Sorry, Cris. Photo by Rob Ferguson

Game five. At home. A chance to clinch a spot in the Western Conference Finals for a second straight season.

Knowing those things, it’s quite remarkable what happened in the Cox Center on Thursday night. The Oklahoma City Barons would score five straight goals to dominate the number one seed (West) in the Calder Cup playoffs, and leave the ice with another trip to the West Finals to face either the Toronto Marlies or the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Absolutely incredible is the only way I can explain what the Barons have done in the past week. Three straight victories against a very good Texas Stars hockey team with great coaching, sharp young forwards, solid defensive posturing, and first-round-other-worldly goaltending. To knock out that team in only five games, out score them 16-4 in the final three, and continue a run that has surprised so many, again, is absolutely incredible.

An unchanged lineup for OKC against a slightly tweaked one for Texas put the teams into a first period that resembled every first period in the four games prior. Tight, headstrong, blue line aware, and let’s be honest, slightly favoring the Stars. Two power play chances for each team (Tyrvainen with a dive & delay of game in one period) went unrewarded. It took Teemu Hartikainen seventeen minutes to score the first goal of the game. In a scrum along the boards, Toni Rajala somehow emerged with the puck and let go of a pass that hit the centered-on-net Hartikainen. 1-0, OKC after the first twenty minutes of play.

Raise the sticks! Photo by Rob Ferguson

In the opening minutes of the second period Taylor Fedun pulled a Justin Schultz on the rush, and asserted himself into a play that began with a Jonathan Cheechoo puck steal, and ended with a Fedun goal and an OKC Barons 2-0 lead. C.J. Stretch added to the total when Toni Rajala capitalized on a horrific Stars turnover, and magnificently centered the puck on net. Stretch knocked it in, and OKC would advance the lead to three goals. A mid-period Tyler Pitlick boarding penalty was the only infraction for OKC in the period, and it was killed quickly. The home team takes a commanding 3-0 lead after two.

Jordie Benn gave us the third delay of game penalty in the game, and it put the Stars on the kill to begin the third period. With Mark Arcobello quarterbacking the power play, former Star, Garrett Stafford scored a goal, giving the Barons a 4-0 lead. Arcobello would get a goal of his own toward the middle of the third, his ninth of the postseason, and the Barons nailed the coffin shut on the Stars. A late Ben Eager interference call would cost Danis the shutout, as the Stars scored on the power play with roughly three minutes remaining in the game.

Thanks, man. Photo by Rob Ferguson

A 5-1 victory of dominant proportions has propelled the Barons into the West Finals for the second straight season. They await the winner of the Griffins and Marlies seminal, which currently is 2-1 Grand Rapids.

Well done, OKC. More thoughts on the series as a whole in the coming days.

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Now that’s joy. Photo by Steven Christy.

Oregon native, successful NCAA track and field coach, and three-time decorated Olympian, Bill Dellinger, once said of long distance running, “Good things come slow – especially at a distance”. If you’ve ever run a distance greater than to “the corner and back” you know this statement to be true. What you may not realize is how much weight this statement has in virtually every part of the sports world. Dellinger isn’t asking us to be slow or move slowly, but to see the end before the race begins. Know your destination, focus on it, stay the course, be prudent, be productive, accomplish that task.

To begin the season of farm play in Oklahoma City, prior to the inevitable NHL lockout, the going mantra was “Unfinished Business”. So many on the Barons/Oilers had accomplished a great deal in the 2011-2012 season, and there was a public outcry to go much further than they did in the previous season. That was the goal. Bill Scott assembled the pieces, Todd Nelson maneuvered bodies throughout the lineup, and here lies the Oklahoma City Barons on the doorstep of a potential spot in the Western Conference Finals – that’s if they can beat the Texas Stars first. One more game, one more victory, and another step on the path towards seeing a bit of redemption on the farm.

