Just in time for the playoffs, the Victoria Salmon Kings have received two players from their AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose, but will be without three players staying in the AHL after recent call-ups — two with non affiliated AHL teams who don't want to give them back —  their captain who is out with a season-ending injury, and their goon who is facing criminal assault charges.

Suddenly, I like the surging Condors chances, but they need to get one in Victoria. I hope the "mo" has some shelf life and is still percolating on Thursday when the best of seven series gets under way in Victoria.

Victoria is getting Kevin Estrada and Dylan Yeo back from their Manitoba affiliate, and those two will make Victoria a better team than they've been down the stretch playing with a lot of fill-ins from the college and junior ranks. The Condors are 3-3-3 on the season against Victoria but 3-0-2 in their last five.

Estrada has tallied 10 points in eight games against Bakersfield this season. But Daniel Rahimi is staying in Manitoba. The really big break for the Condors is that  Milan Gajic, a forward who had five goals and nine assists in five games against Bakersfield, is still with the Houston Aeros and Kiel McLeod is still with Albany and won't return to the Salmon Kings. Gajic, who had a hat trick for Houston the other night, had 40 points in 35 games with Victoria.

 Losing players to the AHL and not getting all of them back - such is the life of an affiliate. Not that Bakersfield would know, not being affiliated with anybody. This series will provide at least some insight as to the advantages of both scenarios, although given a choice I'm guessing the Condors would prefer having an affiliate to not having one.

But losing two players to non affiliated teams is something ECHL teams don't count on but agree to do for the benefit of the player's future - just like the Condors did with Mark Derlago, ironically to Manitoba, who agreed to give him back. Derlago has feasted on the Salmon Kings of late, scoring 10 goals and three assists in his last five games against Victoria. The Condors know all about losing a captain to a season-ending injury but thank goodness they don't know much about dealing with a cheap shot artist and the criminal charges he faces.