Clifford, 21, appeared in 85 games and recorded 12 points (five goals, seven assists) and 123 penalty minutes with the Kings during their Stanley Cup winning 2011-12 season. During their playoff run he skated in three games.

An Ayr, Ontario, native, Clifford was a second round draft pick (35th overall) for the Kings in 2009.

Clifford made his professional debut with the Manchester Monarchs during the 2009-10 postseason. He played in seven games and recorded two assists. He made his NHL debut with the Kings in 2010-11 playing in 76 games. He posted 14 points and 141 penalty minutes. He played six games in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs and earned five points (three goals, two assists).

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound left, ranked first in penalty minutes for the Kings and second in the NHL for rookies with 141. He also came in fourth on the team for hits with 138.

The Reign play at San Francisco on Friday and at Bakersfield on Saturday before returning home to take on the Orlando Solar Bears on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

The 25-year-old had 19 goals and 36 points last season, his fifth in the NHL. He scored a career-high 31 goals in 2008-09 with the San Jose Sharks.

Setoguchi joins a number of NHL players who are turning outside the league to keep their game sharp during the lockout. Few have chosen the ECHL, however, and three — Brandon Dubinsky, Joey Crabb, Nate Thompson — play for the Alaska Aces, a Western Conference rival of the Reign. The Reign already have defenseman Paul Mara, who sat out last season following an 11-year NHL career.

The Reign (4-4-0) visit the Las Vegas Wranglers (3-1-1) on Friday and Saturday before returning home Sunday to play the Bakersfield Condors (3-4-1).

Setoguchi wrote “First game Friday” on his Twitter account but his agent, Paul Krepelka, said in an email that he didn’t know when Setoguchi would play his first game with the Reign.

Setoguchi has scored 103 goals in 336 career NHL games after the Sharks drafted him in the first round (eighth overall) in 2005. He’s only played 23 minor-league games in his career, all at the AHL level in 2007-08. He was traded to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman Brent Burns in June 2011.

Among NHL players, Setoguchi is considered an above-average skater with an above-average wrist shot. That should immediately help a Reign team that has had trouble finishing, averaging just 2.6 goals per game through its first eight games.

The Reign have not announced a corresponding roster move.

It clinched the team’s first playoff berth since the inaugural 2008-09 season with a full 18 games left in the regular season. It pulled the team within two points of first place. It set a season-high in goals scored and allowed several players to pad their stats and streaks:

• Kyle Kraemer (two goals, assist) has assists in six straight games and points in 13 straight – both the second-longest active streaks in the ECHL.

• Everett Sheen (goal, two assists) has goals in four straight games, which matches the longest active streak in the ECHL.

• Tristan King (three assists), Derek Couture (three assists), Alan Mazur (three assists) and Chris Huxley (goal, two assists) all had three-point games.

But let’s also not forget this light moment, the one that earned Eagles coach Chris Stewart a game misconduct in the second period:

It’s the kind of only-in-minor-league-hockey clip that tends to gain traction on the internets. It might even get the touch of gold that is a SportsCenter plug.

Montgomery, who has been on loan to the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros all month, had one goal and one assist in 27 games with the Reign. The 25-year-old rookie has played 10 games in the AHL during three separate stints (two with Houston, one with St. John’s). Six of those games have come during the last two weeks, and it could be that Montgomery is becoming an established piece of the Aeros’ blue-line corps.

That’s a little ironic, since Montgomery was skating at forward for the Reign just prior to his February promotion.

Ever since Christie lured defensemen Alan Mazur from England, and Mike Gabinet from temporary retirement, both players have been productive. That’s left little room for Montgomery, Jason Fredricks and lately Pat Bowen to play their natural position. Mazur and Gabinet also have more experience than Montgomery, a quality Christie was looking to add to a young roster. As responsible as Montgomery is — both with and without the puck — he simply wasn’t needed anymore. The Royals can deal with the question of if and when Montgomery will come back from Houston.

What do we know about Sheen?

