Ontario Reign

The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Ontario, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, the team plays its home games at the Toyota Arena.

For the former ECHL team that played from 2008 to 2015, see Ontario Reign (ECHL).
Ontario Reign
2021–22 AHL season
CityOntario, California
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceWestern
DivisionPacific
Founded2001
Home arenaToyota Arena
Colors   
Owner(s)Anschutz Entertainment Group
General managerRichard Seeley[1]
Head coachChris Hajt
Craig Johnson
MediaInland Valley Daily Bulletin
AHL.TV (Internet)
AffiliatesLos Angeles Kings (NHL)
Franchise history
2001–2015Manchester Monarchs
2015–presentOntario Reign
Championships
Division Championships1 (2015–16)

The franchise is a relocation of the former Manchester Monarchs AHL franchise when several other franchises created a Pacific Division in 2015. The team is owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group. The Reign replaced the ECHL team of the same name, which played from 2008 until 2015, after which they moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, to play as the Manchester Monarchs.

History

On January 29, 2015, the Los Angeles Kings announced that they would be moving their AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, to Ontario as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The team retained the Reign nickname from its ECHL predecessor (which moved to Manchester and take on the Monarchs moniker, in essentially a "franchise swap").[2] The Reign's AHL logo, based on the Kings' 1980s-90s "Chevy" logo, was unveiled on Wednesday, February 11. The franchise retained head coach Mike Stothers during the move from Manchester.

In its inaugural season in California, the Reign won the first Pacific Division regular season title with a 44–19–4–1 record. Goaltender Peter Budaj was named to the 2015–16 AHL First All-Star Team and was selected as the league top goaltender with the Baz Bastien Memorial Award.[3] Sean Backman lead the team in scoring with 21 goals and 34 assists while playing all 68 games for the Reign. The Reign would also win the division in the playoffs, defeating the San Jose Barracuda three-games-to-one and the San Diego Gulls four-games-to-one. In the conference finals, the Reign were swept by the eventual Calder Cup champion Lake Erie Monsters in four games.

During the next season in 2016–17, due to goaltender injuries and call-ups for their parent club, the Los Angeles Kings, the Reign ended up using a Canadian father-son duo Dusty and Jonah Imoo during a game in October 2016. Dusty Imoo (age 46) was a goaltending consultant with the Kings. Jonah (age 22) made his AHL debut on a tryout contract. Both the Imoos had grown up in Surrey, British Columbia.[4] By the end of the season, the Reign qualified for the playoffs in third place in the Pacific Division, losing in the first round to San Diego.

The 2019–20 season was curtailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. During the offseason, Stothers' contract was not renewed and was replaced by John Wroblewski as the new head coach.[5] Approaching the delayed 2020–21 season, the Reign announced they would temporarily relocate and play out of the Kings' practice rink, Toyota Sports Center, in El Segundo due to pandemic-related restrictions.[6] The Sports Center hosted all the Reign's home games closed to spectators.[7]

Season-by-season records
Regular season Playoffs
SeasonGPWLOTLSOLPtsPCTGFGAStandingYear1st round2nd round3rd roundFinals
2015–166844194193.6841921381st, Pacific2016W, 3–1, SJW, 4–1, SDL, 0–4, LE—
2016–1768362110183.6101991903rd, Pacific2017L, 2–3, SD———
2017–186836254379.5812001943rd, Pacific2018L, 1–3, TEX———
2018–196825336460.4412132747th, Pacific2019Did not qualify
2019–205729225164.5611661985th, Pacific2020Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–214017194038.4751361496th, Pacific2021[lower-alpha 1]OTL, 4–5, COL———
  1. The 2021 Calder Cup playoffs were not held; the Pacific Division held a postseason tournament for the division title. The bottom four teams had single-elimination play-in games to qualify for the semifinals (the first two rounds). The division semifinals and finals were best-of-three for the John D. Chick Trophy (the last two rounds).

Players

Current roster

Updated May 4, 2022.[8]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
38 Frederic Allard D R 24 2022 Saint-Sauveur, Quebec Kings
28 Jaret Anderson-Dolan C L 22 2019 Calgary, Alberta Kings
37 Jacob Doty RW/C R 28 2019 Denver, Colorado Reign
47 Aidan Dudas C R 21 2021 Parry Sound, Ontario Kings
11 Samuel Fagemo RW R 22 2021 Göteborg, Sweden Kings
29 Martin Frk (A) RW R 28 2019 Pelhrimov, Czech Republic Kings
24 Cameron Gaunce D L 32 2021 Sudbury, Ontario Reign
3 Helge Grans D R 19 2021 Ljungby, Sweden Kings
25 Samuel Helenius C L 19 2022 Järvenpää, Finland Kings
8 Thomas Hickey D L 33 2022 Calgary, Alberta Islanders
1 David Hrenak G L 23 2022 Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia Reign
13 Tyler Inamoto D L 22 2022 Barrington, Illinois Reign
48 Christian Kasastul D L 25 2021 Skien, Norway Reign
22 Brett Kemp C R 22 2021 Yorkton, Saskatchewan Reign
26 Andre Lee LW L 21 2022 Karlstad, Sweden Reign
27 Tyler Madden C R 22 2021 Albany, New York Kings
6 Nelson Nogier D R 25 2022 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Kings
10 Kim Nousiainen D L 21 2022 Kuopio, Finland Reign
40 Garret Sparks G L 28 2021 Elmhurst, Illinois Kings
7 Brett Sutter (C) C L 34 2016 Calgary, Alberta Reign
14 Akil Thomas C R 22 2021 Scarborough, Ontario Kings
12 Vladimir Tkachev LW R 26 2021 Omsk, Russia Kings
39 Alex Turcotte C L 21 2021 Island Lake, Illinois Kings
17 T. J. Tynan (A) C R 30 2021 Orland Park, Illinois Kings
31 Matt Villalta G L 22 2019 Kingston, Ontario Kings
15 Austin Wagner LW L 24 2017 Calgary, Alberta Kings
34 Taylor Ward F R 24 2022 Kelowna, British Columbia Reign
86 Christian Wolanin D L 27 2021 Quebec City, Quebec Kings

References
  1. "Monarchs looking for new coach after Seeley named general manager of LA Kings' AHL affiliate". New Hampshire Union Leader. June 5, 2018.
  2. "Reign Become the AHL Affiliate of LA Kings". Ontario Reign. January 30, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  3. "Reign's Budaj named AHL's top goaltender". American Hockey League. April 11, 2016. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  4. Greenizan, Nick (October 25, 2016). "Hockey history for Surrey father-son goalie tandem in AHL game in California". Peace Arch News.
  5. "Kings part ways with minor-league coach Mike Stothers". Los Angeles Times. May 20, 2020.
  6. "28 teams to participate in 2020-21 season". American Hockey League. January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  7. "Closed to spectators, Reign to play home games at TSC". Toyota Sports Center. January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  8. "Ontario Reign roster". Ontario Reign. 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
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