Alaska 5, Reign 3.

The Reign returned to the site of arguably their greatest success this season – a three-game sweep at Sullivan Arena in November – but fell short of their fourth straight win in Alaska.

Aaron Lewadniuk’s second goal of the game, at 14:08 of the third period, forged a 3-3 tie that didn’t last long. Forty-four seconds later former NHL center Brian Swanson restored Alaska’s lead. Scott Howes’ empty-net goal with 47 seconds left in the game sealed the Reign’s second straight loss.

Lewadniuk scored 11:57 into the first period to provide a 1-0 lead and Dusty Collins’ power-play goal made it 2-1 at 9:18 of the second. That was the last time the Reign would lead.

Linemates Swanson (goal, assist) and Howes (two goals, assist) both finished plus-3 for Alaska. Kyle Kraemer had two assists and Shawn Germain had another.

Kellen Briggs stopped 31 of 35 shots for the Reign, who face the Aces at 8:15 p.m. Saturday.

Krantz fined, suspended for tonight’s game.

The Reign will be without defenseman Doug Krantz for tonight’s game against the Alaska Aces. The ECHL suspended Krantz for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount as a result of his  kneeing major and game misconduct in the third period of Wednesday’s game against the Victoria Salmon Kings.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association, player fines collected by the ECHL are given to the PHPA for its ECHL Player’s Hardship Fund.

Krantz has no points and a minus-3 rating in two games with the Reign since he was acquired from the Toledo Walleye on Dec. 26.

Lewadniuk is the Reign’s lone all-star.

Rookie forward Aaron Lewadniuk was the only Reign player chosen to the ECHL All-Star team when reserves were announced Thursday.

Lewadniuk is tied for second on the Reign with eight goals, most among the team’s
seven rookies. He’s also one of only four players on the team (along
with Kyle Kraemer, C.J. Stretch and Shawn Germain) who doesn’t have a minus rating (even-0).

Although he’s been scoreless since play resumed after the Christmas holiday break, Lewadniuk had been hot to start the month of December (around the time ballots were cast), with five goals and one assist in eight games. For the season he also has four assists and 19 penalty minutes, including a fight in the second game of the season.

Lewadniuk is one of only 8 (out of 21 total) All-Stars from the Western
Conference, one of 11 rookies and one of 20 first-time ECHL All-Stars. More on him in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Here are the rest of the ECHL All-Stars who will take on the Bakersfield Condors on Jan. 26 …
Continue reading “Lewadniuk is the Reign’s lone all-star.” »

Victoria 8, Reign 4.

The Reign’s two-game winning streak came crashing down Wednesday in Victoria, British Columbia with an 8-4 loss to the Salmon Kings. The eight goals allowed represent a season high and all were charged to goalie Kellen Briggs, who stopped 37 of 45 shots.

The Reign never led in the game but were still within striking distance after two periods, trailing 3-2 on a power-play goal by Lane Caffaro and an even-strength tally by Jeff Corey.

Yet they also failed to capitalize on a five-minute long power play late in the second, incurred when Victoria forward Rick Cleaver was charged with a major penalty for an illegal check to the head of Corey.

The floodgates opened in the third period, when Painchaud and former Reign forward Tim Kraus scored 25 seconds apart to make it 5-2. Nine seconds after Kraus’ goal, Brett O’Malley scored for the Reign to make it 5-3 at 8:44.

Reign defenseman Doug Krantz gave the Salmon Kings a 5-minute power play of their own when he was hit with a kneeing major and a game misconduct at 9:47. Victoria took advantage, getting a pair of goals to make it 7-3 before Alex Bourret answered with a short-handed goal for the Reign.

Painchaud completed the scoring with 4:38 left in the game.

The Reign (10-17-0-1) travel to Anchorage for a two-game series with the Alaska Aces beginning Friday.

Caffaro (goal, assist), O’Malley (goal), Corey (goal, assist), Pat Bowen and Dusty Collins were the only plus players for the Reign. Kyle Kraemer added an assist on Corey’s team-leading 11th goal of the season.

Rob Hennigar (four assists) and Matt Stefanishion (goal, three assists) had four-point games for Victoria, and Kraus added two assists to go along with his first goal of the season.

ECHL All-Star starters announced; no Reign.

The Reign’s poor start to the season failed to land them any all-star starters when the final voting was revealed today. One former Reign was chosen to make the trip to Bakersfield on Jan. 26, however: Victoria Salmon Kings defenseman P.J. Atherton.

Atherton had eight goals and 21 points in 33 regular-season games in the Reign’s inaugural season, and also had a strong seven-game playoff series (one goal, five assists) against the Stockton Thunder in 2009. Atherton currently leads all ECHL defensemen with 15 assists, ranks second with 21 points and is tied for third with six goals in 29 games. Atherton’s plus-9 rating leads the Salmon Kings.

The rest of the starters:

G – Michael Ouzas, Las Vegas (16 gp, 11-3-1, 1 shutout, 2.24 GAA, .921 save pct.)

