Power outage postcript.

A power outage at Citizens Business Bank Arena (that affected more than 900 customers total) caused some minor chaos for about an hour, before power was restored a little more than two hours before game time.

“We didn’t know what was going on before the game,” Reign coach Karl Taylor said. “We were kind of walking around in the dark. We assumed within an hour or so they were going to get it done.

“Mike Stuever is our ice guy, he works extremely hard on the ice. He had generators coming on to make sure the ice was going to be solid. It didn’t affect anything.”

From a distance, the only noticeable puddles on the surface were in both creases, where the goal is attached to the ice. But they were long gone by the time the teams took the ice for warm-ups.

Taylor on switching benches: Wait ’til next year.

Because several readers have mentioned it recently, I asked Karl Taylor about a stadium quirk that’s unique to The Bank: The Reign’s bench is closest to the defensive zone during the second period only. During the first and third periods, the home bench is closest to the offensive zone.

That’s the opposite of how most hockey teams do it, and for good reason.

If a team is hanging on for dear life during a long shift in its own zone, it’s nearly impossible to get fresh players on the ice when your bench is on the opposite side of the rink. Having your bench near the defensive zone for two of the three periods is an important facet of home-ice advantage – an advantage the Reign don’t have “because the attack zone is sold on the horseshoe end of the rink,” Taylor said. “It’s the way the rink is built.”
Continue reading “Taylor on switching benches: Wait ’til next year.” »

Reign back at home.

The Reign practiced at Citizens Business Bank Arena today for the first time all season. It’s good news for the players, especially those who haven’t seen the rink before, but bad news if you’re a fan who set aside your mornings to see the Reign practice at Center Ice Arena.

“It’s nice to not have to drive over to the practice rink every day,” forward Greg Hogeboom said. “It’s a beautiful facility; you don’t see these in Europe, that’s for sure.”

The Reign had to wait for a fresh sheet of ice to be laid following the Lakers’ exhibition game last Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors. The new sheet features the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game Logo at center ice and a few new sponsors embedded below the surface. …

Check out my story about Hogeboom in tomorrow’s editions. Everyone was on the ice today, save forward Jon Rheault, who was struck in the foot Saturday by a puck.