Ducks join forces with Condors

May 21, 2008 - 11:14 PM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Anaheim Ducks are teaming up with some birds of a different feather.

The Ducks on Wednesday signed an affiliation agreement with the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL, a deal that will begin in 2008-09.

Under the terms of the agreement, Anaheim will send prospects to Bakersfield, which joined the ECHL in 2003 after spending the previous five seasons in the West Coast Hockey League.

"We are very excited to be entering into a formal affiliation agreement with an organization that is held in such high regard in professional hockey," Ducks general manager Brian Burke said. "The Bakersfield Condors have a track record of success both on and off the ice, and this agreement will only help further the growth of hockey in California."

It is the first affiliation with an NHL team for the Condors, who joined the WCHL as the Fog in 1995. The club has drawn over two million fans in its 10-year history, including in excess of 200,000 each of the last four seasons.

"This is an exciting moment in the history of this organization," Bakersfield president Matthew Riley said. "Not only to be able to secure an affiliation, but secure one with a first-class franchise like the Ducks, fellow Californians and an organization that shares the same philosophies that we have. It's a banner day in Condorstown."

Bakersfield posted a 26-37-2-7 record this past season before falling to Victoria in the National Conference quarterfinals.