Reign 6, Stockton 3.

Six different players scored goals, and Kellen Briggs made 24 saves, as the Reign won their season opener before 6,117 at Stockton Arena.

The Reign didn’t give the Thunder fans much to cheer about — they scored five goals before the Thunder scored one. Shawn Collymore, Jeff Corey, Kyle Kraemer, Matt Delahey, Chaz Johnson and Aaron Lewadniuk scored the goals. Lewadniuk and Kraemer finished with a goal and an assist. Morrison and Kraus had two assists apiece. David Walker and Luke Beaverson engaged in separate fights with Stockton’s Jesse Gimblett. (Beaverson won his; Walker scored the final knockdown but only after Gimblett won the hit count).

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

Lewadniuk arrives in camp; still waiting on Manchester quintet.

Center Aaron Lewadniuk took part in his first ECHL practice Monday, after being released from his tryout with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and arriving in Ontario at noon. Lewadniuk was with the Moose for nine days, and scored a goal in an exhibition game against the University of Manitoba.

“It was a good experience,” Lewadniuk said. “The older guys took care of themselves real well – eating right in the mornings, really taking care of their bodies. Everything was real quick, a real eye-opener, seeing how fast it is in the next level.”

Though Lewadniuk thought he made a favorable impression, he wasn’t surprised to get cut after Manitoba received an influx of players from the Vancouver Canucks’ camp.

“They had a lot of guys under contract,” he said. “I kind of expected it. I knew from the get-go I was probably going to come here. I’m glad I got to stay as long as I did, had a real good experience and see what it was like at that level.”

The five players cut from the Manchester Monarchs’ camp had not arrived in time for practice. A couple more notes:

Continue reading “Lewadniuk arrives in camp; still waiting on Manchester quintet.” »

Training camp has arrived.

The Reign’s training camp begins today (9:30 a.m. to noon, Center Ice Arena). Check out today’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin for this weekend’s dates/times (all are free and open to the public) as well as a roster, and “five burning questions.” There’s going to be at least one name missing from the roster, as there are always some late additions. Check back here for more names as we get ’em.

Here are a few news and notes that didn’t make the paper:

• Former Reign forward Jon Rheault is either making the Calgary Flames’ opening-day roster, or becoming one of the last players cut from training camp. According to matchsticksandgasoline.com, he’ll be on the ice again tonight when the Flames take on the New York Islanders. If you caught the Flames’ win over the Phoenix Coyotes Wednesday night on the NHL Network, you would have heard a wise TSN commentator identify Rheault’s last ECHL team as the Ontario Reign of Ontario, California.

• Don’t expect Aaron Lewadniuk in camp today, because apparently he’s still busy scoring goals for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Matt Delahey might be. He was released from his tryout with the Providence Bruins.

• No updates as of Thursday night on any of the other AHL campers contracted to the Reign, including Dusty Collins in San Antonio and the Manchester Monarchs gang.

• I had been planning a story on Chris Curran and Shawn Germain to run this week. The two 27-year-olds where coming off serious injuries and decided to hang up their skates over the summer. Haven’t gotten a hold of Germain yet, but I’ll post what I’ve written about Curran here in the coming days.


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O’Malley joins Reign.

Checking in from vacation to report that Brett O’Malley, a 26-year-old rookie out of the University of Calgary, has signed with the Reign for next season.

The center from Settler, Alberta, had 58 goals, 104 points and 210 penalty minutes in 149 college games. Last season he posted nine goals and 14 points in 20 games for a Dinos team that went 13-12-3. O’Malley, 5-foot-11 and 168 pounds, gives the Reign another right-handed shot along with forwards Jon Francisco, Tim Kraus, Aaron Lewadniuk and C.J. Stretch, who are all under contract for next season.

Taylor on Doyle, Lewadniuk.

Karl Taylor confirmed what the statistics of Eric Doyle and Aaron Lewadniuk suggest: The two newest members of the Reign were among the most coveted 20-year-old free agents on the market.

“They’re both young kids, both offensive talents,” the Reign coach said. “We wanted to be younger. These two, along with C.J. (Stretch) help us accomplish that. We think they’ll give us more energy, more bite and chase the carrot a bit more.”

Continue reading “Taylor on Doyle, Lewadniuk.” »

Reign tap the WHL pipeline for two more.

Another pair of 20-year-old rookies from the Western Hockey League have signed with the Reign: Eric Doyle and Aaron Lewadniuk.

A 6-foot-2, 192-pound defenseman, Doyle comes to Ontario from the Portland (Ore.) Winterhawks, where he scored 21 points (three goals, 18 assists) in 35 games last season. He added a goal and eight points in 13 postseason games, second only to recent Nashville Predators draft pick Taylor Aronson among Portland defensemen (and more than former first-round NHL draft pick Luca Sbisa). In 2008-09, Doyle set career highs with 12 goals and 55 points in 71 games for the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos, both team highs among defensemen.

Lewadniuk was a teammate of former Kings draft pick Brayden Schenn with the Brandon Wheat Kings. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound center actually scored more goals than Schenn last season – 37 to 34 – albeit in six more games. Lewadniuk also totaled 49 assists, a total of 86 points in 65 games. Only three Wheat Kings had more points than Lewadniuk last season, and all (Schenn, Matt Calvert and Scott Glennie) have been drafted by NHL teams.

Although there are more contracts to be announced, it’s clear from his early signings that head coach Karl Taylor is intent on turning around an offense that has ranked last in the ECHL in goals scored each of its first two seasons. Four of them (Doyle, Lewadniuk, C.J. Stretch and Jon Francisco) are capable scorers while the fifth, stay-at-home defenseman Chad Starling, may be better than all of them in the shootout.