Reign Announce Opening Night Roster

The Ontario Reign have announced a 24-man, Opening Night roster as they begin the season this evening in San Jose.

From the team’s official release –

ONTARIO, CA – The Ontario Reign, proud AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, have announced their Opening Night Roster for the 2018-19 season.

The Reign’s Opening Night Roster, consisting of two goaltenders, eight defensemen and 14 forwards, is as follows –

Goaltenders (2): Peter Budaj, Cal Petersen

Defensemen (8): Daniel Brickley, Kale Clague, Alex Lintuniemi, Kurtis MacDermid, Chaz Reddekopp, Matt Roy, Austin Strand, Sean Walker

Forwards (14): Kyle Bauman, Jamie Devane, Emerson Etem, Mikey Eyssimont, Sam Herr, Boko Imama, Matt Luff, Philippe Maillet, Zack Mitchell, Brad Morrison, Matt Moulson, Sheldon Rempal, Drake Rymsha, Brett Sutter

Ontario opens the 2018-19 regular season on the road, beginning tonight against the San Jose Barracuda. The Reign open the home portion of their schedule next weekend on Friday, October 12 at 7:00 p.m. against the Stockton Heat. Tickets are available for Friday’s game, as well as all 34 Ontario Reign home dates, by visiting ontarioreign.com/tickets.

Few Items Of Note –

– The Reign will begin the season carrying eight defensemen – Four players that played with the team last season and four first-year players. CLICK HERE for an in-depth look at the Ontario blueline, featuring quotes from Ontario Head Coach Mike Stothers and defensemen Sean Walker and Daniel Brickley. While throughout the course of the season the depth will be great, in the here and now, it means that two of this group will be in the press box, which could create some difficult decisions at times.

– Emerson Etem will be a part of the Opening Night roster after he signed a professional try out with Ontario earlier in the week. Etem spent the majority of the preseason in NHL camp with the Kings and was the final roster cut earlier this week, before he agreed to a PTO with Ontario. Etem is a very fast player, as Stothers noted HERE, and showed some finish throughout the preseason with Los Angeles. He’s also shown the ability to produce at the AHL level in the past, including a 54-point season with Norfolk in 2013-14.

– The Reign could boast one of the top goaltending tandems in the AHL with 2018 AHL All-Star Cal Petersen and 2016 AHL First-Team All-Star Peter Budaj. Petersen is regarded as the top goaltending prospect in the Los Angeles farm system and posted a stellar rookie campaign last season, capped off with an impressive showing in the playoffs. Budaj returns to the Reign after two years away. He had a tremendous 2015-16 campaign with Ontario and the 36-year old goaltender is accomplished at the AHL level. With either player in goal, the Reign should have a chance to win on most nights.

– Up front, Ontario returns three of its six leading scorers from a year ago – Matt Moulson, Philippe Maillet and Brett Sutter. Moulson is the leading returning point-getter after he totaled 46 points from 49 games a season ago, which averages out to a 64-point campaign across 68 games. While Maillet had a slow start to his rookie season, his second half pace, DETAILED HERE, was nearly at a point-per-game level as well. Sutter has brought consistency to the Ontario lineup, scoring at around a 0.5 point-per-game pace, in addition to the other intangibles and assets he provides.

– Game 1 is tonight – Check back later today for a game preview in advance of the season opener.