There was plenty of criticism of the Condors during the 2007-2008 ECHL season and much of it  justified and the team underachieved for three-quarters of the season and languished in last place in the National Conference.
There should be nothing but praise for the Condors now, who made an improbable late-season run to the playoffs and saw their season come to a close Tuesday night in Victoria, B.C. The  Salmon Kings won 6-5 in overtime to win the National Conference quarterfinal series 4 games to 2.
It was an evenly-matched series between the seventh-seeded Condors and second-seeded Salmon Kings and five of the games were decided by a goal, three of those in overtime.
The Condors, utilizing four players who had only finished their collegiate careers a month ago and were the rawest of rookies, gave the talent-laded Salmon Kings everything they could handle. And another rookie who was a catalyst in a regular-season 7-3 stretch runt hat got the Condors to the playoffs — Dale Reinhardt — missed the playoffs as he had to return to school.
No doubt, the Condors did not live up to expectations during the regular season, but they far exceeded them in the playoffs. Game 5 on Saturday night in Bakersfield was a superb hockey game and Game 6 was even better.
 Sure, it's the first time in four seasons the Condors have failed to get past the first round, but let's remember — with  a couple of weeks left in the regular season darn few even thought they'd be in the playoffs, let alone giving the West Division champs everything they could handle.
I'll be honest. In February I could hardly wait for the season to end.
Now I'll be chomping at the bit while waiting for the next season to get under way.