LOVE LOST
Loveland might not be as lovely on Friday.
Not with the history between the Condors and Eagles, at least.
Bakersfield and Colorado faced one another eight times during '18-19 and the Condors took the season series 4-3-0-1. But eight games, 16 periods and over 480 minutes on the ice as opponents is plenty of time to get acquainted, and the two sides have done just that.
Sixteen roughing minors or fighting majors were handed out combined between the two clubs during the regular campaign.
"They're a physical team and everything gets turned up a little bit more in the playoffs, especially the physicality when you have to play the same team five or seven times in a row," said Condors captain Keegan Lowe.
"You try to wear the other team down, so we have to be ready for that and need to match it as well."
One aspect of the Condors' identity during the regular season was that they were disciplined, accruing 849 penalty minutes as opposed to Colorado's 1,114.
"We're a disciplined team," said coach Woodcroft. "We try to maintain discipline between the whistles and specifically after the whistles. That said, we have people in our lineup that can take care of themselves and we're not going to get pushed around by anybody."
Bakersfield possessed the AHL's seventh-best power play with a 20.5 percent success rate. Going on the man advantage is a weapon the Condors can use should the Eagles get carried away with the extracurriculars.
"If teams want to go to the box, we have the mindset of making them pay," said Woodcroft.
"This Colorado team is a big, heavy, grinding-type of team. They led the Pacific Division in penalty minutes and we're prepared for that."