It has been brought to my attention that the game story from the Reign’s 4-0 win over the Stockton Thunder never made it online.
So, for anyone who missed it …
Continue reading “Saturday’s game story.” »
Saturday’s game story.
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Tag Archives: Karl Taylor
Monday’s practice notes; updating the roster picture.
The Reign had a full complement of 23 bodies in practice Monday, a group that figures to get smaller soon.
Coach Karl Taylor said he must submit his roster to the ECHL by noon Wednesday, but “usually we try to do it on Tuesday, just to get everything in order.”
Continue reading “Monday’s practice notes; updating the roster picture.” »
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.” »
Sunday practice notes.
No earth-shattering news, and no new players, at Sunday’s practice at Riverside Ice Town.
The only unusual sight was that the Reign were down to 14 skaters by the end of practice. Josh Newton, a Riverside resident in camp on a tryout, suffered a recurrence of the left groin injury that he incurred late in Saturday’s practice, and was off the ice after 20 minutes. Even though Newton said he expects to be back on the ice tomorrow, that’s some seriously bad luck in your one practice with a pro team in your home town.
A couple more notes …
Continue reading “Sunday practice notes.” »
Notes on practice, tryout players, Rheault.
Back from the Reign’s afternoon practice at Center Ice Arena, where there were some fairly tired hockey players.
Taylor said the players were on exercise bikes for an hour prior to the practice. “The guys were tired when we got here. We went really hard.” In spite of that, Taylor said, “the guys had lots of pace, lots of energy. I really like what we did. We got our systems started. Lots of work to do, then just decided we needed to shut it down.”
The goalies got more work today than on Friday, as Garrett Zemlak, Mike Zacharias and Kellen Briggs faced plenty of point-blank, one-on-one chances toward the end of practice. “It shows them that we care,” coach Karl Taylor said, “and it’s also to help them.”
I caught up with the three open-tryout invitees — Josh Newton, Gabriel Andre and Mike Thomson — and will have a story about them in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.
There were no new players in practice today — just the same 15 skaters and three goalies as yesterday — as all the absent signed players lived to see another day in American Hockey League camps.
Meanwhile up in Edmonton, Jon Rheault scored for the Calgary Flames in a 5-1 win over the Oilers. Rheault started the game on a line with former Kings enforcer Raitis Ivanans, which if anything means the Calgary staff is serious about possibly keeping him on as a fourth-line winger.
Hold on to those Jon Rheault memories. He won’t be making any new ones here this season.
Karl Taylor on Delahey, Hill, Johnson.
Karl Taylor rounded out his summer signings with three uniquely different players – defensemen Matt Delahey, Jordan Hill and Chaz Johnson.
Here’s what the coach had to say about each:
Continue reading “Karl Taylor on Delahey, Hill, Johnson.” »
(A lot) more David Walker.
In case you missed the full story on David Walker’s return to Ontario, click here. After my interview with Walker, Reign head coach Karl Taylor added that the defenseman was curious about learning more about the coaching/management side of hockey.
“David inquired about it. He’ll help in different areas, learn about what we do administratively,” Taylor said. “But he’s a player, number one. If he doesn’t do well, he’ll be benched.”
Walker – who would someday make a great coach for whatever beat writer gets to interview him on a day-to-day basis – had plenty to say that didn’t make it into the paper:
Continue reading “(A lot) more David Walker.” »
Karl Taylor on the open free agent tryout.
Some 30-plus players descended on Riverside Ice Town this year for the Reign’s two-day open tryout camp. The crop might not have been as large or deep as years past, but it did attract one camper from Korea and another from Saskatoon.
“Everyone’s in there with the right attitude,” coach Karl Taylor said. “They’re trying to use it as a gauge to see how far they are away from trying to play hockey and make a few bucks doing it. It gives them a good experience.”
Here’s what else Taylor had to say:
Continue reading “Karl Taylor on the open free agent tryout.” »
Taylor on Shawn Collymore.
Shawn Collymore’s game can be summed up in one word: Speed. Karl Taylor, who coached Collymore for parts of two seasons with the Reading Royals, brought the 27-year-old forward back to America to play for the Reign in 2010-11.
Here’s what Taylor had to say about Collymore following the Kings’ rookie practice this morning in El Segundo:
Continue reading “Taylor on Shawn Collymore.” »
Collymore signs with Reign.
The Reign gained some experience Wednesday, announcing the signing of 27-year-old forward Shawn Collymore for the 2010-11 season.
A veteran of 107 ECHL games, Collymore previously played for Reign head coach Karl Taylor during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons with the Reading Royals. A former fifth-round draft pick of the New York Rangers (139th overall in 2001), the Quebec native has bounced around since turning pro in 2004-05.
The 6-foot, 190-pound forward has also played for the Toledo Storm (ECHL), Danbury Trashers (UHL), Binghamton Senators (AHL), Hershey Bears (AHL) and spent last season in Denmark. In his last ECHL stint, Collymore had seven goals and 21 points in 13 games for Reading in 2007-08.