Good morning from Ontario where the Reign were on the Citizens Business Bank Arena ice by the time I arrived at 9:45 a.m. PT. They’re preparing for their penultimate game of the regular season and their last game at home before the playoffs, a 7:00 p.m. PT matchup against the San Diego Gulls.
–The handful of regulars who sat out against Stockton will be back in the lineup against San Diego. Forwards Michael Mersch, Teddy Purcell and Brett Sutter along with defenseman Vincent LoVerde and goalie Jack Campbell were all on the ice this morning for the skate. Coach Mike Stothers also confirmed they’d be back in the lineup vs the Gulls.
-Stothers declined to say who would be starting in net for the Reign tonight. Updates will follow when the Reign take the ice for warm-ups.
–Defenseman Zac Leslie took the option for this morning’s practice.
-Injured forward Paul Bissonnette did not take the ice. Forward Andrew Crescenzi and defenseman Kurtis MacDermid and Zach Trotman were on the ice but wearing red non-contact jerseys. It was Crescenzi’s first time back on the ice since being injured against San Jose on April 5th.
–Via Reign Insider:
Re: Shore, Privitera, Ciampini moves, via hockey ops source it's a chance get them more ice, keep them sharp and boost ECHL affiliate
— Lindsay Czarnecki (@ReignInsider) April 14, 2017
-Stothers, when asked whether a win is secondary to the way the team plays against San Diego:
“We expect to win every game we play. Nothing changes.”
That’s all the notes for this morning’s skate. I’ll be covering for Lindsay Czarnecki during tonight’s 7:00 p.m. PT game versus the San Diego Gulls.
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