Results tagged “David Walker” from Sporting an opinion

Peter Lenes scored twice, Greg Hogeboom, Dwight King, Geoff Walker, Mike Howe, David Walker and Michael Pelech added one apiece, and the Reign matched a franchise record with eight goals.

Jon Francisco and Geoff Walker had two assists apiece, and David Walker (who engaged in two fights) fell one assist shy of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

The two teams will meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Bank. More details in tomorrow's editions.

Jon Rheault recorded a goal and an assist, Tony Voce scored a power-play goal and Curtis Darling -- playing his third game in as many days -- recorded a 28-save shutout.

A physical game, and Jack Bauer himself -- Kiefer Sutherland -- was in the building. No terrorist attacks, though. More details in tomorrow's editions.

A back-and-forth third period decided an otherwise sluggish game, with Chris Neiszner deflecting a loose puck past Mike Zacharias with 9:21 remaining for the game-winner.

David Walker scored short-handed for the Reign's only goal and Zacharias, making his second start in as many nights, stopped 24 of 26 shots.

Even though the Reign finished their home-opening weekend 1-2, the mood after the game was fairly upbeat. The Reign matched Las Vegas' energy for 60 minutes despite playing three games in three nights.

More details in tomorrow's editions.

In case you missed it, here is my preview of the Reign's home opener tonight against Las Vegas as it appeared in the paper.

A few more notes about tonight's game:

• Reign C Tim Kraus is tied for fourth in the league with a team-leading six assists.
• Las Vegas' Robbie Bina is tied for the league lead among defensemen with six assists and six points.
• David Walker is tied for third among defensemen with five assists, and is tied for fifth with five points.
• Las Vegas' Mick Lawrence has a two-game point streak (1g-2a).
• The Wranglers' team bus features flat-panel TVs with DirecTV.

Finally, tomorrow's opponent, the Bakersfield Condors, will be wearing a unique tribute uniform tonight.

The only thing more perfect than the sunset over the Inland Empire on Friday was the Reign power play. The Reign (2-1) converted on all five of their power-play chances, and got goals from six different players, in a 7-1 blowout victory over the Stockton Thunder before 5,805 in Stockton Arena.

Tony Voce came off injured reserve to score two goals; Adam Henrich and Jon Rheault had a goal and two assists each; and Curtis Darling picked up his second victory of the season, stopping 30 of 31 shots. The Reign knocked out their opponent's starting goalie for the second straight game, sending Bryan Pitton to the home bench after one period and three goals. Andrew Perugini came on to stop 10 of 14 shots over the final two periods.

The Reign also proved adept down a man, successfully killing six of seven Thunder power plays. Stockton is 0-4 to start the season after eliminating the Reign in the first round of last season's playoffs.

Forward Greg Hogeboom scored his fourth goal of the season, and defensemen Shawn Germain and Andrew Martens scored their first for the Reign. Captain Jon Francisco added two assists, and Hogeboom, Peter Lenes, Dwight King, Tim Kraus and David Walker added one. The game also featured penalties assessed for five separate fights, two involving Reign enforcer James McEwan, and Michael Pelech, King and Walker in the others.

More details in tomorrow's editions and, in case you missed it, here is my feature about the Reign's captains and alternate captains this season that appeared in the paper Friday.

Jon Francisco is no longer the Reign captain.

This isn't breaking news. It's been that way since the end of last season and it's a tradition in each year Karl Taylor has coached in the ECHL.

What is news is that, even with a returning captain and three alternates (Shawn Germain, David Walker and Chad Starling), the Reign are waiting to select their next "C."

"The turnover is so high, we wait and see what happens. We see how it shakes out," Taylor said. "Obviously we've got some guys back from last year who we trusted, but we've brought in some new guys that have experience and maybe they'll be part of the leadership group."

To choose the captain, the Reign players collectively get one vote, while Taylor gets another.

"It's a big decision, and we definitely don't want to rush it," Taylor said. "I'm never in a rush to pick the captaincy."

Neither is Francisco.

"Last year, I was very much honored to be a part of that close group of guys," he said. "But that's over. This is a new year."

As with any sport, the value of an ECHL preseason game lies less in getting a win as much as assessing the team's talent, deciding who to keep and who to cut.

"We'll try to get everybody in and if not, oh well. That's life," Reign coach Karl Taylor said.

In a way, this is an even more delicate exercise in the ECHL, with so much turnover from year to year (although the Reign have a particularly high retention rate -- 12 of the 30 players who appeared in a game last season are back). But for more than half of his 27 players, Karl Taylor has no frame of reference for how they'll execute for him in a game. On the other hand, there can be as much turnover during the ECHL season as the off-season because of AHL recalls, injuries, trades, and the occasional roster cut. Maybe none of the players on tonight's roster will make it through to the end of the season in Ontario.

That said, here they are:

Karl Taylor has never brought back as many as five players on one defense from one year to the next as an ECHL coach. "Hopefully they're the five good ones," he joked.

Back are Shawn Germain, Dan Knapp, David Walker, Chad Starling and Andrew Martens. Gone are Darren McMillan (IHL), P.J. Atherton (Europe) and Colten Teubert (WHL). In their place are newcomers Cameron Cepek, Brian Kilburg and Mike Egener. Their average height: 6-foot-3. Though it's possible that one or two would get cut before the regular-season opener, Taylor said he's open to keeping all eight on the roster.

He explains why, and describes what he sees in the group as a whole ...

David Walker is still commuting from Long Beach, which sounds insufferable until he tells you he's got XM satellite radio as company on the 100-mile round-trip drive. The defenseman, a veteran of four ECHL seasons and another in the Central Hockey League, called this year's team overall "the most talented I've been a part of."

And that's after less than a week, without the Reign having played a game. Here's what he had to say about the defense ...

Here are some quick hits from this morning's practice at Center Ice Arena. Look for more in tomorrow's editions ...

-- The returning players we spotted on the ice: Jon Francisco, Jon Rheault, Todd Jackson, Mike Howe, Tim Kraus, Doug Spooner, Chris Curran, Shawn Germain, Chad Starling, Andrew Martens and David Walker.

-- Twenty-three players were on the ice in total, including Curran, who doesn't look like he's been cleared for contact. Tony Voce, who spent the past two seasons in Europe following a promising start in the AHL, is also under contract but in an AHL camp. Geoff Walker is still in Manchester. Another three players were held out due to various injuries.

-- Generally speaking, the team is bigger and in better shape than it was a year ago. All the returning players seem physically trim; combine that with a few haircuts (notably Chad Starling, Shawn Germain and Doug Spooner), and this is a team that should be flying up and down the ice.

-- Huntington Beach native Cameron Cepek, a defenseman who was selected in the seventh round of the 2006 NHL draft by Montreal, was a late roster addition.

-- The team has a full day of off-ice events planned for Saturday, including some time at the beach and at the Kings' game against the Phoenix Coyotes.