American Conference all-stars announced.

The American Conference all-star team was announced today. While it’s a group of mostly unfamiliar names to Reign fans, it includes the ECHL’s leading scorer (Justin Donati), a former first-round draft pick (A.J. Thelen) and several players who are already in the American Hockey League.

Here is the full roster. Print it out, along with the National Conference roster, and make your own program!

Alaska 3, Reign 2, shootout.

In a game that finished just before 11 p.m. Pacific time, the Reign came up empty in the shootout after playing the Alaska Aces to a 2-2 tie through 65 minutes.

Michael Pelech and Tim Kraus scored to give the Reign a 2-0 lead they held until late in the second period. The Reign (13-15-2-2) then had to hang on after being outshot 12-3 in the third period. Curtis Darling stopped 35 of 37 shots in net.

Pelech’s fourth goal of the season came during a Reign power playat 3:35 of the first period. Mike Howe and defenseman Mike Egener picked up the assists. Kraus made it 2-0 at 6:08 of the middle period, putting a slapshot in from the left circle off assists from Greg Hogeboom and Shawn Germain.

But Alaska netminder Scott Reid took over from there, while Jason Ryznar (with 23 seconds left in the second) and and Bryan Miller (4:00 into the third) managed to tie the game up. Reid took over in the shootout, stoning Tony Voce, Hogeboom, Peter Lenes and Chad Starling in order, while Nick Mazzolini and Alexandre Imbeault scored on Darling.

The Reign will play the Aces again tomorrow night — their ninth game away from home out of 13 games in December — and ring in the New Year in Alaska an hour later than the rest of us.

In case you missed it, Lenes, Hogeboom, David Walker and Jon Rheault (who’s been in Manchester the last month) were named to the National Conference All-Star team earlier Wednesday.

Reign all-stars: Walker, Hogeboom, Lenes, Rheault

David Walker and Greg Hogeboom will start, and childhood friends Jon Rheault and Peter Lenes will come off the bench, for the National Conference all-star team at the ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 20.

All four made the final cut, announced Wednesday and determined in voting by National Conference coaches, team captains, media directors, broadcasters and media members. Coaches also submitted the top prospects from within their conference to determine the final roster with each of the eight teams having a representative.

Continue reading “Reign all-stars: Walker, Hogeboom, Lenes, Rheault” »

Landry is suspended. Update.

Reign defenseman Jon Landry has been suspended by the team.

Acquired Nov. 4 from the Cincinnati Cyclones in exchange for winger Adam Henrich, Landry had three goals and six points in 18 games with the Reign — including one in his first game in a Reign uniform on Nov. 6. He did not play in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Las Vegas Wranglers.
Possessing a hard shot and good puck skills, Landry had alternated in at forward recently while the Reign were depleted by injuries and AHL recalls. However, Landry had just one goal and no assists in his last 10 games.

Update, 9:36 p.m.: Here’s what Karl Taylor had to say after tonight’s game: “He (Landry) wasn’t happy with how things were going and neither were we. I didn’t think he played — he decided he wasn’t going to play the way I wanted him to consistently, so we cut back his ice and he’s requested a trade. We’re doing the best we can to accommodate him but hopefully also help our team, too.”

Bakersfield 3, Reign 2.

After playing “absolutely horrendous” hockey for two periods, in the words of coach Karl Taylor, the Reign staged a comeback but ultimately fell short before 7,365 at The Bank.

Greg Hogeboom and Tony Voce scored power-play goals. Curtis Darling returned to the net (after getting hung up at the airport a day earlier) and stopped 31 of 34 shots.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Las Vegas 4, Reign 2.

Surprise starter Mike Zacharias gave up goals on the first two shots he faced, and the Reign never caught up to Las Vegas in their first game in a week.


Neither team had played since they squared off against each other seven days earlier at Orleans Arena, but Zacharias was the rustiest man on the ice. He had not played since posting the win Dec. 6 against Victoria, a span of 20 days, and allowed goals to Kyle Hagel and Francis Lemieux in a span of 3:58 to start the game.

