Barons Game 14 Preview; Houston Who?

Away: Houston Aeros (5-5-1); Last game: 3-2 SO Win vs. Toronto
Home: Oklahoma City Barons (8-4-1); Last game: 6-1 Win vs. Texas

Quick news and notes
-This is the fourth of 10 meetings between the teams.
-The Aeros lead the series 2-1-0 while the Barons are 1-1-1.
-In the last game between the teams, the Barons won 8-2.
-The Aeros are on a 3 game win streak. The Barons are on a 5 game win streak.
-Now that the opening weekend games are out of the range, the Barons are 8-2-0 in their last 10.
-The Aeros are 4-5-1 in their last 10.
-The Barons are 3rd in the league in Goals For with 42.
-Jacques probably will not be playing tonight as he works his way back in. After last night's game though, I think that it'll be a tough decision not to play him.
-VandeVelde had two goals last night(almost three), Omark, Motin, McDonald, and Moran all added one.
-Deslauriers will be getting the start tonight in goal.
-Omark is on a 4 game point streak, scoring 2 goals and adding 3 assists in that time.
-Giroux continues to lead the team in points with 13. Omark and Belle are next with 12, and Moran behind them with 11.
-Reddox and Omark both lead the team with 5 even strength goals apiece.
-Barons PP: 17th in the league - 13/81 (16%); Aeros PP: 30th in the league - 4/57 (7%)
-Barons PK: 1st in the league - 59/63 (93.7%); Aeros PK: 6th in the league - 55/62 (88.7%)

Players to watch
OKC: JDD starting in net tonight. This will be his first game this season. We'll have to see if JFJ gets a start tonight or not after how much of a presence he had last night.
HOU: LW Robbie Earl(17) and D Marco Scandella(6) lead the team with 6 points apiece. After getting completely lit up in the last game against the Barons, it'll be interesting to see if Hackett gets the start again.

In front of a crowd of 5490 last night, the Barons put on an awesome show, destroying the Stars 6-1. Omark was Omark and had an awesome goal where he faked out a defender and the goalie. The team has already established a rivalry with the Aeros, so it should be a physical game. This is also the first time they have seen each other after Omark went and skated by the Aeros bench smiling after scoring in the last game. With JDD getting his first start this season, the defense will really have to step up to help JDD get back into the swing of things. 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 from the game.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Thunder Plucks Condors in 7-0 Rout

What a way to start off Stockton Thunder Goes Pink Weekend-a weekend dedicated to fundraising for the fight against cancer, than to get a 7-0 shut-out over the visiting Bakersfield Condors.

It was a spirited game for sure. Thunder's Jason Pitton dominated the first fight with Bakersfield Condor's Antonin Manavian, which happened within the first three minutes of the game and set the tone for Stockton's total dominance throughout all three periods.

The starting goalie for Stockton was Bryan Pitton, his first game back with the Thunder after being sent down from the Oklahoma City Barons. He made 19 saves to get the shut-out and looked sharp for having just flown into town.

With goals scored by Craig Valette, Jesse Gimblett (with 2) , Chris Lawrence, Fraser Clair, Chris D'Alvise, and Jason Pitton, the Thunder never seemed satisfied with their lead. Even with a 3-0 advantage over Bakersfield after the first period, they never stopped trying to get the next goal. The second period did go scoreless, but four more goals were scored against Condor's goalie Peter Hirsch in the third period.

It was a scrappy game, complete with twelve fighting penalties, a short-handed goal by Chris D'Alvise (assisted by Jason Pitton), a bogus diving penalty against Thunder's Ryan Constant, 27 shots on goal against Bakersfield, a shut-out by goalie Bryan Pitton, and a happy crowd of 6,707 fans.

I can't wait to see what the Bakersfield Condors will try to get going for Saturday's game, but as long as the Stockton Thunder plays with the same drive they did tonight, they'll prevail.

I've gotta go rest up now-the first inaugural Stockton Thunder Goes Pink 5k Walk/Run is tomorrow morning!

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-

TweetTicker for OKC Barons Practice