Reign coach Jason Christie was suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount Tuesday by the ECHL. The coach was hardly surprised, after he grabbed the shirt of linesman Steven Walsh late in the third period of Sunday’s 2-0 loss.
Assistant Mark Hardy will be the only coach behind the Reign bench Thursday in Las Vegas. It’s the first time Hardy has been in that position since 1995, when he was on injured reserve as a defenseman for the IHL’s Detroit Vipers and then-Vipers coach Rick Dudley asked Hardy to coach 19 games.
Christie hasn’t been suspended by the ECHL since receiving a three-game ban in 2001 when, as head coach of the Peoria Rivermen, he was involved in an altercation with the opposing coach during a game.
Plenty more from Christie in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.
A few more notes from practice:
• Center Tristan King will miss a minimum of two weeks after he sustained a high ankle sprain in practice Monday. “I just hit the boards weird,” he said. “Bad luck.” It seems to be more than luck at this point. J-F Berube, Kyle Kraemer, Pat Bowen and Jason Fredricks all sustained significant injuries in practice this year; among active players only Brady Calla and Philippe Seydoux have missed time with injuries sustained in a game. Luck is involved, but Christie condenses a lot of action into his practices.
• Not missing a beat, the Reign signed Kevin Estrada, a former third-round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes who last played in 2009-10 in the Swiss League. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound forward described himself as a quick skater who can play either wing or center. Estrada skated in King’s spot with J.D. Watt, Bill Bagron and Chris Cloud in practice. I’ll have more on him in a future blog.
• Steven Tarasuk missed practice with an unspecified illness. Shayne Neigum skated in Tarasuk’s spot opposite Mike Montgomery, but Christie said that Tarasuk should be able to play Thursday.
• Seydoux has a concussion. That’s what has been keeping him out of the lineup since Nov. 13 – not mere flu symptoms, as was initially disclosed to this reporter. His latest update: “I need to pass tests so I can go on the ice again. I’m going to ride the bike, possibly tomorrow. Hopefully I’m back on the ice by the end of the week.” It’s worth noting that Seydoux finished out the game against the Aces after receiving the concussion, collecting three assists. “After the game,” he said, “I started to feel it.”
• All three goalies were on the ice Tuesday – Dustin Carlson, J-F Berube and Chris Carrozzi. Check out my story about Carrozzi here if you haven’t yet.
• If you’ve been paying close attention, you know that Carrozzi has a St. John’s IceCaps mask. The IceCaps are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, who own Carrozzi’s rights, and only came into existence over the summer. I put the question to Carrozzi: How many IceCaps masks are currently in existence? He didn’t know so I called the IceCaps. Turns out Carrozzi’s might be the only one (I’m waiting for confirmation as of this blogging) and it can only be found 4,180 miles west of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
I’ll have a picture of the mask up here soon.
