ONTARIO, Calif. – The Ontario Reign, defending Pacific Division Champions and proud affiliate of the NHL’s 2012 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings, announce the signing of LA Kings Stanley Cup Champion left wing Kyle Clifford.
Hopefully he can play some key offensive minutes and learn the offensive side of the game a little more while he's down there. Plus there's a chance for all you lucky people living LA to go check out at least one King play some hockey
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2012 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS LA KINGS!!! GO JETS GO!
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"It has not been a good day. I lost my glasses early this morning and I had to go buy a pair of 79 dollar reading glasses today. 79 bucks. You can literally get them at Costco, three-for-20." - Darryl Sutter's response to going up 2-0 in the series.
I'm kinda surprised more Kings didn't sign to play in Ontario. The home games would be close to home and it is a good way to keep in shape while making a slight bit of cash.
I'm also surprised AEG hasn't moved any Reign games to Staples Center. Then again, I suppose with the impending lockout and all, did they even put down ice at Staples? Probably makes it better for the NBA if there isn't ice down. I know the ice can cause condensation on the court.
I'm kinda surprised more Kings didn't sign to play in Ontario. The home games would be close to home and it is a good way to keep in shape while making a slight bit of cash.
I'm also surprised AEG hasn't moved any Reign games to Staples Center. Then again, I suppose with the impending lockout and all, did they even put down ice at Staples? Probably makes it better for the NBA if there isn't ice down. I know the ice can cause condensation on the court.
I'm pretty sure there are veteran limits and such in the ECHL that would prevent most of the Kings from signing there...
A veteran shall mean a player, other than a goaltender, who has played in at least 260 regular season games of professional hockey. Provided however, any player signed to a NHL or AHL contract which contains an ECHL assignment provision shall be exempt from the foregoing rule. Notwithstanding the above, any player assigned to an ECHL member team on a NHL or AHL contract shall be deemed to be a veteran if said player is 24 years or older and has participated in 260 regular season professional hockey games as of the opening day of the season of said year.
That eliminates most of the team from signing unless they would be one of the four veterans. Clifford is only at 164 games and less than 24 years so he's pretty much the only exception to the veteran rule. The Reign already have C.J. Stretch, Paul Mara, and Devin Setoguchi as veterans...
That eliminates most of the team from signing unless they would be one of the four veterans. Clifford is only at 164 games and less than 24 years so he's pretty much the only exception to the veteran rule. The Reign already have C.J. Stretch, Paul Mara, and Devin Setoguchi as veterans...
Right. I forgot about the ECHL vet limit. I wonder if they would ditch Setoguchi and Stretch, and risk losing them to another team, for a couple Kings who might only be there for a month or might be there for a season?
Do goalies count as vets? I know the Reign wouldn't turn down Quick if he wanted to play. But I have a feeling that the Kings wouldn't be too happy with that since they left Berube in Ontario to get playing time. Had they not cared about him actually getting minutes, he'd be backing up Jones in Manchester.
Right. I forgot about the ECHL vet limit. I wonder if they would ditch Setoguchi and Stretch, and risk losing them to another team, for a couple Kings who might only be there for a month or might be there for a season?
Do goalies count as vets? I know the Reign wouldn't turn down Quick if he wanted to play. But I have a feeling that the Kings wouldn't be too happy with that since they left Berube in Ontario to get playing time. Had they not cared about him actually getting minutes, he'd be backing up Jones in Manchester.
For most of the vets on the Kings I think it's just a matter of finding a team to workout with and stay in shape rather than get minutes in a game somewhere. Well more a mtter of one or the other... Mitchell is skating with a bunch of Canucks players, Williams is somewhere skating with a bunch of players, Doughty I think was/is skating with a junior team, Bernier, Kopi, Brown, A-Mart (injured,) and one or two others I'm forgetting are in Europe. I think last I'd heard Lewis, Greene, and Clifford were the last remaining Kings in/around LA.
Might not be a good idea to bring in a bunch of NHLers and force the ECHL vets to sit as they are a needed commodity in the coming years for AHL callups should injuries occur. Clifford is a pretty saffe call because he can be brought in and not count against the limit, help the team win games, and isn't ruffling feathers of the old vets that are out a job. Just look at what's happened in Alaska with Gomez, Dubinsky, and a couple other NHL guys signing there and now they have disgruntled veterans that are key parts of their team once/if NHL hockey returns.
I've had tickets for 12/1 for a few weeks now, a couple rows up in the corners. I hope Cliffy stays around that long (unless the CBA mess is resolved, of course).
Yep, Setoguchi signed with them just recently and has 6 points in 4 games.
ECHL games aren't bad hockey by any means and the Reign are likely to be one of the better teams in the West along with Alaska. I went to a handful of Gwinnett Gladiators games last year and the hockey was refreshingly good and it was a pretty cheap ticket. Certainly no worse than your average NCAA game and I thought it was more enjoyable than any CHL game I'd ever been to. Worst part is the cheesy marketing and giveaways and such they use to try to draw people in but it's no worse than any minor league baseball game.