Game five of the best of seven series between the Texas Stars and the Oklahoma City Barons will be played tonight in the Cox Center. After splitting the games in Texas, the Barons have steamrolled the Stars in the first two appearances in OKC. This still surprises me as I wrap my mind around this particular accomplishment. Yet it seems that Texas is a team that is capable of throwing a wrench in the machine, thus forcing things to go amiss. From top to bottom, the Stars are feisty and tough. They don’t get by on “pretty”, but hard work (which in turn is pretty). Game five has the potential to be a dangerous one for the Barons. I hope I’m wrong.

Ben Eager returned to the lineup, and I assumed he’d be hard pressed to find his legs. I assumed incorrectly, and he did some really great things. To be perfectly honest, the entire team did. All four lines recorded a goal, and Yann Danis (with the help of his defensemen) has found his stride at the right time. After a dominating performance where five goals are scored in one period, trust me, you don’t want to mess with the lineup. Expect Nelson to do just that – change little.

Tonight, game five, with Stars in desperation mode – expect a tough win whomever that might be. So far things have been relatively tame, but Texas won’t go quietly. Aside from being well coached and well prepared, expect things to be rather “chippy” as Coach Nelson himself predicted in the post game show.

It would be nice to assume that Yann Danis plays every game like he has the last two, but boy that’s a tall order. If he does, it’s hard to imagine this team losing any sizable amount of games. There’s also an “X” factor of sorts that hangs around Todd Nelson teams – they really love to win. Regardless of prospect vs. vet, all genuinely want to win games and win games that matter. Other teams do as well, but the can’t quit mentality that wafts through an OKC locker room is pretty palpable (is that what that smell is?)

All that said, the series isn’t over. Texas has a win, a chance to sneak out of OKC with another, and then push hard at home down the stretch. I originally picked Texas vs Toronto in the finals, and despite both of those teams being down in their second round series’, they aren’t dead yet.

Game tonight is at 7pm in downtown Oklahoma City. Thunder basketball swan songed their way out of the NBA postseason last night, so it’s a good time for the city to keep tabs on the Barons. Buy a ticket, enjoy the game, you won’t be disappointed.

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Hugs by Cornet. Photo by Rob Ferguson.

Forget good hockey. Forget good sports. The Oklahoma City Barons are performing high drama. After taking a 2-1 series lead on Monday, game four was bound to be a close one. With Anton Lander out for the remainder of the series (maybe more), it was bound to be not only close, but possibly a timid one for OKC.

I’m glad that the above paragraph proved to be completely false.

The resiliency of the Barons proved too much for the Texas Stars as OKC rebounded from a 3-2 loss to lambast their opponent 7-3 on the wings of a five goal third period.

The first period was typical Stars vs. Barons hockey. Lots of shots, great goaltending, good puck movement, and a 0-0 score through 20 minutes of highly entertaining playoff hockey. Sixteen shots for Oklahoma City was quite remarkable, especially given that Toni Rajala accounted for six of those. The bottom two lines, that now featured Ben Eager on the forth line centered by Tanner House and Antti Tyrvainen on the right, and a third line of Josh Green, Chris VandeVelde, and Tyler Pitlick. I’ve long said that AHL teams are only as strong as their weakest parts, and if you consider those six your weakest parts, I’ll take weak any day. Yann Danis was great. Cristopher Nilstorp was greater. The first period stayed 0-0.

With the mid-section of the game approaching, Oklahoma City faced a daunting task of again trying to beat the stingy Nilstorp. C.J. Stretch would answer the dinner bell first, and put the Barons on top in the first ninety seconds of the second period. Texas would roar back by first netting the tying goal via big bad Brett Ritchie, and a five on three power play goal from Colton Sceviour. In just a ten minute span the Barons went from hopeful to doubtful, and began to take the one goal lead a bit personally, and somewhat panicked. However, Mark Arcobello would net his seventh goal of the postseason to put the Barons neck and neck with the Stars. Things again turned south, as Joe Morrow put the Stars on top of the pile with two minutes remaining in the period. We’d end with a 3-2 score, and some concern from many on the state of the Barons.

Then the third period happened, and the concern turned to jubilation.

