Who'll stop The Reign: The 2023-24 Ontario Reign Thread

[Raccoon Jesus]

And just like that the Reign are done

In typical Kings fashion, blow a 2 goal lead

 

[Gjwrams]

The dreaded two goal lead. The bane of this organization.

 

[King'sPawn]

The answer to the thread title is Coachella Valley.

 

[BigBrown]

Glad they had some success and won a couple of rounds at least, not really worried about them going all the way. I remember being hyped about the 2015 Monarchs winning back in the day and sure, they had a couple of decent NHL players on the team but it didn't really amount to a whole lot in terms of helping the Kings.

 

[Reaper45]

Delaying the hiring of Dan Byslma as head coach by a bit.

 

[fivehole32]

I didn't see the third game due to a birthday party, however the second game was pretty brutal by the Reign. Portillo looked shaky at best, and forward coverage was terrible. After getting behind they continued to play a ground and pound type of game which isn't very conducive to getting back into the game when you are down by 3 goals. I was actually shocked Sturm didn't put Dell in for the second. The Firebirds just outskated the Reign and Sturm made no adjustments.

Helenius and Thomas were very noticeable in trying to make things happen.

Clarke looked meh. He tried a couple times to go coast to coast and would get shut down at the blue line.

Turcotte looked okay.

I'm honestly shocked the Reign went out in three. The regular season games were battles and every game was close. I thought based on the third period of game one the Firebirds would have a tough time the rest of the series. I honestly think Portillo not making the big save put them behind the eightball for games one and two. Not sure what happened in game three since I didn't see it.

 

[Schrute farms]

They were right there

 

[Statto]

They were right there

To be fair…. Much, much closer than the Kings were…. But no, not close.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

Sturm made no adjustments.

No adjustments, you say?! That sound you hear is Roc Blobitaille frantically ripping up the press release announcing Jim Hiller as head coach to scribble a new one with Marco Sturm’s name on it.

 

[Schrute farms]

To be fair…. Much, much closer than the Kings were…. But no, not close.

yeah, i was only half joking...and half serious. Contrary to the Kings, the Reign actually were "right there" -- in the Finals. They lost badly, but they were there technically.

 

[kingsboy11]

Well that's disappointing after they started to so well, but at least they put up a much better fight than the senior team

 

[Statto]

yeah, i was only half joking...and half serious. Contrary to the Kings, the Reign actually were "right there" -- in the Finals. They lost badly, but they were there technically.

Yeah, I get it. My ‘not close’ comment was more directed at BLuc also, because the Reign didn’t get close enough to say ‘we were right there’, so to say it for the Kings is delusional. .

 

[yankeeking]

I went last night and agree with 5hole that Thomas and Helenius were trying to make things happen but would add Turcotte and Lee to standing out , Lee and Helenius are big tough kids and IF given the chance to give the kings the hard hitting, chip in a goal 4th line contending teams have, @ 2-0 CV turned up the chippiness and those two especially stood up for their teammates every time ,great to see. As far as Portillo their defence was t'ing off on him especially late in the game and the third goal was a nice tip about 10 ft in front of him and basically no chance , the other two i didn't see clearly , and as far as Clarke went he was ok and got his shot thru multiple times , missed on a clear breakaway , and was mostly noticeable especially banging his stick for the puck

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

I went last night and agree with 5hole that Thomas and Helenius were trying to make things happen but would add Turcotte and Lee to standing out , Lee and Helenius are big tough kids and IF given the chance to give the kings the hard hitting, chip in a goal 4th line contending teams have, @ 2-0 CV turned up the chippiness and those two especially stood up for their teammates every time ,great to see. As far as Portillo their defence was t'ing off on him especially late in the game and the third goal was a nice tip about 10 ft in front of him and basically no chance , the other two i didn't see clearly , and as far as Clarke went he was ok and got his shot thru multiple times , missed on a clear breakaway , and was mostly noticeable especially banging his stick for the puck

First Reign game I've ever watched, pretty fun environment. Great views with it being a smaller arena.

