From ECHL.com:

The South Carolina Stingrays won their record third ECHL Kelly Cup championship on Friday beating the Alaska Aces 4-2 in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 6,610 at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska.

The Stingrays won the inaugural Kelly Cup in 1997 and became the first two-time champion in 2001. The three championships tie the league record for titles as Hampton Road won the Riley Cup, the trophy presented to the ECHL winner from 1989-96, in 1991 and 1992 and the Kelly Cup in 1998. South Carolina coach Jared Bednar was a player in 1997 and 2001 and is the first player or coach to have his name engraved on the Kelly Cup three times.

South Carolina rookie goaltender James Reimer, who made 26 saves in Game 7, was named the Most Valuable Player after going 3-1 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 1.64 and a save percentage of .942 in the Finals.

The South Carolina Stingrays will play the Alaska Aces in Anchorage tonight (8:15 p.m.) for the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Championship. Each side has won three games apiece, and the league wisely scheduled Game 7 on a night when neither the NBA, NHL or AHL finals were taking place.

The most interesting subplot, for those who haven’t kept up with the teams on the ice, is a friendly wager between the governors of Alaska and South Carolina. If the Stingrays win, Sarah Palin will dine on shrimp and grits and the award-winning She-Crab soup from Tristan Restaurant in Downtown Charleston, S.C. If the Stingrays win, Mark Sanford will receive Alaska King Salmon.

Some have called it a preview of the 2012 Republican presidential primaries.

Twenty-nine players make the list. It doesn’t include Kings prospects Jeff Zatkoff, Bud Holloway or Colten Teubert, but it does include 23 familiar names and six unfamiliar ones. One of those, Jason Tejchma, was announced as the “player to be named later” in the trade that sent John Murray to Mississippi.

Here’s the complete list; more details in tomorrow’s editions:
Continue reading “Reign release protected list.” »

Dean Lombardi informed comrade Hammond over the weekend that the Kings won’t re-sign goaltender Linden Rowat.

If he isn’t signed by another club or re-drafted later this month, Rowat could return to juniors as an overage player. In two starts with the Reign, the 19-year-old went 1-1 with a 2.91 goals-against average. Rowat was the 124th player chosen overall (5th round) in the 2007 entry draft by the Kings.