Tag Archives: Shawn Collymore

Bakersfield 5, Reign 1.

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The Reign found a new way to lose Saturday – start strong, keep the game close for two periods, then let the game get out of reach in the third.

This new route to a familiar result didn’t sit well with the denizens at The Bank, many of whom headed straight for the exit after Stephane Goulet’s goal made it 5-1 at 7:38 of the third period. The Reign have lost five straight, 12 of 13 at home, and it says here that their upcoming eight-day layoff could not have come at a better time.

Whether it gives Chad Starling, Eric Doyle, or Jon Francisco enough time to get healthy; Karl Taylor enough time to bring in a quality veteran; or this team enough time to simply hone its chemistry – a rare sight in recent weeks – the Reign need some time between games.
Continue reading “Bakersfield 5, Reign 1.” »

Injury updates, and more (!) from practice.

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The Reign became four teams of four in practice Monday. Their goal: Scoring goals.

“Our whole goal today was to have a whole scoring practice,” coach Karl Taylor said. “Obviously we’ve struggled with that. That was our focus today. We were out there for an hour and 45 minutes, it was based on scoring and having some competition within it.

“We can’t complain about our defensive play, although at times it’s gotten lax and there are things we need to improve. We have to score more. That’s our number one issue. We have to try to get guys attentive to details and creating more chances.”

As they have each of the last two ECHL seasons, the Reign rank last in the league in goals per game.

Right wing Chaz Johnson, who left midway through Saturday’s game in Bakersfield, was back on the ice after suffering a recurrence of the same shoulder injury that cost him three games in November. He said he expects to play Friday.

Chad Starling (lower body) is hopeful he can come back this weekend too, but he hasn’t been cleared to practice yet. The veteran defenseman, who is eligible to come off 21-day IR on Friday, worked out off the ice.

David Walker also missed practice, taking a “maintenance day” often given to veteran players. Also off the ice were forward Jon Francisco and defenseman Eric Doyle, both of whom remain on IR.

As for the competition, the “black team” of Kyle Kraemer, Lane Caffaro, Dusty Collins and Shawn Collymore were the big winners.

Utah 1, Reign 0, plus a bunch of notes that didn’t make the paper.

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One fan suggested that he would wear a bag over his head to the next home game – an understandable choice after the Reign’s 10th loss in 11 games at The Bank.

In reality, Friday’s loss wasn’t particularly difficult to watch; the Reign just had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. No lines looked the same as they did in Wednesday’s 7-3 thrashing at the hands of the Las Vegas Wranglers. Some actually displayed tangible chemistry, namely that of Aaron Lewadniuk, Shawn Collymore and Chaz Johnson. Jeff Corey, Justin Taylor and Kyle Kraemer – playing his first game since Oct. 27 – had their moments, too.

The only moment that mattered came at 12:37 of the second period, when Simon Ferguson’s second-chance whack at the net past Beau Erickson crossed the line for the game’s only goal.

Erickson showed no rust in his first 60-minute game since September. Kellen Briggs’ streak of consecutive starts ended at 18.

The Reign drew three power plays in a six-minute span late in the third period, and skated 6-on-5 for the final minute, but couldn’t bury the equalizer.

James McEwan re-entered the lineup and played sparingly, but he did fight with the much larger Nick Tuzzolino (6-5, 225 to 6-0, 191) in the third period. He landed one clean punch to the face with his left hand – the same hand that was surgically repaired in the off-season – so McEwan passed his first major test in his first game back.

The Reign travel to play the Bakersfield Condors at 7 p.m. tonight at Rabobank Arena.

Here are a few notes that won’t make tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin:
Continue reading “Utah 1, Reign 0, plus a bunch of notes that didn’t make the paper.” »

Utah 7, Reign 3.

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So much for that momentum from Saturday’s win at The Bank.

Both teams were playing their third game in three nights, but only one showed it, as Utah scored five power-play goals to walk away with the 7-3 win. Shawn Collymore had two goals for the Reign, C.J. Stretch had a goal and an assist, and Kellen Briggs (15 saves on 21 shots) was pulled from a start for just the second time this season.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin (but if you’re looking for something uplifting, better turn to the comics page).

A trade, a win, and a couple notes that won’t make tomorrow’s paper.

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The Reign gutted out a 2-1 shootout win against Las Vegas that ended their losing streak at three, and ended their season-long home losing streak at 6. For those of you who attended the game and have never seen a Reign home victory before, that thing where the players gather around The Dragon at center ice and raise their sticks to the crowd? It’s been standard post-victory protocol for three years now.

Dusty Collins and Shawn Collymore scored goals in the shootout, Kellen Briggs made a total of 40 saves – including one on a last-second breakaway – and the Reign were a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, including a pair of 5-on-3s.

They did all this despite the absence of Jon Francisco, Chad Starling, Chaz Johnson and Pierre-Andre Bureau – who was traded to the Stockton Thunder for future considerations prior to the game.

Here are a few notes that won’t appear in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin:

Continue reading “A trade, a win, and a couple notes that won’t make tomorrow’s paper.” »

Las Vegas 4, Reign 1.

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The Reign are still winless at home.

