REIGN PREVIEW 4/5 – Ontario at Calgary

WHO: Ontario Reign (39-22-3-1) at Calgary Wranglers (33-26-4-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #66
WHEN: Saturday, April 5 @ 12:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: With just two weeks remaining in the 2024-25 regular season and their spot in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs secured, the Ontario Reign are set to open a two-game weekend series in Calgary on Saturday against the Wranglers at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Ontario is still in the hunt for the top spot in the Pacific Division standings and enters Saturday trailing first-place Colorado by four points with one game in hand. The team that finishes in first earns a bye during the opening round of the postseason, which consists of a best-of-3 series. Calgary is currently sitting in sixth place in the Pacific with 73 points, two behind San Jose and six back of Coachella Valley and the final home ice position for the first round. The Wranglers’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is seven points. Ontario has fared well in close games this season, earning a record of 17-3-3-1 in one-goal outcomes, while Calgary is 15-7-4-3 in contests decided by a single goal. The Reign are the 12th ranked team in the league on both offense and defense, scoring 3.18 goals per game while allowing 2.92 per outing.

LAST TIME OUT: Andre Lee and Martin Chromiak scored in the opening minute of the game and Aatu Jamsen put the Ontario Reign in front for good in the second in a 3-2 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday night at Tech CU Arena. With the win, the Reign clinched a playoff spot in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs with seven games remaining in the 2024-25 season. They remain in second place in the Pacific Division standings with 82 points.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Reign have had the upper hand against Calgary this season, earning wins in five of their six previous matchups (5-0-1). Most recently, Ontario managed to emerge victorious from a shootout at Toyota Arena on Feb. 23 to earn a 2-1 victory, going 2-for-2 in the skill session while goaltender Pheonix Copley stopped both of Calgary’s attempts in addition to 26 saves to secure the win. The last time the teams met in Alberta in mid-February, the Reign posted back-to-back overtime wins in a span of three days by scores of 4-3 and 3-2 on extra-time goals by Francesco Pinelli and Jeff Malott. Ontario also defeated the Wranglers 2-1 on Dec. 18 before avenging a 5-4 overtime loss on Jan. 19 with a lopsided 6-1 victory two nights later. Ontario has had the upper hand on special teams, scoring five times on the power play from 23 chances (21.7%), while Calgary has managed to score first in all six meetings. Charles Hudon has led the way for the Reign in the series with six points from the six matchups (3-3=6). Jack Studnicka also has five points on two goals and three assists, while Andre Lee and Taylor Ward each have two goals and two assists. Martin Frk and Dryden Hunt have led Calgary with six points in the six meetings this season, with Frk scoring a team-high three times. A year ago, Ontario secured points from six of their eight meetings with the Wranglers, earning a 5-2-0-1 record in the season series while outscoring Calgary a combined 26-16.

POSTEASON BERTH SECURED: Ontario officially punched its ticket to the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs on Wednesday following a loss by the Tucson Roadrunners to Calgary minutes before they defeated San Jose. The Reign, with 82 points and a 39-22-3-1 overall record, became the second team in the Pacific Division to secure a playoff berth. The 2025 postseason appearance marks Ontario’s fourth consecutive trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs and sixth AHL postseason in the team’s history. It is also the first time they’ve reached the playoffs in four straight years. Current members of the Reign who have previously won the Calder Cup include captain Joe Hicketts, who was victorious with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2017 as well as assistant coach Chris Hajt, who was part of the Manchester Monarchs winning team in 2015. Ontario has 12 players on the roster who saw the ice in last year’s playoff run, including Taylor Ward, who tied for the team’s scoring lead with seven points in eight contests (2-5=7), and Hicketts, who had six points last spring (1-5=6) and has totaled 18 in 39 career AHL playoff games (2-16=18). Charles Hudon (3-2=5), Samuel Fagemo (2-3=5) and Andre Lee (4-0=4) were also big parts of the team’s attack last spring, each appearing in all eight games.

SCOUTING THE WRANGLERS: Forward Rory Kerins has led the way offensively for Calgary this season, scoring a team-best 31 goals along with 25 assists for 56 points. Kerins is one of six skaters in the AHL to crack the 30-goal mark so far this season and his total is the most among all Pacific Division players. Martin Frk is second on the team in overall scoring with 53 points on 23 goals and 30 assists while playing in his first year with the Wranglers. Second-year attacker William Strömgren has also come on in the back half of the season and has totaled 45 points on 13 goals and 32 assists. Defender Jeremie Poirier paces the team’s blueliners with 36 points on five goals and 31 assists. Devin Cooley has led the Wranglers in net this season, playing more minutes than any other AHL goaltender (2448:47). Cooley has posted a record of 20-15-5 record from 43 appearances along with a 2.92 goals-against average and a 0.906 save percentage. Rookie Waltteri Ignatjew has also seen action between the pipes in 24 contests for Calgary.

PHEONIX TAKES FLIGHT: Reign netminder Pheonix Copley has remained steady in between the pipes despite a heavy workload over the past month, starting in 16 of Ontario’s last 19 games dating back to Feb. 19. The netminder has allowed two or less goals in four of his last five appearances in the past three weeks. Copley has reached the 20-win mark for the first time in his AHL career, which began with the Hershey Bears 10 years ago during the 2014-15 campaign. The goaltender has earned a goals-against average of 2.42 in 37 appearances to go along with a 0.908 save percentage and two shutouts in over 2,100 minutes of action. If the Reign continue to rely on the backstop in their last seven games, the North Pole, Alaska native is on track to set new AHL career-highs in both minutes and games played.

GIVE IT TO GLENN: Forward Glenn Gawdin came up big for the Reign last weekend, scoring three times during the two home wins over Colorado. The Richmond, B.C. native also assisted on Martin Chromiak’s opening-minute goal in San Jose on Wednesday and was on the scoresheet during all four games of Ontario’s Central Division road trip in late March. Gawdin is currently on a run where he’s posted 14 points from his last 12 games on nine goals and five assists, setting new career-highs in goals (24) and points (57) in the process. The seventh-year center has appeared in all of the Reign’s 65 games thus far since signing a two-year contract with the LA Kings last summer. Gawdin is also tied for the team lead with a plus-21 rating this season and is now just two assists shy of tying his previous high mark of 35, which he achieved as a member of the Stockton Heat during the 2021-22 campaign.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Calgary (all times Pacific):
Wed., Dec. 18 vs. Calgary, 2-1 W – Full Recap
Sun., Jan. 19 vs. Calgary, 4-5 OTL – Full Recap
Tue., Jan. 21 vs. Calgary, 6-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Feb. 15 at Calgary, 4-3 OTW – Full Recap
Mon., Feb. 17 at Calgary, 3-2 OTW – Full Recap
Sun., Feb. 23 vs. Calgary, 2-1 SOW – Full Recap
Sat., Apr. 5 at Calgary, 12:30 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 6 at Calgary, 12 p.m.