It’s rare that a team dominates the way that Oklahoma City dominated in the third period of Wednesdays game. When it occurs it usually begins with your goaltender. Then it moves to your puck moving defenders. Then it’s on the forwards to close the deal. With all those pistons firing for OKC, they’d unleash an offensive juggernaut to the tune of five goals. Antti Tyrvainen twice, Mark Arcobello with another, Taylor Fedun from the point, and Garrett Stafford on the power play – the goals just coming and coming and coming. With it came the thought that perhaps the Barons had figured out Nilstorp, as they figured out Rob Madore in round one. Yet, I’m cautious of such a sweeping statement especially when Yann Danis looks like a giant of a netminder lost in a land of plebes. Don’t let the five shots of Texas fool you, they had some really fine scoring opportunities in the third period. In the end, his complete arc of the game was just so strong that it’s hard to nitpick the fact that he even gave up three goals. He was just so good.

In the end, Oklahoma City would defeat Texas 7-3 after going down 3-2, not scoring in the first, and only going 1 for 5 on the power play. Five in one period is the most by any team in the playoffs this season, and I don’t see that record breaking further down the road in 2013. 46 shots on Nilstorp doesn’t help the Stars case, and in a span of a week the Barons have laid claim to a 3-1 series lead with a chance to finish the series tonight, again in OKC.

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Lander down! Lander down! Photo by Steven Christy.

One man does not a team make, but as Oklahoma City sports fans know, one man a team can break (Russell Westbrook shoutout). Anton Lander could be one of those men.

First and foremost, his worth to his linemates is hard to discount. Toni Rajala and Teemu Hartikainen clearly benefit from Lander in ways that we don’t even understand as fans. On the ice, Lander is the glue holding the uber-crafty Rajala and the uber-sturdy Hartikainen together in one seamless piece of fabric. That’s the centerman’s role, after all. In his absence, things might seem a bit discombobulated, but remember, Todd Nelson is a smart man. He’ll figure something out, and he’ll likely tweak with it if things go south quickly.

Second, he’s a special teamer. Both on the kill and the power play, Anton Lander has a gifted sense of open ice, spacing, and timing. This instantly makes me question who steps into his role. CVV, Tanner House, Pitlick? All of the above? Watch this, it will be interesting.

Third, he’s a game changing five on five player. Even though he didn’t hit the Barons post-season lineup until the middle of the quarterfinals, he had already built up a rapport with fellow players. He’s acutely aware of how teammates function on the ice, where they will be, and how the system handles his skill-set. I’m not just blowing smoke, he’s doing some really nice things at five on five.

In the end, the big talk will be the lineup. Who steps in or out because Lander is gone at least for the immediate future?

Here is last game’s lineup for OKC:

Cornet-Arcobello-Cheechoo
Rajala-Lander-Hartikainen
Green-Stretch-Pitlick
Tyrvainen-VandeVelde-House

Tanner House was inserted for two reasons. One, Ben Eager is still nursing an injury, and two, Darcy Hordichuk doesn’t have the same bag of tricks as young House. Tanner gives you a player that can play left, right, in between and change from shift to shift. He’s also a very solid penalty killer, and that’s priceless in a close series like the Barons have played against the Stars.

Here’s the list of healthy forward scratches:

Martindale, Pelss, Hordichuk

I think the obvious tweak with the roster is to move C.J. Stretch to the second line with Rajala and Hartikainen. You can then do two things. Bring in Ryan Martindale on the fourth line, promoting CVV to the third. OR you can move Josh Green to center, and promote House to the third line, and insert Darcy Hordichuk. Kristians Pelss hasn’t played much hockey in quite some time, and although listed as semi-healthy, I’m not sure he’s taking any chances (nor is the team).

The other weird wrinkle is Travis Ewanyk. The Oklahoma City Barons lose one more center (in addition to Lander), and they may have to consider bringing in the Oil Kings alum and Oilers prospect who is in town alongside David Musil and Martin Gernat for a look around professional hockey. THAT would be interesting. Scary, but interesting.

