History Will Be Made / Stockton Thunder

Oklahoma City Barons / New Uniforms and Mascot?

Now, I am impatient man and I hate to wait. So with my crappy photoshop techniques and a few bad idea's, I came up with what I think the uniforms may look like.

There has been lots of talk over at the message boards and other sites that the OKC Barons will only pick one of the three logos that were trademarked. I think that's wrong. A company like Prodigal Hockey wouldn't spend money trademarking logos if they weren't going to be used. That means in my opinion, all three of the discovered logos WILL be used.

Here is where I think all three logos will be used.

Here is what I think the helmets will look like.

Before you say anything, yes I know they are bad pictures. I'm just trying to show a concept of what they might look like.

Do you guys agree or disagree with what I came up with? Let me know.

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On a side note, the Oklahoma City Barons should employ former coach Doug Sauter. He does resemble a baron doesn't he? Maybe he could be the new OKC Barons mascot? Just sayin'...

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

Prodigal Hockey and the Oklahoma City Barons

Almost 3 months after Prodigal and Edmonton announced that the AHL would be coming to Oklahoma City for the 2010-11 season. They are set to "Officially" announce the Barons as the new AHL team for Oklahoma City. There has been talk that Prodigal has dropped the ball on keeping the excitement going, and fans engaged leading up to the announcement. Even during the Thunder's playoff run against the "World Champion" Lakers.

"The Pipeline" segment on their website is designed to keep fans updated with the latest happenings. But it was less then a month between entries from anyone at Prodigal, and no Twitter updates before the announcement of the press conference. And only after the blog post of the Barons logo's (note: Which were freely available on US Govt's Trademark Search Site) here on Oilfieldhockey.com, along with Derek over at Coppernblue.com. Prodigal has seemed to come alive with several Twitter updates, and another posting on "The Pipeline" on Friday.

The chatter on local message boards, about season ticket holders asking the same question over and over again. And they kept getting the same answer "we're waiting on a jersey to be completed, before we announce anything." There was no "They're Coming!", or a Countdown to keep fans excited about Hockey returning here after a season of transition.

Written by OilFieldHockey.com

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Smokin' Ray Says: After months of waiting, it took OilFieldHockey.com plus that mysterious OKC_Barons Twitter account to get the ball rolling. We finally know what is to us, the worst kept secret. It just would have been nice if Prodigal was the one to spill the beans. But, they need to be quicker than that.

WELCOME TO THE OILOGOSPHERE PRODGIAL! We are relentless and we never give up digging.

Stockton Thunder Lose A Late Game Thriller / A Game Recap

GAME 5 RECAP: Idaho 6 - Stockton 3

05/08/2010 9:23 PM

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
Disallowed goal, Flichel's two goals sends Thunder to 3-2 series deficit

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FINAL STATS: BOX SCORE
VIDEO: Highlights and postgame locker room reaction
AUDIO: Game highlights


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Idaho Steelheads used a pair of goals from Marty Flichel in a three-goal, second period effort to outlast the Stockton Thunder, 6-3 in Game 5 of the National Conference Final of the 2010 Kelly Cup Playoffs before 4,521 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday.

The Thunder, who trailed 4-3 late in the game and nearly tied it with 3:30 left in regulation, had a one-timer goal by Oren Eizenman waved off. Eizenman fired a shot from the high slot that appeared to beat Rejean Beauchemin under the crossbar with the puck zipping out. But the ruling, which interpreted the puck hit the crossbar, negated the goal.

Stockton, who fell 3-2 in the series, now faces elimination for the first time in the postseason. Colin Hemingway, James Bates and Matt Robinson scored for the Thunder. Beauchemin took the win in net with 13 saves, who made his first start of the playoffs in place of injured goaltender Richard Bachman.