He’s a 25-year-old rookie out of Holy Cross College in Boston, Mass. Last year he was the Crusaders’ captain, leading goal-scorer (17-18-35 in 38 games) and team MVP. The year before he was a co-captain, and his 149 games are a school record. As a freshman, he skated alongside former Reign forward Dale Reinhardt.

Sheen had a brief AHL stint with the Syracuse Crunch at the end of last season, but did not appear in a game. This season he got into four games with the Providence Bruins and did not register a point.

In 33 games with the Royals, Sheen scored five goals and dished out four assists. He also has 15 penalty minutes, one-third of which came in this fight:

A native of Lethbridge, Alberta, Sheen began his hockey journey in the second-tier Alberta Junior Hockey League, playing for the Crowsnest Pass Timberwolves, Canmore Eagles, Drumheller Dragons and Okotoks Oilers.

Word is that Sheen wasn’t getting much playing time in Reading. That shouldn’t be a problem in Ontario.

J.D. Watt is on injured reserve with a hairline fracture in his foot and is not expected to return for at least another two weeks. Brady Calla has a hand injury that will keep him out of tomorrow night’s game in Stockton, though he isn’t expected to be out long-term.

Although Sheen won’t be in uniform tomorrow night either, Derek Couture and Chris Cloud will, having served their five-game ECHL suspensions. That should allow the Reign to go back to a more familiar lineup (the defense pairings and forward combos are pure guesses on my part):

Estrada-Stretch-Couture
Irwin-King-Kraemer
Cloud-Bagron-Fredricks

Huxley-LoVerde
Tarasuk-Gabinet
Van de Mosselaer-Mazur/Bowen

Calla and Sheen will give the Reign more flexibility at forward once they’re ready to suit up. It’s a luxury they could have used last week once the suspensions were levied but, with the team riding an 8-1-1 streak, there’s been little reason to tinker with the roster.

The ECHL suspended right wing Derek Couture for five games, left wing Chris Cloud for four games and defenseman Steven Tarasuk for three games as “a result of actions prior to” Saturday night’s 6-4 victory over the Utah Grizzlies. Cloud was also suspended a fifth game “under
Rule #23.7, which states any player who incurs a total of three (3) game
misconduct penalties for fighting-related infractions shall be
automatically suspended for his team’s next game.”

All three players were fined, as were head coach Jason Christie and the Reign organization.

The league also suspended Grizzlies defenseman Cody Lampl (four games), center Jordan Foreman (four games), and defenseman Matt Sorteberg (three games). They were fined along with two other Utah players (center Mitch Wahl and defenseman Nick Tuzzolino), coach Kevin Colley and the Grizzlies organization.

After Saturday’s game, Colley said that Reign players were “shooting slapshots down at our guys in warmup.” Reign coach Jason Christie said Monday that pucks were flying in both directions during the warmup period, and he was not disappointed with his team’s response.

Messages left for Christie and Reign president Justin Kemp were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

Couture, Cloud, Tarasuk, Lampl, Foreman and Sorteberg all received fighting majors and game misconducts. The game-misconduct penalties will be counted toward each player’s suspension, meaning Couture and Cloud are eligible to return next Wednesday against Stockton, and Tarasuk is eligible to return this Saturday against Utah.

Couture leads the Reign with 20 goals this season and leads the ECHL with 10 power-play goals. He also leads the team in penalty minutes (149), shots on goal (152), and his 41 points are second to C.J. Stretch, who is currently playing for the AHL’s Houston Aeros.

Cloud has five goals and 13 points in 27 games, and his 120 penalty minutes are second on the team to Couture. His 12 fighting majors lead the team and rank fifth in the ECHL.

Tarasuk leads all Reign defensemen with six goals, 20 assists, 26 points and 13 power-play assists this season. He is the only Reign player who has appeared in all 44 games this season, a streak that will end tomorrow night.

A couple things about this video:

1, It’s made the rounds and then some – ESPN, ESPN.com Yahoo.com, even the front page of sport.sk, which is based in Slovakia.