Note: The Barons used Brandon Davidson in one postseason game while he was still a member of the Regina Pats. It’s happened before.

Game four is tonight in the Cox Center. Game begins at 7:00. Tickets are really cheap, incentives are high, hockey is really really good. Be there OKC!

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He got banged up in the first period, we took him off with five minutes to go to be checked by our doctors. He came back and played and scored a nice goal for us. He played through it, but today is a different story. He’s pretty sore, and it’s a lower body injury. I’ll not go into the details of it, but it looks like we’ll lose him for the rest of the series.

Lander, a big part of the Barons postseason success, will miss the remainder of the series with the Texas Stars and likely any additional games if that occurs.

His two goals and an assist in the series with Charlotte were key, but without his overtime goal in game one in the Texas series, things might be a bit sticky for the Barons postseason hopes. His presence will be missed, and Coach Nelson has some tweaking to do with a lineup that was firing on all cylinders.

Does Josh Green go back to center? Or how about switching Tanner House to center, but further up the offensive food chain? Either way, it’s going to mess with the chemistry a bit, and that’s rough.

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Photo courtesy of Edmonton Oilers Kings & Edmonton Oilers.

The Edmonton Oil Kings have wrapped up their season after a 5-1 loss on Sunday in the WHL Finals, and thus the draft picks contained within its roster disperse to other parts of the globe. For defensemen Martin Gernat and David Musil, as well as forward Travis Ewanyk, they’ll get an athletic tryout contract with the Oklahoma City Barons to get their first looksee of professional hockey (in the postseason nonetheless).

They arrive in Oklahoma City this evening/

There will come a day when these draft picks get to sit in the skybox in Edmonton or another Western Conference opponent’s barn when the Oilers make the playoffs, but that time will have to wait. In the meantime, these three will get to practice, mingle, and watch pro hockey from the cheap seats (wait, they are all cheap) in the Cox Center. Don’t expect them to do much more than that.

Evan Daum at the Edmonton Journal caught up with the three Oilers prospects.

Gernat on the post-Oil Kings placement:

“I’m excited. It’s a new experience for me, and I’ll enjoy the time there,” said Gernat, who was a fifth-round pick of the Oilers in 2011. “There are a lot of guys there, so I don’t know if I will be able to play, but it’ll be an experience to be there. New city and all new people there will be nice.”

And Musil:

“I’m not sure what the plan is going to be down there, but I’ll just watch a couple games and learn and prepare for next year,” explained Musil, who was the 31st overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft and was traded to the Oil Kings from the Vancouver Giants back in the fall.

“It’s playoffs, and for sure, I’m a little bit tired, but if I get a chance to get into the lineup, I’m sure I could find the energy to go out there and play my best.”

Ewanyk on his progress this season:

“I was really happy with my season,” said Ewanyk, who had 23 points in 58 regular season games. “I came back and I was ready to go. There are setbacks and stuff coming back, (but) it was just great to start a year 100 per cent and play out a full year and into playoffs.”

The Barons play Wednesday and then again on Thursday on home ice in Oklahoma City. They’ll have a chance to wrap up the series if they win the next two. Then it’s on to the next round and a chance to call themselves the best in the West. For the three prospects, with pretty big eyeballs watching them, this is an opportunity to learn. This is something that paid of dearly in previous seasons with guys like Martin Marincin. The opportunity to experience a pro environment (mainly behind the scenes things) is huge.

Announcement via the Oil Kings:

The Oil Kings are proud to congratulate Martin Gernat, Travis Ewanyk and David Musil on their signings by the Oklahoma City Barons of the American Hockey League. All three Oilers prospects have been signed to amateur tryout contracts and are available to report now that the Oil Kings season is over. Oklahoma City is currently tied 1-1 in their AHL Western Conference Semi-Final series with the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars.

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Photo by Rob Ferguson.

