Ontario Reign

Ontario Reign
City	Ontario, California
League	ECHL
Conference	Western Conference
Division	Pacific Division
Founded	2008
Home arena	Citizens Business Bank Arena
Colors	Navy blue, orange, silver, white
Owner(s)	Anschutz Entertainment Group
General manager	Justin Kemp
Head coach	Jason Christie
Affiliates	Los Angeles Kings (NHL) Manchester Monarchs (AHL)
Franchise history
1993–2000	Huntington Blizzard
2003–2008	Texas Wildcatters
2008–present	Ontario Reign
Championships
Division Championships	2008–09

The Ontario Reign is a ice hockey team from Ontario, California that play in the ECHL. Their home arena is the Citizens Business Bank Arena. They are a minor league affiliate team of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.^[1]

Team History

The Reign franchise started as the Huntington Blizzard in 1993. After the 1999-2000 ECHL season, the Blizzard was relocated to Beaumont Texas and the team changed its name to the Texas Wildcatters. The team existed as the Texas Wildcatters until that franchise, based in Beaumont, Texas was unable to secure an arena lease^[2] and opted instead to move to Ontario. The official announcement of the franchise's relocation came on February 26, 2008.

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]

The team's logo was unveiled on March 17, 2008.

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.^[3]

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.

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 mared by numerous injuries, illinesses, 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 by making each game a unique, fun family experience.

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.^[4] He leaves 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

Current roster

view · # Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract 24 United States ! Bagron, BillBill Bagron 4.0 !C L 29 2011 Eagle River, Alaska Reign 35 Canada ! Berube, Jean-FrancoisJean-Francois Berube 1.0 !G L 20 2011 Repentigny, Quebec Kings 4 United States ! Bowen, PatPat Bowen  2.0 !D R 26 2010 Marshfield, Massachusetts Reign 13 Canada ! Brisebois, FrancoisFrancois Brisebois 3.0 !F L 23 2011 Montreal, Quebec Reign 15 Canada ! Calla, BradyBrady Calla 7.0 !RW R 23 2011 Kelowna, British Columbia Reign 28 Canada ! Cloud, ChrisChris Cloud 3.0 !F L 23 2011 Waywayseecappo, Manitoba Reign 2 Canada ! Cote, Jean-PhilippeJean-Philippe Cote 2.0 !D L 29 2011 Quebec City, Quebec Reign 29 Canada ! Couture, DerekDerek Couture (A) 7.0 !RW R 27 2011 Calgary, Alberta Reign 44 United States ! Fredricks, JasonJason Fredricks  2.0 !D R 24 2011 Eagle River, Wisconsin Reign 22 United States ! Huxley, ChrisChris Huxley 2.0 !D L 24 2011 Weymouth, Massachusetts Reign 19 Canada ! Irwin, GeoffGeoff Irwin (A) 3.0 !F L 26 2011 Victoria, British Columbia Reign 16 United States ! Kraemer, KyleKyle Kraemer  3.0 !F R 26 2010 St. Louis, Missouri Reign 1 Canada ! Kuemper, DarcyDarcy Kuemper 1.0 !G L 21 2011 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Wild 43 United States ! LoVerde, VincentVincent LoVerde 2.0 !D R 22 2011 Chicago, Illinois Reign 6 United States ! Montgomery, MikeMike Montgomery 2.0 !D R 25 2011 Lino Lakes, Minnesota Reign 27 Canada ! Neigum, ShayneShayne Neigum 6.0 !LW L 21 2011 Kindersley, Saskatchewan Reign 10 United States ! Stretch, C.J.C.J. Stretch 4.0 !C R 22 2010 Irvine, California Reign 17 Canada ! Tarasuk, StevenSteven Tarasuk 2.0 !D R 22 2011 Thornhill, Ontario Reign 39 Canada ! Tassone, MattMatt Tassone 4.0 !C L 22 2011 St. Albert, Alberta Reign 11 Canada ! Watt, J.D.J.D. Watt 7.0 !RW R 24 2011 Cremona, Alberta Monarchs/Reign 5 Canada ! Yeo, DylanDylan Yeo (C) 2.0 !D L 25 2011 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Reign

Reign in the Media

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

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Ontario Set To Reign The Inland Empire" (Press release). Ontario Reign. 2007-12-17. http://ontarioprohockey.com/news/index.html?article_id=4. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
2. ^ "ECHL Concludes Mid-Season Board of Governors Meeting" (Press release). ECHL. 2008-02-26. http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/mpublic.cgi?action=show_news&cat=1&id=14123. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
3. ^ Trenton's Kowalsky Receives John Brophy Award
4. ^ Hoornstra, J.P. (10 August 2011). "Taylor leaves Reign for AHL job in Chicago". San Bernardino County Sun. http://www.sbsun.com/sports/ci_18656754. Retrieved 11 August 2011. 
5. ^ "Jason Christie Named Ontario Reign's New Head Coach". Press release. http://www.ontarioreign.com/news/teamnews/index.html?article_id=1095. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
6. ^ "Mark Hardy to Assist Behind Bench". Press release. http://www.ontarioreign.com/news/teamnews/index.html?article_id=1098. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
7. ^ "ontarioreign.com: Players". Ontario Reign. http://www.ontarioreign.com/team/players/. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
8. ^ "Ontario Reign Team roster". ECHL. http://echl.com/stats/roster.php?team_id=49. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 

External links

• Ontario Reign official site
• intotheboards.net - Ontario Reign