2, It was uploaded by the Bakersfield Condors to their official YouTube channel.

The Reign’s biggest point of contention Monday was not with anything that was done by the Condors – Estrada said Ian McKenzie’s check was “probably a clean hit” – but something that was said.

After Estrada jumped in to an altercation between Bakersfield’s Justin Pender and Ontario defenseman Chris Huxley Mike Montgomery, Condors color commentator Ryan Holt calls Estrada’s actions “gutless.” (You can hear this at the 4:20 mark of the YouTube clip.) That drew the ire of Estrada and Reign coach Jason Christie.

Estrada said he explained in an e-mail to Condors play-by-play man Kevin Bartl that he had been provoked by Pender (there’s evidence of this at the 1:25 mark of the video). Bartl, according to Estrada, replied with an apology.

Estrada and Condors defenseman Tyson Gimblett were both suspended one game by the ECHL; Estrada will miss tomorrow’s game against the Alaska Aces.

Christie thinks Holt, the Condors’ color commentator, should be disciplined.

“I really like how our guys stuck together. That’s hockey,” Christie said. “You’re going to have those days and those situations. I don’t like the of how they can sit there and criticize my players because they work hard and they compete. They’re getting called soft, they’re getting called — their radio guy called them gutless – that’s unfair. We’ve got a guy who’s an honest player and survived a plane crash and they’ve got a radio guy calling them gutless. I’d like to re-visit that avenue, if there is a way.

“If it helps them sell a couple more tickets here and there, that’s great,” the coach continued. “I’m just not a big fan of probably a guy who’s never played the game, don’t know much about him, but to call somebody gutless it doesn’t sit well.

“When the players are held accountable, why shouldn’t this guy be held accountable? I think it’s a black eye on our league, this guy saying that stuff.”

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

In its stead is something much cheaper and arguably more fun. Through February 5, fans can vote online for the “2012 Silver Skater Fantasy Team,” a concept that seems entirely unique based on its description on the ECHL website.

Fans are allowed one vote per e-mail address to choose one player on each team who will wear a “special Silver Skater jersey” during a select home game. There are no criteria for how to vote. You could, conceivably, vote for the worst player on each team — although this appears to be discouraged by listing four players under each team’s logo (they all seem to be having good seasons). Write-in votes are allowed, however. The top two vote-getters will wear the special jersey.

We don’t know what the jerseys will look like, but an educated guess is that the snazzy logo you see at right will be featured prominently. No word yet as to when the Reign have scheduled their “Silver Skater” home game.

The four Reign players listed are C.J. Stretch, Derek Couture, Vincent LoVerde and Chris Huxley. It’s tempting to list the merits of each player at this point, but since there really are no voting criteria, it’s hard to tell where to begin. (Who looks best in silver??)

Still, as alternate ideas go, this one has its merits. The concept of minor-league all-star games is inherently flawed, since the best players in the league are getting promoted to the AHL on a daily basis. Staging a game is a logistical headache — just ask anyone who was around when the ECHL All-Star Game was played at CBBA in 2010. This is less formal and less expensive and, thus, more appropriate to the concept. Even if it has no criteria.

The Idaho Steelheads traded Lewadniuk to the Bakersfield Condors on Thursday for forward Michael Gergen. The struggling Condors (8-24-3-1), already 13 points behind the Steelheads for the seventh and final playoff position in the ECHL’s Western Conference, visit the Reign for a rare 1 p.m. game Monday at CBBA. That is Bakersfield’s only road game against the Reign the rest of the way; the Condors also host the Reign Jan. 27 and 28.

Lewadniuk has seven goals and six assists in 31 games this season for the Steelheads. In his first game against his former team, Lewadniuk scored a goal last Friday in a 5-1 loss to the Reign — the only goal the Reign have allowed in their last four games.

Incidentally: Geoff Irwin, the player Lewadniuk was traded for, has eight goals and 10 assists in 30 games this season.