On a ninety degree May evening in Oklahoma City, the Barons and the Stars played a hotly contested game three Calder Cup playoff match. The first two games were decided by a goal, and both came down to the final seconds whether it was in overtime or in regulation. The similarities between the two teams has made the first two games infinitely frustrating to watch, but equally as entertaining. The pull and tug on both sides of that rope have made for one dandy of a series thus far. Game three was likely to be no different.

However, in the end it was Oklahoma City that flexed its offensive muscle thanks to some untimely penalties from the Texas Stars, and a bit more pertinent game plan by the coaching staff led by Todd Nelson. The eventual 4-0 victory earned OKC the series lead, and a bit of swagger.

The first period was a solid ping-pong style opening frame. The maddening/entertaining scale was perfectly balanced, and it appeared that we’d get another close game. An early Taylor Fedun slashing call put the Stars on the power play, and the Barons on the kill. The newly added wrinkle to the lineup, Tanner House, proved immensely valuable on the second half of the penalty kill. From that point forward both teams played solid hockey, and both Yann Danis and Cristopher Nilstorp stood out from the pack. Eleven shots for OKC and eight for Texas just wasn’t enough to earn any goals, and the period would end with a 0-0 tie game.

As we moved to the second period, things slightly changed. Mostly the Barons became more aggressive with the puck. The stretch pass has become such a huge advantage to Oklahoma City. Simply put, they try to get a forward to cheat up ice, and ease around the defenders. A pass then goes the distance from zone to zone, and it causes heartburn for the opposition. And this worked very well in game three as the Barons forced the Stars to hold and cross-check their way through the second period. With a Jordie Benn holding penalty expiring, Toni Rajala would rifle a shot from a great distance, and it would end up beating Nilstorp for a 1-0 Barons lead. Seven minutes later, again with a power play chance, Anton Lander would wheel his fresh-off-the-bench legs in on Nilstorp and beat him high blocker side. The Barons ended the second period with a 2-0 lead.

Photo by Rob Ferguson.

More scoring from the Barons arrived when Mark Arcobello scored his third goal of the series in the first five minutes of the final period. Things got sticky as Garrett Stafford high-sticked the face of a Stars player, drawing blood, and thus earning a four minute minor. OKC calmly killed it with some help from Danis, and the period soldiered on. Andrew Hotham, with a late period slash, forced the home team to again kill a key penalty. They did. I smiled. The Barons scored an empty netter. Oklahoma City would close out the third game with a 4-0 victory. Rajala, Lander, Arcobello, and eventually C.J. Stretch would be your goal scorers, and the series now favors the Barons, 2-1.

Game four will arrive on Wednesday with the fifth game being Thursday. All should be worth the ticket price.

Random Thoughts

Tanner House was subtly fantastic this evening. So much so that you wonder why Darcy Hordichuk was playing in that fourth line winger role at all during the postseason. Coach Nelson made mention of Tanner’s role tonight, and it was really about versatility.

Tanner is a guy that can add some really good things to our special teams. He is also capable of playing in any of the three forward roles on the ice, so if we get into a bad penalty situation, he can help out.

Help out he did. A couple of helpers on scoring chances, some really nice puck play, and the added benefit of having his penalty kill skills gave the Barons an additional edge that had been absent in the previous two games. I’d surmise we see tonight’s lineup again in a couple of days.

It seems that with three games under their belts, the Barons have somewhat figured out Nilstorp. He doesn’t give up any rebounds, and he’s really strong with the glove. You beat him five hole and over the blocker. The Barons did that on both opening goals. That little attention to detail was the difference. Not to mention…

The Barons goaded the Stars into taking penalties, and it ultimately led to OKC obtaining a two goal lead. Some potentially unbalanced officiating cost the Stars one of those goals, but such is life (unfortunately).

Anton Lander and Tyler Pitlick were briefly absent from the Barons bench to end the first period. They returned, and obviously were huge in the latter parts of the game.

Official attendance was 1,794 but it’s Monday, with an Oklahoma City Thunder game on every available television in the city – I’d call that a success. Not great or good, but a success by AHL OKC postseason standards.

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Welcome home. Photo by Steven Christy.