Couldn't help but notice just how much they look like the Kings. Started off well and got ahead. Then blew it and never really got too close to scoring after. Also noticed that about Clarke. Just hanging his stick on the ice all the time.

 

[yankeeking]

First Reign game I've ever watched, pretty fun environment. Great views with it being a smaller arena.

Couldn't help but notice just how much they look like the Kings. Started off well and got ahead. Then blew it and never really got too close to scoring after. Also noticed that about Clarke. Just hanging his stick on the ice all the time.

yeah it was protect the 2 goal lead until it was gone and so was the momentum, the crowd and the season, I like Sturm but do not think it will change much of anything if he is promoted, the best thing for the whole organization would be going outside for the new coach , but until they get a professional GM and President , well you all know ...............can't believe i am going to say this but i think they need Tim Lieweekly back , not i am going to wash my mouth out with a couple shots

 

[DoktorJeep]

I canceled the AHL package this season, so I didn’t catch a minute of Reign hockey. That being said, in hindsight, paying to watch the Kings was a worse expenditure given the final records.

Good for the kids to look better than the big club when no one expected them to do anything.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The one good thing I take out of that whooping is it hopefully pours some ice on the fast-tracking Portillo and Sturm to LA.

First real stiff competition they faced and they folded hard in different ways each game.

 

[fivehole32]

The one good thing I take out of that whooping is it hopefully pours some ice on the fast-tracking Portillo and Sturm to LA.

First real stiff competition they faced and they folded hard in different ways each game.

I wasn't a fan of Sturm when he was an assistant coach, and I agree after seeing his coaching in this series, I'd much rather see him try his hand in another organization.

Portillo needs more time for sure. He doesn't have "it" yet. What I mean by that is you need that swagger that you are unbeatable. Does it mean you aren't going to give up goal, no, but you have a presence that your team can believe in. An example of that last year was Daccord and Dustin Wolf. What they projected in the AHL translated for the most part to the NHL. Wolf is a little different because Calgary is a bit of a s***show.

That projection of dominance works both ways because the opposing team feels their shots have to be perfect and thus either won't shoot or miss the net. Portillo needs to stay in Ontario, at least next year and see where he progresses.

 

[Johnny Utah]

The Reign were more exciting than the Kings this year.

 

[Reaper45]

So Hicketts and Ward will be back, and add Lawrence I’d imagine. Reign fans what’s the roster looking like so far?

 

[Johnny Utah]

So Hicketts and Ward will be back, and add Lawrence I’d imagine. Reign fans what’s the roster looking like so far?

Thomas and Turcotte will graduate to LA.

Tynan, Doty, Hodgson, and Connauton need contracts.

Ziemmer and Lawrence will likely start in Ontario.

Who knows what happens with Fagemo - he's an RFA - same with Lee and Madden.

 

[funky]

It’s time to move on from guys like Tynan and others and let people that may have a chance to play for the Kings have a chance at the scoring roles.

Even if Fagemo is an AAAA player there is still a chance he plays at some point during the season for the Kings. Give him the two-way contract with the higher guaranteed money even if he is in the AHL and give him the #1 PP time.

The AHL should be about the development of our prospects and putting them in key roles. Not try to win the Calder Cup.

Chromiak and Pinelli etc need that second line time to see what we have in them.

 

[Johnny Utah]

The issue is with Turcotte, Thomas and possibly Fagemo departing for LA, there is little or no scoring.

Ziemmer and Lawrence won't replace those three in scoring.

Kings/Reign need to add at least a few veteran pieces around Chromiak, Pinelli, Ziemmer, and Helenius. That's basically the future youth up front.

Hudon will still be there - he signed a two year deal. That's one vet.

The Reign had the benefit of two high 1st round picks and a bunch of 2nd round picks being on the team all year. Now both 1st rounders will be in LA (Turcotte and Clarke) as well as at least one 2nd rounder in Thomas.