Ontario Reign

For the American Hockey League team set to begin in 2015-16, see Ontario Reign (AHL).
Ontario Reign
2014–15 ECHL season
City Ontario, California
League ECHL
Conference Western
Division Pacific
Founded 1993
Home arena Citizens Business Bank Arena
Colors

Navy blue, orange, silver, white

                   
Owner(s) Anschutz Entertainment Group
Head coach Jason Christie
Affiliates Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Manchester Monarchs and St. John's IceCaps (AHL)
Franchise history
1993–2000 Huntington Blizzard
2003–2008 Texas Wildcatters
2008–2015 Ontario Reign
2015–future Manchester Monarchs
Championships
Division Championships 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13

The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team from Ontario, California that play in the ECHL. Their home arena is the Citizens Business Bank Arena. They are affiliated with two National Hockey League teams: the Los Angeles Kings is the team's primary affiliate, and the Winnipeg Jets are the secondary affiliate.[1][2] The franchise will move to Manchester, New Hampshire to become the Manchester Monarchs while the Monarchs of the American Hockey League will move move to Ontario and become the Reign as part of the AHL's plan to create a Pacific Division.[3]

Citizens Business Bank Arena pre game Ice Feb 2013

Team History

Huntington Blizzard/Texas Wildcatters years and becoming the Reign

The Reign started as the Huntington Blizzard in 1993. After the 1999-2000 ECHL season, the team went dormant until 2003, when new owners bought the team and moved it to Beaumont, Texas as the Texas Wildcatters. The team played as the Wildcatters until they were unable to secure an arena lease in Beaumont.[4] The team then relocated to Ontario for the 2008-09 ECHL season. The announcement of the franchise's relocation came on February 26, 2008. The team was then renamed Ontario Reign and the team's logo was unveiled on March 17, 2008.

Ontario Reign

2008–2009 season

During the 2008–2009 regular season, the Reign went 38-29-4-2 and captured the 2008–09 Pacific Division championship. However, their success was short lived as they lost in round one of the playoffs to the Stockton Thunder. Head Coach Karl Taylor finished second in the John Brophy Award balloting for ECHL Coach of the Year, losing to Trenton Titans' head coach Rick Kowalsky.[5]

The Reign had a total attendance of 210,801 at 36 home games. This was an average of 5,856 per game, making it second-highest in the league. Kyle Kraemer leads the franchise in goals scored for the Reign.

2009–2010 season

During the 2009–2010 regular season, the Reign went 31-31-3-7 and despite being a playoff contender until almost the last regular season game, they were unable to secure a playoff berth.

The Reign had a total attendance of 232,223 at 36 home games. This was an average of 6,451 per game and was over 10% higher than the previous season. This was more than enough to capture the league attendance record for the season.

2010–2011 season

During the 2010–2011 regular season, the Reign went a dismal 27-39-2-4, including losing their first 15 home games. The season was marred by numerous injuries, illnesses, trades and even a few players defecting to European hockey leagues. Despite their hopes for a late-season recovery, they were never a playoff contender and missed the playoffs for the second straight year. Despite their poor season on the ice, the attendance at 36 home games was an amazing 240,596. This was an average of 6,683 per game and was over 3% higher than the previous season. This was more than enough to capture the league attendance record for the season, the second straight season the Reign have accomplished this. They were able to pull this off despite the poor on-ice performance.

2011–2012 season

Head coach Karl Taylor, who had been with the franchise since its inaugural year in Ontario, signed with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL as an assistant coach.[6] He left Ontario with a 96-99-22 record. On August 23, 2011, the Reign announced that Jason Christie would succeed Taylor as head coach for the 2011–12 season.[7] On August 24, 2011, the team announced that Christie would be joined behind the bench by former Los Angeles Kings defenseman and assistant coach Mark Hardy.[8] The Reign finished the 2011–12 ECHL season with a franchise-best 43-21-5-3 record and clinched their second Pacific Division title.[9]

