Bakersfield Condors captain Brad Malone announced April 18 that he planned to retire at the end of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The end came last night when Ontario eliminated the Condors in Game 2 of their Pacific Division First Round series.
Malone came to the Condors before the 2017-18 season after AHL stints with Lake Erie, Hershey and Chicago. He ended up playing 552 AHL regular-season games and picking up 291 points (105 goals, 186 assists) over parts of 13 seasons, as well as earning 22 points in 28 postseason contests.
Malone also logged 217 games in the NHL with Colorado, Carolina and Edmonton.
“The result is the result,” Malone told bakersfieldcondors.com after last night’s season-ending 3-1 loss at Mechanics Bank Arena. “I’m proud of the effort, but at this time of the year results are what matter.”
“It took a while,” the grinding, hard-nosed forward said of taking off his Condors jersey for the final time. “A lot of emotion, a lot of thoughts… it wasn’t easy.
“This place has become home for me and my family. I’ve got so much thanks and gratitude toward the people of this community, and I loved every minute of it.”
Today is the first day in Calder Cup Playoff history to feature three winner-take-all games.
Home teams are 114-79 (.591) in such games all-time.
Last spring saw seven series go the distance with three of those deciding games going to overtime, including the Calder Cup Finals between Hershey and Coachella Valley.
― with files from Patrick Williams
