Hogeboom signs in CHL.

Greg Hogeboom, the Reign’s leading scorer in 2009-10, became the second member of the team to sign in the Central Hockey League, joining the Texas Brahmas.

The 27-year-old winger had 32 goals and 27 assists last season, his first with the Reign after spending two years in the Swiss “B” League. The Brahmas, who play in Fort Worth, Texas, will be his sixth team in five seasons.

“Greg is a player who has proven to have offensive skill, but aside from his play on the puck, he is the type of forward who can be held accountable on both sides of the ice,” Brahmas head coach Dan Wildfong said in a statement.

Defenseman Andrew Martens has already signed with the CHL’s Wichita Thunder for 2010-11.

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.

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.

Notes on Francisco, Stretch, G.Walker.

Nothing new under the hot, hot sun by Citizens Business Bank Arena, but there’s some good reading material on Jon Francisco and C.J. Stretch elsewhere on the Web.

Also, contrary to a Facebook rumor, Geoff Walker isn’t going to Russia next season. “Some of the boys were playing a Facebook prank on me,” he said. “It was one big joke that snowballed.”

Walker hasn’t finalized his plans for next season yet. The 22-year-old winger said is working out the details on a contract that will keep him in North America, though he wouldn’t say where. “I’m pretty excited about it,” he said.

Walker was one of eight players tendered a qualifying offer by the Reign.

Francisco re-signs; qualifying offers sent.

The Reign’s 2010-11 roster began to take shape Friday, when Jon Francisco was announced as the first signing of the new season and eight qualifying offers were mailed out.

Francisco, 29, is the only captain in team history and a valuable two-way center. In 72 games, he had 15 goals and 45 points – both down from the previous season (20 goals, 48 points), when Francisco appeared in 63 games.

“He’s been one of our core guys,” Reign coach Karl Taylor said. “He had a decent season last year. We’re going to expect more out of him next year, and I know he’ll expect more out of himself.”

Qualifying offers were tendered to a league-maximum eight players: James McEwan, Greg Hogeboom, Jon Rheault, Geoff Walker, Curtis Darling, Peter Lenes, Mike Zacharias and Chris Curran.

None of the qualified players have re-signed with the Reign. The qualifying offer remains open until August 1, or until it is accepted by the player, during which time he cannot be traded.

The Reign will retain each qualified player’s ECHL rights for next season, regardless of whether or not he returns. For example, Taylor does not expect Peter Lenes back after the forward recently signed in Austria. But if Lenes decides to return to the ECHL, “maybe we’ll keep him, or maybe we’ll (trade) his rights.”

The complete list of qualified ECHL players can be found here.

Reign announce season-ending roster.

ECHL season-ending rosters were released today, the lists of up to 20 players from whom teams can qualify eight. The Reign’s season-ending roster included exactly 20:

Mike Egener, Chad Starling, Jon Francisco, Tim Kraus, Tony Voce, Peter Lenes, Curtis Darling, Chris Curran, Geoff Walker, Greg Hogeboom, David Walker, Sean O’Connor, Mike Zacharias, Jon Rheault, Dan Knapp, Luis Tremblay, Todd Jackson, Robert Pearce, Shawn Germain and James McEwan.

Of the players who finished 2009-10 on the Reign’s roster, five are missing:

• Defenseman Andrew Martens, who has signed in the Central Hockey League;

• Forwards C.J. Stretch and Jordan Nolan, who were playing on Amateur Tryout contracts, and therefore not eligible for the season-ending roster;
• Forward Michael Pelech and defenseman Colten Teubert, who were assigned to the Reign by the Kings.

In other words, the season-ending roster looks just as expected.

The next step in the process of whittling down who will be back next season is submitting qualifying offers.

Each team is entitled to qualify a maximum of eight players
from
the list of 20 by extending a qualifying offer no later than July 1. Of
the
eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular-season professional hockey games played as of the start of the 2010-11
season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are
not
required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract
prior
to July 1.

Reign announce protected list.

There were no surprises on the Reign’s protected list, announced Wednesday:

Kellen Briggs, Dusty Collins, Chris Curran, Curtis Darling, Mike
Egener, Jon Francisco, Shawn Germain, Greg Hogeboom, Todd Jackson, Dan Knapp, Tim
Kraus, Peter Lenes, Andrew Martens, James McEwan, Sean O’Connor, Robert Pearce,
Jon Rheault, Chad Starling, Jason Tejchma, Luis Tremblay, Tony Voce, David
Walker, Geoff Walker, Mike Zacharias.
Continue reading “Reign announce protected list.” »

Retirement plans, Part I.

With the ECHL season over, I’ll focus this space in the coming days on three Reign players who are considering retirement.

None of the three would completely rule out returning to hockey in 2010-11, but all are strongly considering their other options. A fourth player, Tony Voce, has already announced his retirement.

Dan Knapp said he’s “80 percent” retired.
Continue reading “Retirement plans, Part I.” »

Las Vegas 2, Reign 1.

The Reign’s second season of existence will not end in the playoffs.

Michael Pelech scored the lone goal and Curtis Darling stopped 32 of 34 shots, but the Reign were out of it even before the final horn sounded. That’s because the Victoria Salmon Kings – whom the Reign needed to lose tonight and tomorrow – demolished the Utah Grizzlies, 9-2.

Continue reading “Las Vegas 2, Reign 1.” »

Reign 7, Idaho 4.

The Reign jumped out to a rare 5-0 lead, enabling them to withstand a four-goal third period by Idaho in a game with plenty of implications in the standings.

Seventh-place Utah won, meaning a loss would have kept the Reign three points back of the National Conference’s final playoff berth.

Now seven teams are separated by one point each for the final six playoff positions: Bakersfield (71), Victoria (70), Las Vegas (69), Alaska (68), Stockton (67), Utah (66) and Ontario (65).
Continue reading “Reign 7, Idaho 4.” »