The Bakersfield Condors are a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) based in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

. The team is owned by and affiliated with the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their home games at Mechanics Bank Arena. The AHL franchise is a relocation of the

Oklahoma City Barons The Oklahoma City Barons were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team's first season was 2010–11 AHL season, 2010–11. They played their home games at the Cox Convention Center, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. H ...

, which joined four other AHL franchises in 2015 as the basis to form a new Pacific Division in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The Condors replaced the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

team of the same name, which played as a charter member of the

West Coast Hockey League The West Coast Hockey League was a professional minor ice hockey league active in the western United States from 1995 to 2003. The number of teams ranged from six to nine. The teams were located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nev ...

from

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

until

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and then in the ECHL from

until the end of the 2014–15 season, after which they moved to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, to play as the

Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises: * Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015 *Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hock ...

. The Condors are the only AHL team in the United States affiliated with a Canadian team.

History

On December 18, 2014, the

and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

mutually agreed to end the Barons' operations after the end of the 2014–15 season, with the Barons management citing financial problems and the Oilers citing a desire to "move on." One month later, on January 29, 2015, the AHL announced that the Oilers would relocate their franchise to Bakersfield as one of five charter members to form the basis of a new Pacific Division beginning in the 2015–16 season. A name-the-team contest was held from January 30 until February 15, 2015. The Condors name was announced as the winner on February 25, 2015. The Condors unveiled their new logo and colors on April 2, 2015. On December 18, 2015, the Condors participated in the AHL's first outdoor game in California, called the Golden State Hockey Rush, at

Raley Field Sutter Health Park is the home ballpark of the Sacramento River Cats Minor League Baseball team, which is a member of the Pacific Coast League. Known as Raley Field from 2000 to 2019, the facility was built on the site of old warehouses and rail ...

West Sacramento West Sacramento (also known as West Sac) is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. The city is separated from Sacramento by the Sacramento River, which also separates Sacramento and Yolo counties. It is a fast-growing community; the p ...

against the

Stockton Heat The Stockton Heat were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2015 to 2022. The team was based in Stockton, California, and was affiliated with the National Hockey League (NHL) Calgary Flames. The Hea ...

. The Heat would defeat the Condors 3–2 in front of 9,357 fans. Despite not making the playoffs in their first season, the Condors still contributed to the overall increase in AHL attendance with an average of 5195 per night, an increase of about 1900 spectators compared to the former Barons and similar to the former ECHL

Condors Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. They are: * The Andean condor (''Vult ...

. In the 2016–17 season, the Condors were named as hosts for their second

AHL Outdoor Classic Teams in the American Hockey League first hosted games List of outdoor ice hockey games, outdoors in 2010. Paralleling the National Hockey League's NHL Winter Classic, Winter Classic and NHL Heritage Classic, Heritage Classic, these outdoor games ...

game, named the Condorstown Outdoor Classic, against the

Ontario Reign The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Ontario, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, the team plays i ...

held on January 7, 2017, at Bakersfield College's Memorial Stadium. Despite sometimes heavy rain, the game went on as scheduled and the Condors defeated the Reign 3–2 in overtime. During the 2018–19 season, the Condors tied the second-longest AHL winning streak at 17 games from January 12 to February 25, 2019. The Condors finished in first place in Pacific Division in the regular season before they were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the San Diego Gulls.

Season-by-season results

Players

Current roster

Updated December 19, 2022.

Team captains

* Ryan Hamilton, 2015–2018 *

Keegan Lowe Keegan Lowe (born March 29, 1993) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing with HC Bolzano in the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). Lowe was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 3rd round (73rd over ...

, 2018–2020 * Brad Malone, 2020–present

Notable alumni

List of Bakersfield Condors alumni who played more than 100 games in Bakersfield and 100 or more games in the

References

External links

* {{California sports 2015 establishments in California 1 Ice hockey teams in California Ice hockey clubs established in 2015 Sports in Bakersfield, California Oilers Entertainment Group