Team name

The name is derived from an abstract noun related to royalty. Its name follows the pattern the Kings have established with the AHL affiliate the Manchester Monarchs. The name was chosen from a contest held by the team's website, where over 600 entries were submitted. Mike Brewster of Fontana, California submitted the winning entry.[1]

Current roster

Updated October 19, 2014.[10][11]
# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
7 Canada Bell, ZachZach Bell D R 22 2014 St. John's, Newfoundland Reign
4 United States Bigos, KyleKyle Bigos D R 25 2014 Upland, California Worcester
9 Canada Blackwater, JuddJudd Blackwater C L 27 2014 Lethbridge, Alberta Reign
47 United States Brown, DennisDennis Brown D R 25 2014 Cypress, California Reign
35 United States Cannata, JoeJoe Cannata G L 25 2014 Wakefield, Massachusetts Canucks
12 United States Carzo, RoccoRocco Carzo F L 24 2014 Media, Pennsylvania Reign
29 Canada Couture, DerekDerek Couture RW R 31 2011 Calgary, Alberta Reign
23 Canada Ezekiel, NormNorm Ezekiel RW R 24 2014 Barrie, Ontario Reign
5 Latvia Freibergs, RalfsRalfs Freibergs D L 23 2014 Riga, Latvia IceCaps
22 Canada Hood, DylanDylan Hood C R 24 2014 Osoyoos, British Columbia Reign
44 Canada Julseth-White, NolanNolan Julseth-White D L 27 2014 Chilliwack, British Columbia Reign
10 United States King, TristanTristan King C R 24 2014 Elk River, Minnesota Reign
13 Russia Kitsyn, MaximMaxim Kitsyn C L 23 2013 Novokuznetsk, Russia Kings
26 Slovenia Kopitar, GasperGasper Kopitar  W R 22 2013 Jesenice, Slovenia Reign
11 Canada May, JeffJeff May D L 28 2014 Richmond, British Columbia Reign
31 Finland Olkinuora, JuhoJuho Olkinuora G L 24 2013 Helsinki, Finland Jets
20 Canada Owens, ChrisChris Owens  D L 25 2014 St. John's, Newfoundland Reign
27 Canada Ramsay, BradyBrady Ramsay RW R 22 2014 Calgary, Alberta Reign
43 Canada Register, MattMatt Register D L 25 2013 Calgary, Alberta Reign
6 Canada Roach, AlexAlex Roach D L 22 2014 Quesnel, British Columbia Kings
21 Canada Sheen, EverettEverett Sheen LW L 28 2012 Lethbridge, Alberta Reign
19 Canada Spurgeon, TylerTyler Spurgeon C L 29 2014 Edmonton, Alberta Reign
17 Canada Walker, GeoffGeoff Walker RW R 27 2014 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Reign
1 United States Zenzola, MattMatt Zenzola  G R 21 2014 San Diego, California Reign

Reign in the Media

A blog about recent transactions and game coverage can be found at J.P. Hoornstra's blog "Where the Reign Reigns".

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Ontario Set To Reign The Inland Empire" (Press release). Ontario Reign. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  2. ↑ "Jets sign California team as ECHL affiliate". Winnipeg Free Press. 2013-05-30.
  3. ↑ "AHL to feature five California teams for 2015-16". National Hockey League. 2015-01-29.
  4. ↑ "ECHL Concludes Mid-Season Board of Governors Meeting" (Press release). ECHL. 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  5. ↑ Trenton's Kowalsky Receives John Brophy Award
  6. ↑ Hoornstra, J.P. (10 August 2011). "Taylor leaves Reign for AHL job in Chicago". San Bernardino County Sun. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "Jason Christie Named Ontario Reign's New Head Coach". Press release. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "Mark Hardy to Assist Behind Bench". Press release. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "Ontario Reigns as Pacific Division Champions with 6-1 Triumph". Press release. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "ontarioreign.com: Players". Ontario Reign. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  11. ↑ "Ontario Reign Team roster". ECHL. Retrieved 2014-02-13.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ontario Reign.