS LINES

Hall/Horcoff/Hemsky
Paajarvi/Gagner/Eberle
Penner/Cogliano/Brule
Jones/Fraser/Stortini


Whitney/Vandermeer
Smid/Strudwick
Peckham/Foster


Khabibulin

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 RED WINGS (7-2-1) at OILERS (3-5-2)
7:00pm MT Start

Barons Game 13 Preview; When I Look At The Stars

Away: Texas Stars (6-4-0); Last game: 4-2 Loss vs. Houston
Home: Oklahoma City Barons (7-4-1); Last game: 3-1 Win vs. Peoria

Quick News and Notes
-This is the first of 10 meetings between the two teams.
-This is the first game back at home for the Barons after their 5 game road trip.
-This is the first of an 8-game homestand.
-The Barons went 4-1 on that road trip and are riding a 4 game win streak.
-Jean-Francois Jacques will be making his debut. He is on a conditioning loan from the Oilers.
-Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers will be suiting up for the first time with the Barons. Unknown whether he'll get the start in net tonight or not.
-Jacques' number will be 27, while Deslauriers' will be 38.
-Marquardt got his first pro goal, Omark got his 4th goal of the season, and Moran his 5th in the Barons game against the Rivermen.
-Giroux continues to lead the team in points, with 12. Omark is next with 11, and Moran and Belle have 10.
-Barons PP: 16th in the league - 12 for 76 (15.8%); Stars PP: 23rd in the league - 6 for 47 (12.8%)
-Barons PK: T-2nd(with Syracuse) in the league - 52 for 56 (92.9%); Stars PK: 20th in the league - 30 for 37 (81.1%)

Players to watch
OKC: JFJ making his debut tonight. He's a 6-4, 217 pound Left Winger. He'll be playing on the 3rd line with Kytnar and Hartikainen. We'll have to see how things go if JDD gets the start in net tonight. Since yesterday was his first day to practice though, I imagine they'll wait a game or two.
TEX: C Travis Morin(23) leads the team in scoring with 8 points in 10 games. Behind him are LW Scott McColluch(12), with 5 points in 4 games, and C Mathieu Tousignant(40), with 5 points in 10 games.

Coming back home, hopefully the Barons are able to keep up the momentum from the road trip winning streak. First game against the Stars, and the Red River Rivalry, AHL style. The Stars play in Cedar Park, which is a suburb of Austin. The Barons won their preseason game against the Stars, but neither of the teams resemble much of what they were then. Tonight should be a good game. If you want to watch any of the videos that I took at practice yesterday, head here. The puck drop is at 7:05 CDT/6:05 MDT. The game will be broadcast on 96.1 KXY. As always, you can follow myself(@AHLBarons) and Scott(@OilFieldHockey) as we tweet during the game. TEXAS SUCKS!

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Saturday, October 2, 2010

OKC Barons vs Texas Stars LIVE TweetCast

We are lucky that Eric (aka @AHLBarons) is at the game tonight. It's held in Cedar Park and Eric made the trip to see the game. He will be tweeting LIVE and we will follow along as the action unfolds. There is no TV coverage, but there is radio broadcast. We will find a link for that.

GO BARONS!!!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Calder Cup Champs: Hershey Bears

Congratulations to the Hershey Bears for winning the 2009-10 Calder Cup for a 2nd year in a row. Also congrats to the Texas Stars for making it to the finals in their 1st year.

Two Guys & Hockey Talk NHL News (CLICK PIC FOR LINK)

The Faithful Followers

Oilers Jambalaya is in no way, shape or form associated with the Edmonton Oilers or the Bakersfield Condors. This is a fans blog for fans. We happen to love those teams, so we write about them.