Tragic “bad ice” injury worsens Condors game seven defeat - By N.L. Belardes

I put on a back luck jersey hoping it was good luck: a Condors jersey signed by the much hated Scott Gomez of the New Jersey Devils who played for last year’s Alaska Aces. I was hoping it would symbolize a 3rd round match-up between the Condors and Aces. Instead, wearing the jersey symbolized fiery words, emblazoned on cloth: that Alaska was all over the next round, not the Condors.

What was I thinking?

And I brought chingpea, whose curse has been attending four straight Condors losses. She even warned about the curse and threatened to stay home.

What was I thinking?


Outside Fresno's Save Mart Center, Condors fan
Emily Tebow threatens an estranged Fresno Bobblehead...

The road to Fresno isn’t nearly as long as the road home. I put up my share of trash talk throughout the series in a fun online bout between myself and Fresno blogger, Mike Seay. Heading into Fresno I made sure to call Mike to see if he was coming to the big game in the big "NO". He was trapped in Modesto on work and so we had to settle for a little bit of trash talk and a friendly wishing of good luck to each blogger’s opposing team.

“Good luck to your freakin’ Condors,” Mike grumbled.

Before the game, chingpea, Matildakay (Smalltown Girls Podcast)and I ate across the street from the Save Mart Center at the Dog House Grill. Condors president Matt Riley was in the house and asked if I had been to the game the night before.


Condors president, Matt Riley

I also said hello to Joel Irving, a scratch for the night (does that mean benched if they’re healthy?). He seemed a bit bugged, gave me a short reply and said, “Let’s get out of here,” to his buddy who had been standing in line. This was a much different Condor than I saw in the locker room after game 7 with Long Beach. But then, Puck had been doing the interviewing that night. Most of the Condors have no clue that I help promote them. And I typically don’t wear a team jersey. So I probably looked like an annoying fan looking for an autograph. Either that or he was already annoyed for possibly being benched and didn’t want anyone to ask why he wasn’t playing.


36 seconds before game time I snapped this evil-looking photo
of Freddie "Krueger" Falcon


Just before the puck was dropped I snapped this photo that
captures Bakersfield's Scott Borders in the upper left (#14)


A boisterous Fresno fan accuses a Condor player of wrongdoing

The game was exciting with an intense battle that kept the game within one goal. There were a lot of Condors penalties which gave Fresno the upper hand. That didn't mean the game wasn't close, intense, and great. But then the unthinkable happened, and I’m still trying to figure out just exactly what I saw. Condors player Scott Borders skated past the blue line in toward the Fresno goal when he just went down, slid across the ice and smashed into the boards, his leg possibly shattered. Rumors flew into the stands that it was his fibula. Was it? Chances are, if that’s the case, then his tibia may have broke as well. The way he pounded the ice, myself and a nearby Fresno fan knew his leg was broken.


Scott Borders down on the "bad ice"

I’ve had enough broken legs and have tended to enough broken bones to know how a person acts when there’s the sudden shock of fracture and frustration. Usually an athlete is on a high rush of adrenaline, feels no pain from the actual break, but is fully aware that they’re severely hurt. They have to release the adrenaline that is bottled up inside. So they appear more in pain than anything. Think about if you had just been walking, skating, hitting, and suddenly you're unable to perform any of those actions. Well that’s a devastating blow to anyone, athlete or not.

I should know. My right leg is disfigured from a similar unexpected accident.


As Scott Borders is placed onto a gurney, two diehard
Condors fans clearly show a somber mood


Gracious Fresno fans display good sportsmanship
and applaud Scott Borders as he is wheeled away

The blow to Scott Border’s leg was felt by the entire team and the entire Condors fan base, while Fresno and possibly the referees smartly took advantage. Fans screamed, “Win it for Borders! Do it for Scotty!” But the reality was: should the game have continued?

My complaint in this series has been bad Fresno ice. I have said to friends, “How can the Condors win two games in Fresno on such bad ice?” That's why winning three games in Bakersfield was crucial. That didn't happen. I was shocked when the Condors won Friday night’s game. I had witnessed in an early round 2 game at the Save Mart Center as three Bakersfield Condors skating backwards fell. Minor league ice hockey players are professional skaters; they don’t just fall without their being a big collision between skaters. The cause? Bad ice. I have heard now in two games Fresno fans also complaining about the bad ice, wishing games were held back at the Selland Arena. And why do even Fresno fans complain?

Earlier in the year Fresno Falcon defensemen Cory Murphy shattered his fibula while skating on Fresno’s now infamous “bad ice”. His break was so bad that he had to have surgery from a bone fragment. (read more). And what had he done? He skated over a rut that shouldn’t have been in the ice.


As the game got back underway, Fresno mascot,
Freddie "Krueger" Falcon seemed even more poised
to gobble any fans he could munch on


In fact, here is an image of the same bird chasing
unsuspecting children on the ice while innocently
hunting Easter eggs shaped like sponge pucks

Fresno blogger Mike Seay seemed to allude to Fresno having bad ice all season, writing, “Save Mart’s bad ice finally got a game suspended.” Finally? What else has happened on the bad Fresno ice? Were there other injuries or talk among Fresno fans of bad ice this season? Sounds like their ice is the big “NO” as well.

What I want to know is how Borders broke his leg. Why did he fall? I was expecting the game to be cancelled right there, just as the game had been with Cory Murphy's season ending fibula injury. I had already seen one Condor fall down again while skating backwards in game seven. Should game 7 have been cancelled? Did the referees even consider putting a stop to the game? Who in the ECHL made the call if any? Fans on both sides wanted to know as there was no clear reason from the stands why Borders went down to the ice.

And then Fresno took advantage. Almost immediately Fresno put a puck in the net as Bakersfield goaltender Ryan Munce suddenly transformed from steel wall to swiss cheese. He didn’t appear level headed. He let in two soft goals for the night with one shot that should have been easily stopped through the five-hole. By then it was 4-2 and the Condors, like Scott Borders, weren’t coming back.

In the end? Fresno fans chanted, “Go home Condors! Go home!” Some Fresno fans berated Condors and myself as we headed to exits. “Take the 99 south,” one fan yelled. (Most Fresno fans were gracious and I saw some ungracious Bakersfield fans)


In the end, ice hockey is about "sportsmanship"

A bad goalie, a bad break on bad ice? You hate to see a season end that way, especially before a dark journey back to Bakersfield. You want to see a game seven contest carried out between two teams at their best. But then controversy does make for a great rivalry. Bakersfield-Fresno game 7: a Kelly Cup playoff match-up surely to go down in infamy, and surely will lead to a stronger Highway 99 rivalry than ever before in the coming years.

This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on Sunday, May 07, 2006. You can leave your response.