STOCKTON VS. IDAHO - NATIONAL CONFERENCE FINALS
Game 1: Stockton 2 at Idaho 4
Game 2: Stockton 0 at Idaho 4
Game 3: Idaho 0 at Stockton 1
Game 4: Idaho 2 at Idaho 7
Game 5: Idaho 6 at Stockton 3
Game 6: Stockton at Idaho - Tuesday, May 11 - 6:10 p.m. (Qwest Arena)
Game 7: Stockton at Idaho - Wednesday, May 12 - 6:10 p.m. (Qwest Arena) *
* If necessary

"We feel pretty strongly that Oren's shot hit the back bar, but unfortunately the final decision doesn't rest in our hands," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "It's a moot point now, so we need to move forward and win our next game. That's all we're thinking. Our backs are against the wall but we have a lot of fight left in us. I wasn't too pleased with our execution, but we still had a chance to win the hockey game. That's the positive thing about all of this. I know it, we know it and we're putting it behind us."

Bates got the Thunder on the board with his third goal of the playoffs at 7:56 of the first period, taking Matt Robinson's feed and sliding a backhanded deke through the five-hole of Rejean Beauchemin.

James Bates posted his fifth multi-point game of the playoffs.

(photo by George Steckler)

Idaho responded with a Flichel power-play goal, knotting the score, 1-1 with 6:16 left in the period when Flichel wired a slap shot to the upper right corner of the net after corralling an outlet pass from Dustin Friesen.

A wild, five-goal outburst in the second period combined by both teams had Idaho coming out with a 4-3 edge after 40 minutes. Beginning a stretch of a four goals in a span of 1:15, Mark Derlago fired a slap shot past Bryan Pitton from the left circle, giving the 2-1 lead to Idaho with 9:11 left in the period.

Brothers Colin and Brett Hemingway connected on a give-and-go play just 25 seconds later, with a snap shot by Colin from the left circle tying the score at 2-2.

Guillaume Monast's drive from the right point put Idaho ahead, 3-2 at 12:14 but the Thunder countered on the ensuing shift, 18 seconds later. James Bates found Robinson in the slot, who whistled a wrist shot past Beauchemin's blocker to tie the game, 3-3.

Flichel's second goal of the game restored Idaho's lead at 4-3, burying a one-timer from the slot on a pass by Derlago from behind the net.

The Thunder then missed on several close-range chances, including a J.F. Caudron snap shot from off the rush at the left circle, and a rebound at the left side of the crease that Robinson missed to an open net, wide from a tight angle.

Eizenman's one-timer that beat Beauchemin, but went to review, stopped play for several minutes. Just 2:08 later, Evan Barlow converted off a turnover at center ice and put Idaho up 5-3 on a snap shot from the left circle.

The Thunder pulled Bryan Pitton for an extra attacker and following a series of close-range chances, Mark McCutcheon spun a loose puck from the left boards into the empty net, from nearly 180 feet to close the score at 6-3 with 18.9 seconds left.

Pitton took his first loss of the postseason with 26 saves.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Riley Emmerson (inactive list), Garet Hunt (healthy), Trevor Hunt (inactive list), Chris D'Alvise (injury, day-to-day) and Kelly Czuy (injury, day-to-day) ... Idaho outshot Stockton, 32-16 ... the Thunder were held to an 0-for-4 clip on the power-play ... Stockton took only its fourth loss in the last 14 lifetime playoff games at home ... among those in attendance were ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna and retired NHL referee Rob Shick.

The Thunder, looking to stay alive in the postseason, return to play for Game 6 of the series against the Steelheads at Qwest Arena on Tuesday, May 11 at 6:10 p.m. The game can be heard and viewed online exclusively at www.stocktonthunder.com, courtesy of B2 Networks (audio is free of charge).

Tickets for Thunder home playoff games are available by calling (209) 373-1700 or by visiting www.StocktonTickets.com.

The Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew 223,854 fans to Stockton Arena in 2008-09. Season Tickets for 2010-11 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

THREE STARS:
1. IDH - 16 Marty Flichel
2. STK - 28 James Bates
3. IDH - 10 Mark Derlago

Written by the StocktonThunder.com

Happy Mothers Day From Oilers Jambalaya

Happy Mothers Day to all the fine Mothers out there. If it wasn't for you, none of us would be here today. Thank you for everything you do. Enjoy your day, we hope it's a great one.

Happy Mothers Day from Oilers Jambalaya.