The Reign settled down considerably after that, and finished with a 34-23 advantage in shots on goal. Jon Francisco scored his fifth goal of the season, the Reign’s lone power-play goal in seven chances, at 4:45 of the second period to make it 2-1.

Mick Lawrence answered at 7:14, sending a blistering slapshot in the slot past Zacharias to push the lead back to 3-1. But the Reign took a 3-2 deficit into the third period after Francisco fed Robert Pearce for a breakaway goal at 8:53. 

Lemieux, playing his first season in the ECHL after four years spent in the AHL, got his second goal of the game with 2:29 left in the third. Zacharias was pulled for the extra attacker late, but had to go back in when Pearce crashed into Las Vegas goalie Michael Ouzas (32 saves) with 50 seconds left.

Goaltender Curtis Darling wasn’t on the bench tonight; Dennis Cook served as the emergency backup. We’ll see what the situation looks like tomorrow when the Reign host the Bakersfield Condors at 5 p.m. at The Bank.

Wranglers, Frank fined for pregame spat.

It’s hard to tell who was the guilty party just by reading this summary, from the Las Vegas Sun, of the Reign’s game against the Las Vegas Wranglers on Dec. 19:

So when the Reign started chirping during pregame warmups, the Wranglers chirped back.

When the Reign started pushing, the Wranglers pushed back.

But once the puck dropped at the Orleans Arena, it was the Wranglers who set the tone.

“We wanted to respond before the game started,” Wranglers defenseman Chris Frank said.

In the judgment of the ECHL, it was Frank and his Las Vegas teammates.

Both were fined separately for violating rule 86.6, which reads: “During the pre-game warm-up (which shall not exceed sixteen (16) minutes in duration) and before the commencement of play in any period, each team shall confine its activity to its own end of the rink.”

The league did not release the exact amount each would be fined.

Robitaille chosen as ECHL Hall of Fame speaker.

Luc Robitaille is getting another chance to flash his public-speaking skills.

Robitaille, a recent Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and the Kings’ president of business operations, will be the featured speaker at the 2010 ECHL Hall of Fame induction on Jan. 20 at the Hilton Ontario Airport.

Tickets for the luncheon are $40 each, or a table with seven tickets can be purchased for $250. The Reign are offering a special ticket package that includes a tickets to the ECHL Hall of Fame luncheon, the All-Star Skills Competition, the Fan Fest at Dave & Busters and the ECHL All-Star Game for only $75.

To purchase tickets visit OntarioReign.com/team/allstar/ or telephone the Ontario Reign at (909) 941-7825.

Updates on Walker, King.

Defenseman David Walker is taking the week off to recuperate from what he called a strained back. Apparently he was able to curl up at the last second to avoid hitting the end boards with his helmet Friday in the Reign’s shootout win over the Las Vegas Wranglers. More details on his progress in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.


Also, in case you missed it, former Reign forward Dwight King (now playing for the Manchester Monarchs) is the Kings’ prospect of the week at LAKings.com.

View from the other bench: Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Wranglers are in flux, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal


[Head coach Ryan] Mougenel has little choice but to hope his current players contribute more because his paltry payroll prevents him from making significant moves.

“We have the lowest payroll in the ECHL,” he said.

ECHL teams are allowed a weekly salary cap of $11,800, not including players on injured reserve. Mougenel said he’s “operating nowhere near $11,800.”

“It’s tough,” he said. “Alaska has five or six guys on IR and their cap is like $16,000. Ours is $10,300 with IR.”

A higher payroll doesn’t seem likely because team ownership is in flux. The franchise is in the process of being sold, Mougenel said.

Charles Davenport, the team’s principal owner since its inception in Las Vegas in 2003, recently sold his share to co-owner Jonathan Fleisig, who also owns the Bakersfield (Calif.) Condors.

With attendance at the Orleans Arena down more than 20 percent from four years ago — from 5,075 to 3,945 per game — and corporate sponsorships also down during the recession, Fleisig appears intent on keeping his expenses in Las Vegas as low as possible.


The local hockey team is only one of many local institutions to suffer during the recession in a city built on tourism. In fact, it might be among the smallest. Check out this article in the L.A. Times from September for some perspective.