D – Julien Brouillette, Greenville (25 gp, 11g, 12a, 23 pts)

F – Brendan Connolly, Greenville (27 gp, 13g, 15a, 28 pts)

F – Mark Derlago, Idaho (30 gp, 15g, 16a, 31 pts)

F – Mitch Fadden, Florida (32 gp, 15g, 32a, 47 pts)

The starting lineup is determined in voting by ECHL coaches, team captains, media directors, broadcasters and media members. The reserves will be announced Thursday. Here’s what the ECHL had to say about each player in its press release:
Continue reading “ECHL All-Star starters announced; no Reign.” »

Reign 6, Victoria 3.

The Reign have successfully hit the “reset” button.

Kellen Briggs made 47 saves, including all 19 he faced in the third period, en route to the Reign’s second straight win. Led by Briggs, the penalty kill awoke from its long slumber to snuff out four of the Salmon Kings’ five man-advantage chances.

Ten different players recorded a point for the Reign, led by Chaz Johnson’s two-goal effort – he scored them 17 seconds apart in the second period to break a 3-3 tie. Jordan Morrison and Kyle Kraemer each had a goal and an assist; Jeff Corey and Lane Caffaro had one goal each; and Dusty Collins and David Walker both had two assists.

The Reign scored six goals for the second straight game despite getting outshot 50-28. Corey, Kraemer and Caffaro have two goals the past two games, and Johnson has three. Newcomer Alex Bourret has two assists in the three games.

Another newcomer, defenseman Doug Krantz, made his Reign debut and was held without a point. Defenseman Luke Beaverson missed his second straight game.

Former Reign center Tim Kraus was held without a point in his first game against his former team.

The two teams play again at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Victoria.

ECHL All-Stars announced this week.

The ECHL will announce its all-star game starters tomorrow, its reserves on Thursday and its coaches on Tuesday, Jan. 4. The ECHL All-Stars will play the Bakersfield Condors in the annual game on Jan. 26 at Rabobank Arena.

The All-Star Athletic Trainer and Equipment Manager will be named Jan. 5, officials on Jan. 6 and Television and Radio Broadcasters on Jan. 7.

The ECHL has also unveiled the All Star jerseys (probably a while ago, but unveiled here for the first time):

48892-bakersfieldallstarpromo-jpg-r123860.jpg

In case you missed today’s notebook in print, give it a read here.

No Dylan Hunter, and other notes.

Reign coach Karl Taylor said through a team spokesperson that Monday’s ECHL transactions report erroneously showed the Reign signing a defenseman named Dylan Hunter. A forward by the same name, the son of former NHL player Dale Hunter, is under contract to the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones. Hockeydb.com has no record of any defensemen named Dylan Hunter, so we’re guessing the ECHL goofed.

Also Monday, left wing James McEwan was placed on 3-day injured reserve while center C.J. Stretch was transferred to 7-day injured reserve and defenseman Eric Doyle (upper-body) was transferred to 21-day injured reserve.

No word yet as to whether defenseman Doug Krantz will be joining the team in Victoria, where the Reign will play Tim Kraus and the Victoria Salmon Kings in back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday.

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

Reign 6, Las Vegas 5, OT.

For a moment there, the script seemed awfully familiar, the Reign squandering a two-goal lead to trail 5-4 midway through the third period.

What better time to reverse course, with the Christmas break behind them, two new teammates in uniform and, oh by the way, that unsightly record on home ice (2-11-0-1) they’ve been trying to get rid of all year.

Dusty Collins scored the tying goal at 13:13 of the third period, and Lane Caffaro took advantage of an overtime power play with the game-winner, lifting the Reign to a cathartic 6-5 win over the Wranglers before 6,296 at The Bank.

Pat Bowen, Kyle Kraemer, Chaz Johnson and Jeff Corey also scored for the Reign. Johnson also knocked Las Vegas starter Michael Ouzas out of the game at 7:49 of the second period, a collision that netted 17 minutes worth of penalties but brought emergency backup Archie Henderson off the bench. Henderson, who has bounced around quite a bit this season, stopped 19 of 22 in relief of Ouzas.

Kellen Briggs stopped 34 of 39 for the Reign, who welcomed former Wranglers right wing Alex Bourret (two assists) and welcomed back defenseman Shawn Germain (plus-2). The Reign scored three goals on the power play as did the Wranglers. More in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

A couple more notes that won’t make the paper:
Continue reading “Reign 6, Las Vegas 5, OT.” »

Germain is back, Bourret in, and another trade.

Shawn Germain, Alex Bourret and Doug Krantz became the newest members of the Reign on Sunday.

Germain returns to the Reign after having not played a game since February, when he elected to undergo season- and possibly career-ending wrist surgery. An original member of the Reign, the 28-year-old defenseman is known or his steady play in his own end, but also had five goals and 32 points in 114 games with the Reign.

Bourret comes to the Reign from High1, the Chuncheon, South Korea-based entry in the Asian League. The 24-year-old right wing also has experience in the AHL and ECHL (he spent most of 2009-10 with the Las Vegas Wranglers) since turning pro in 2006-07.

Krantz, a third-year defenseman, was acquired prior to the game from the Toledo Walleye. He has seven goals and 28 points in 106 regular-season games for Wheeling, Cincinnati and Toledo, as well as two goals and six points in 20 playoff games.