Shawn Collymore’s putback at 11:24 of the third period was the extent of the scoring for the Reign, who struck out on the power play (0-for-4) and lost Chaz Johnson to a shoulder injury on a late second-period fight.

Johnson said after the game he heard a crack in the shoulder pulling down the jersey of his opponent Dan Bertram, who suffered a bloodied nose, but didn’t separate it and only stayed out as a precaution.

Kellen Briggs stopped 19 of 22 in the loss. More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

On the new alternate captains.

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Shawn Collymore and Luke Beaverson have both been alternate captains
before, just not at the pro level. That changed Wednesday with the
announcement that each would wear an “A” this season for the Reign.

“It’s something that I wanted,” said Collymore. “That being said, I’m
glad to split the job with the boys. It works out great for me.”

Collymore, 27, was the captain of his junior team, the QMJHL’s Quebec
Remparts, for two seasons. Beaverson went the college route and served
as an alternate his junior year at Alaska-Anchorage before wearing the
“C” as a senior.

“I’ve done it before, so it’s not a stretch by any means,” said Beaverson, 25. “It kind of
comes with being an older guy. We have some younger guys here, but a lot
of them look up to the older guys. They’re still finding their way
around here, so they can look up to the older guys.”

Reign coach Karl Taylor said the voting was overwhelming – 19 of 22 ballots listed David Walker, Jon Francisco or Chad Starling. Walker was named captain, and Francisco and Starling became alternates.

“That’s a good thing,” he said, “but I
didn’t want to have a leadership group based on who’s been here, so I
wanted to include some new players to our team so we have a more
balanced look. We have lots of leaders in the room. I wouldn’t have
forced it on anybody, but based on trying to get new people in, based on
how they played and what they bring.”

Collymore and Beaverson were both approving of Walker’s choice as captain.

“He’s a team player and he steps it up for the boys when in need,” Collymore said. “If
something happens out there, he’s the first guy to come in, make a
sacrifice for the team. It’s a great quality to have as a leader. He’s a
vocal guy as well. He seems to always know what’s going on. He’s on the
ball with everything like that.”

“He’s an excellent leader,” Beaverson added. “He leads by example. He’s vocal. He gets guys going, plays hard and smart, blocks shots and fights.”

Reign name their captain. Updates with Francisco comments.

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The Reign have a captain, and for the first time he is not Jon Francisco.

David Walker won the players’ vote on Wednesday to succeed Francisco, who had worn the “C” each of the previous two seasons. The captaincy has re-opened every season under head coach Karl Taylor. Francisco and defenseman Luke Beaverson were named the alternate captains for home games; Shawn Collymore and Chad Starling will be the alternates on the road.
Continue reading “Reign name their captain. Updates with Francisco comments.” »

Victoria 6, Reign 3.

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The Reign seem to have left their mojo in California.

Friday’s 6-3 loss to the Victoria Salmon Kings was their second straight in the three-game series in British Columbia. The Reign (2-3-0-1) got goals from Luke Beaverson, Jordan Morrison and C.J. Stretch, but four Victoria goals in an eight-minute span of the second period put the Reign in a 5-1 hole from which they couldn’t dig out.

Goaltender Kellen Briggs started and allowed three goals on 15 shots, including the first two in the Salmon Kings’ second-period outburst. Making his Reign debut, Beau Erickson was summoned from the bench at 2:45 of the middle period, and proceeded to stop 19 of 22 shots in relief.

The Reign coudln’t convert any of their five power-play chances, and are now 1-for-12 with the man advantage in two games in Victoria. Six different players scored goals for the Salmon Kings (4-2-0) and eight different players had an assist; only former Reign defenseman P.J. Atherton had two.

Stretch, playing on a line with Morrison and Chaz Johnson, assisted on Morrison’s goal with 2:03 left in the first period. The Reign didn’t score again until Beaverson’s rocket from the point with 2:45 left in the second (Shawn Collymore and Lane Caffaro got the assists), but by then it was 5-2.

Johnson had the lone assist on Stretch’s first goal of the season, and the second of his pro career, at 1:21 of the third. Caffaro might have had the best stastical night — he finished a plus-2 on a night when only one other Reign player (defenseman Chad Starling) had above an even rating.

The two teams play again tomorrow night at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Center.

Victoria 5, Reign 2.

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The Reign had their chances in Victoria, but not nearly as many as the Salmon Kings.

The Salmon Kings led by scores of 2-0 after one period, and 3-1 after two, before Shawn Collymore’s second goal of the season drew the Reign within 3-2 at 1:24 of the third period.

But that was as close as they would get. Chad Painchaud’s second goal of the game made it 4-2 at 6:15, and Milan Gajic closed the scoring at 12:16 of the third period.

Kellen Briggs stopped 29 of 34 shots in a game in which the Reign were outshot 34-27 despite having seven power plays to the Salmon Kings’ three.

Kyle Kraemer’s power play goal at 14:25 of the second period got the Reign on the board against goaltender David Shantz, who stopped 25 of 27.

Center Tim Kraus and defenseman Lane Caffaro, acquired Monday from the Idaho Steelheads, had assists on both goals.