We’ve played two games in the Calder Cup semifinals of the West that has aligned the Oklahoma City Barons vs. the Texas Stars. Both games were decided by a 2-1 score, both went down to the wire, both gave teams a victory. So we shift the serious to the Cox Center, and the Barons are still on thin ice, and changes will need to be made if they want to beat the Texas Stars.

The biggest concern from me has, will, and always will be special teams. The Barons were pretty good on the power play during the regular season, and alot of that had to do with how far in front the “NHL Guys” pushed OKC to the front in that regard. The distance was so great that for months they could have (and did) owned a terrible PP total and still stayed high atop the league in scoring with an extra skater. The Charlotte series was all about offense, in case you were wondering. The Checkers were good at times defensively, but they like to let the dogs run, and run they did. Scoring was high and in bunches, and so the power play totals are pretty interesting. OKC went 5 for 25 on the PP, and went 19 for 24 on the PK. 23 goals were scored by Oklahoma City in five games, only four on the PP? Correct. Five on five play was huge, but so were the final scores. The series with Texas is vastly different.

In just two games with Texas in the second round, Oklahoma City has yet to score on the power play in five chances. By comparison, the stars have scored once in eight. The comparison of first round to second round for OKC is so hard to make, and a bit of switching gears will be difficult for the Barons in seven games. That is unless they score consistently with an extra skater, and force the Stars into taking additional penalties.

I like the way the defense has played for OKC in two games, but I think there are some minor issues. First, Andrew Hotham is an occasional liability. His performances have been overshadowed by close games and victories by the Barons, so all is forgiven. He has a tendency to cough the puck up from time-to-time, and at the worst possible moments. I can’t believe I’m making a case for Colten Teubert to get back into the lineup, but I’m afraid that might be a good option. After the beating Taylor Fedun and Martin Marincin took in the last game, some muscle might be a trip worth taking (but with a very short leash).

Nilstorp is a great goaltender, and beating him will require skilled accuracy. The Stars have kept the top scoring line of Cornet-Arcobello-Cheechoo with a combined three points in two games, but the Barons have only scored three goals, two of which were courtesy of Mark Arcobello. I can deal with that production against a defensively stout team like Texas, I really can. The other goal came from the second line; Anton Lander’s OT winner in game one.

The bottom half of the forwards are playing very well, and doing things to disrupt the scoring forces of Texas. Yet both teams are getting their chances; the goaltenders are just really really good.

In order for Oklahoma City to have a chance in this series (I picked Texas in 7), I still think they will have to be a bit more chancy with the puck. In the final five minutes of game two, the Barons really poured it on, but really prior to that five minute stretch, the third period as a whole featured a ton more gambling than it had in the previous forty minutes. OKC is a team built with some really good AHL scoring options, and when you’re asking Philippe Cornet to not crash the net, or Jonathan Cheechoo to not ease the puck in just a touch more before firing, you’re going against the things that brought you to this place. Go back to a more offensively robust game plan, and it won’t hurt.

Teemu Hartikainen is a better player than we’ve seen in the first two games in Texas. That’s all I can say.

Keep in mind, Texas understands the way that OKC is built. Could the series come down to coaching? Absolutely. Neither coach has changed the forward lines or defensive pairs (at least to my eye), and that probably continues through game three. How much line matching will coach Nelson do now that the series is at home? He’s a quietly strategic guy, who always preaches system, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some tweaks as the games get even more important.

Game three is tonight in Oklahoma City. Puck drops at 7pm Central.

The post Two Games In, Barons On Thin Ice? Game Three Tonight In OKC appeared first on Tend The Farm.

ANSWER: They are playing when the temps reach near *90 degrees, and the chance of severe Spring weather pops up. Thanks to Emily Sutton, who’s a pretty solid hockey fan herself, we have a good benchmark of success. Let’s play until it’s 95 fellas!

*For those Texas Stars fans reading this, I realize that 90 degrees is nothing. Also, pray for the quality of our ice.

Photo via KFOR.com

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