The Bakersfield Condors have played only three games in nearly two weeks. A slow start would be an understatement.In those games, the Condors had only one win. The Condors opened the three-game set against the Calgary Wranglers, who escaped with a 4-3 win. Bakersfield took over the shot clock after the first 20 minutes of play, as the shots were 21-15 in the final 40 minutes. I thought they played well in the last two periods, but they couldn’t find the back of the net. The big guns, Viljami Marjala and Quinn Hutson, were held off the scoresheet; however, I thought there was a lot of offence coming off their sticks. Tucker Robertson finished the game with a goal and an assist; he is quietly putting up a great start to the season.Now for the back-to-back this past weekend. Bakersfield travelled to Colorado to play the Eagles, and this game started out poorly for the Condors. After three straight goals on 11 shots, Connor Ungar got the hook for Nathan Day. The Condors shot the puck 38 times, but only Aku Raty (who is now on a six-game point streak after this weekend) was able to beat top goaltending prospect Ilya Nabokov. On a positive note, Nathan Day stepped in and stopped all ten shots he faced. The Oilers sixth-rounder from 2023 got the start on Sunday, and the strong play carried over. Bakersfield won 4-1, and Day looked incredible, stopping 28 of 29 shots. I’m excited to see who is named the starter this Friday. I think they will go right back to Ungar, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they ride the hot hand. Hutson, Marjala, and Raty all showed up in this game. Plus, it was another exceptional weekend from the Tomas Cibulka and Damien Carfagna duo.Viljami Marjala has his warts, but the highs are highThere have been some inconsistencies in Marjala’s defensive game, and he is already at 16 penalty minutes this season; for reference, the Finnish centre had 22 all of last season. Marjala is also goalless in his first seven games this season. I think he needs to make himself more of a shooting threat, but his passing keeps getting better. I can understand why he wants to be a pass-dominant player, but smart players will start to notice. As good as the skilled centre’s passing is, Marjala’s work in transition might be his best asset.You don’t see a lot of uncontrolled entries with Marjala. The six-foot centre is exceptional with the puck on his stick in transition; he’s the main player carrying the puck on power-play entries. Whether it is a simple pass or a move under the defender’s stick, Marjala finds a way to get it over the blueline with control way more often than not. Then, when he’s able to go to work in the offensive zone, you will see some playmaking highlights.The 189-pound centre is dangerous when it comes to board battles. There isn’t anything overpowering about Marjala’s physical game in board battles, but his mind and ability to get the puck to the middle of the ice stand out every game. Quinn Hutson has the utmost trust in Marjala, and he rarely joins the battle if it’s an even number of players. I’m a fan of that because Hutson is great at finding soft ice, and with his shot, you want him to get to the dangerous areas. Instantly, Marjala goes into the battle like it’s a rugby scrum; as soon as he touches that puck, he wants to fire it to the middle. I don’t see Marjala getting a call-up anytime soon based on how Babcock likes to set up his lines, plus being a below-average defensive player isn’t a good way to earn a fourth-line centre role.Wait… who leads the Condors in points!?That would be free-agent signing Aku Raty. The Finnish winger has five goals and eight points in seven games. I have been impressed with the older prospects’ start to the season, but with a solid two-way game, maybe Raty’s scoring ability starts to stand out to the big club. With how the injury bug has been getting to the Oilers, there is a world where Raty might earn a game or two. Through seven games, Raty has 24 shots. A fair amount of those shots have been from dangerous areas of the ice; his goals during this past weekend were all from the high-danger area.
Raty is shooting at a 20.8% clip right now, and that is pretty high compared to his former AHL years, but the Condors’ leading scorer is showing a real touch around the net. I think I might have underestimated the shooting ability of Raty coming into the season, but I think he shows some good tendencies even when he’s not scoring.
In the clip above, Raty drags the puck towards the middle of the ice and creates a shooting angle between the defender’s legs. Unfortunately, Nabokov was on his game, and not much was going to beat him. I didn’t expect Raty to be over a point per game in his first eight games, but whether he is with Marjala and Hutson or Josh Samanski and Eduard Tralmaks, he has been good. I like him a bit more with the Hutson and Marjala duo, compared to Seth Griffith in that spot. If the Finnish winger continues to be around a point-per-game pace, he might force the Oilers’ hand on a call-up.Tomas Cibulka and Damien Carfagna continue to show outDamien Carfagna has the box score stats to go along with his play, but Cibulka has only an assist in his seven games. The young Czech defender is getting the secondary power-play minutes, but I find that he has been impressive when activating in the zone and in transition. I always enjoy when a defender doesn’t hesitate to join in the rush, and Cibulka shows this trait constantly.Whenever he can get in the rush, the left-shot defender will take his chance. As I said earlier, even in the zone, he is constantly throwing fakes, opening his hips, and trying to beat the forwards. The chances are coming his way; Cibulka just needs to figure out how to take advantage of them.
I predicted that Cibulka would climb in my personal rankings, and he is; I’m loving the mobility and aggression in his game. I think it will only lead to positive results. As for positive results, Damien Carfagna has one goal and five points in his first seven games. Like his defensive partner, Carfagna is also aggressive and willing to jump into the play. You think it would cause problems, but the two of them can read off one another extremely well. It’s calculated risks. I have been enjoying the willingness to get the puck into the middle lane by the former Buckeye; it’s how he scored his first goal.
The work to keep the puck in doesn’t go unnoticed, but what a shot for Carfagna’s first of the year on the power play. Even when it’s at even strength, the six-foot defender doesn’t mind getting down low and battling.
This is one of those calculated risks I was talking about. The mobile defender notices Tucker Robertson rotating up towards the blueline to cover the middle. This allows Carfagna to take the wall lane, which leads to the puck popping out to him, and he takes it right to the net. With how many defenders there are in Edmonton right now, it might take a couple of injuries before either of the two top defencemen in Bakersfield gets a look, but I believe they would be serviceable at worst.
The Condors are up against the Abbotsford Canucks on Friday, and then they play the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday. Can they finally put together two wins? It has been one win and one loss to start the season; at some point they will have to string a streak together.
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