Here are some facts and figures that didn’t make the game story from the Reign’s latest blowout, a 6-0 shutout against Las Vegas last night:

• The team’s current streak of seven games with at least a point (6-0-0-1) is third in the ECHL among active streaks. The Alaska Aces have points in 10 straight games (7-0-1-2) and the Elmira Jackals have points in nine straight (9-0-0-0).
• Kyle Kraemer (goal, assist, crossbar) has assists in five straight games, which is tied for the longest active streak in the league with Chicago’s Kyle Ostrow.
• C.J. Stretch (goal, assist) moved into a tie for fourth place in the ECHL scoring race (17 goals, 23 assists, 40 points) with Las Vegas’ Adam Miller.
• Chris Carrozzi’s third shutout of the season moved him into a four-way tie for second among ECHL goalies. Carrozzi lowered his goals-against average to 2.37, which ranks fifth in the league among eligible goalies. Carrozzi’s GAA since coming to the Reign is a miniscule 2.06.
• Francois Brisebois’ assist moved him into a tie for sixth in points (10+15=25) among ECHL rookies.
• Steven Tarasuk’s two goals moved him into sixth among ECHL defensemen in points (5+18=23).
• As a team, the Reign rank second in the league in penalty-kill efficiency (86.3%) after killing all nine Wranglers penalties last night.
• By scoring three times in the third period, the Reign matched the Colorado Eagles with a league-leading 45 goals in the third period on the season.
• The Reign moved past the Gwinnett Gladiators into third in the ECHL in goals against per game (2.68).

Murray was released Monday afternoon, probably not coincidentally the same day Mike Montgomery was released from his tryout contract with the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros. The timing of the move suggests that Montgomery could well be in the lineup Wednesday, when the Reign host the Las Vegas Wranglers.

In five games with the Reign, playing exclusively as a third-pair defenseman, Murray was scoreless with a minus-1 rating. Montgomery was a minus-5 with no points in 18 games for the Reign during two separate stints.

A couple more notes from practice:

• There is no indication that the other Reign players currently in the AHL (Dylan Yeo, JP Cote, Chris Cloud, J.D. Watt, Darcy Kuemper) are headed back.

• Coach Jason Christie said that defenseman Philippe Seydoux, out since Nov. 13 with a concussion, started riding a bike again last week and has reported no setbacks in the meantime. Seydoux began bike work in December but stopped after a recurrence of post-concussion symptoms.

• Christie also said that forward Matt Tassone (back spasms) could return to practice next week. Tassone hasn’t played since Dec. 14.

• One more from Christie: Chris Carrozzi, who recorded his second shutout of the season Saturday, figures to start Wednesday.

• I asked several players why the team seems to be playing so well lately – three straight wins, by a cumulative 16-1 score – and got a few different answers. Look for those in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Berube’s last outing was a forgettable one – down to 13 skaters, he was the unlucky goalie as the Reign lost 5-0 to the Las Vegas Wranglers. Still short-handed, the Reign reached back the next four games and went 2-0-1, averaging 36 shots a game with goalie Chris Carrozzi in net.

That impressive feat will be the focus of tomorrow’s notebook in the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Berube has not faced the Condors since opening night, a 5-4 Reign loss.

A few more notes from practice:

• Jason Fredricks (knee) took part in his first practice with the team since the regular season began. The defenseman was one of the last players off the ice. More on him in tomorrow’s notebook.

• I caught up with Sean Murray, who made his ECHL debut last Saturday in the Reign’s 4-3 shootout loss at Stockton. The rookie defenseman isn’t a physically imposing player — he’s listed at 6-1 and 195 — but he said that “playing on the edge” is integral to his game. “The more physical I play,” he said, “the more opportunities I get on the offensive end.”

• Geoff Irwin will return from his four-game suspension tomorrow. More from him in tomorrow’s notebook.

• The defense pairs were fluid in the drills I saw, but here were the forward combos:

Geoff Irwin-C.J. Stretch-Derek Couture
Kevin Estrada-Francois Brisebois-Kyle Kraemer
Brady Calla-Bill Bagron-Tristan King