As expected, some of the Condor faithful are already on the warpath and looking for scapegoats as the team stumbled out of the gate on opening weekend.
Certainly a woeful opening-night performance on home ice and third-period meltdown that resulted in a loss the next night wasn’t what the coaches, players or fans expected. The team did salvage something from the three-games-in-three-nights start with a win on Sunday in Long Beach but a 1-2 record has left a bad taste in the mouths of many.
Already there are those blaming a lack of an affiliation, problems in the locker room and poor preparation by the coaching staff.
The opinion here is that the reason for the tough start has more to do with the starting night woes of goaltender Jamie Hodson who was definitely not on top of his game Friday; a struggling power play (three fowards slated to be on the power play did not play this weekend) and a defense that is growing thinner with each passing game due to injuries (Kevin Truelson became the third D-man to go down this season when he suffered a broken toe on Sunday). 
Certainly there are areas of concern, but it’s far too early to toss any one under the bus.
Geeze, at least wait until the team gets back from a two-game set in Anchorage this weekend. And for the record, getting out of Anchorage 1-1 would be a positive — that’s a tough trip, a tough team and a tough building (Olympic-size ice) for visiting teams.
As for all the penalties brought about by the new standard of officiating, one can only hope that the players and refs end up on the same page some time soon.
Mike Griffith