The Bakersfield Condors playoff run began last weekend with the first two games happening in Colorado before shifting back to Bakersfield for the final three. Last night, the Condors and Eagles squared off for game three with Evan Bouchard suiting up for the first time since being assigned from the London Knights. Bouchard replaced Cameron Hebig in the lineup for what started off a very special night for the former 10th overall pick.
Evan Bouchard is in. Condors are going 11 F and 7 D. #Condorstown
— Ryan Holt (@CondorsHolty) April 24, 2019
With the Condors opting to go with seven defencemen, it was a decision that opened up an opportunity for young Bouchard and one that he took full advantage of. The rookie would finish the night with a goal and two assists.
His assist on the opening goal was pretty nice to get it over to Ryan Stanton before he unloaded a bomb:
BOOM! Ryan Stanton with a blast to get us going in the first. #TheAfterParty pic.twitter.com/IerRHgKpfI
— Y – Bakersfield Condors (@Condors) April 24, 2019
But the thing of beauty was his goal he scored to put the Condors up 4-1:
What a time for his first AHL Bouch 💣! Condors go up 4-1. #TheAfterParty #Condorstown pic.twitter.com/jxaPuBhwYh
— Y – Bakersfield Condors (@Condors) April 24, 2019
Skating away from the play to give himself a little separation and then unleashing that Bouch bomb that Oilers fans have been begging for since that warm June 23rd day when Peter Chiarelli announced that we were drafting him.
The goal was also a milestone from an Oilers franchise perspective, as Bouchard became the first Oiler in team history to score an NHL, AHL and CHL goal in one calendar season.
EVAN BOUCHARD’S CAREER NUMBERS SO FAR:
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | Oakville Blades | OJHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2015-16 | London Knights | OHL | 43 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 24 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2016-17 | London Knights | OHL | 68 | 11 | 33 | 44 | 24 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| 2017-18 | London Knights | OHL | 67 | 25 | 62 | 87 | 54 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 2018-19 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -5 | |||||
| 2018-19 | London Knights | OHL | 45 | 16 | 37 | 53 | 40 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 6 |
Source: Bakersfield Condors, Verified Twitter Account, 04/23/2019 – 12:00 am MST
First career Pro playoff game: 3 points. Stud.
I tried for a fist, but spelled first correctly. Brutal.
Well sure, he’s 35.
The Oilers obviously wanted Bouchard to play because 7dmen is not very common. They are probably planning to trade a couple of dmen prospects so wanted to see how he would handle the AHL and he passed with flyng colours with minimal minutes.
Bear, Samarukov and maybe Leggesson are potential trade candidates for the new GM to add some scoring depth.
I agree on Bear because he hasn’t been the same since hurting his hand. No way they should trade Samrukov or Lagesson, we need to see more before doing that. Both players have looked very good.
But Craig Button says that he’s not even close to NHL ready??? Geez
While I generally agree with not rushing prospects, and believe that sending Bouchard down to junior last year was the right decision in the long run, you can’t go overboard either. If Bouchard is clearly one of their top 6 dmen at camp, you owe it to him and to the rest of the team to play him, and not just blindly send him to the AHL for him to “over-ripen”. I think maturity has a lot to do with it..Yak and JP noticeably needed time in the AHL to learn how to be a good pro. The Oilers have rushed too many players in the past, but I don’t get the feeling that Bouchard is going to be overwhelmed at the pro level. He should be given a fair shot at making the team this fall.
Is it just me or does Bouchard have serial killer eyes? I’m ok with it but it just creeps me out a bit. Just saying.