After just seven games of an AHL season, revenge isn’t a typical topic. Yet, it’s highly appropriate for this weekend’s Reign theme.
Last season, Ontario pushed hard to get home ice advantage in the playoffs. In a situation that wasn’t decided until the final game of the 2024-25 regular season, they were to face San Jose in the first round. However, due to a variety of circumstances, those games weren’t held in Ontario — where the building would have been packed with fans. They were instead held inside a fairly empty Cryto.com Arena. Call it a home ice disadvantage.
But let’s not take anything away from San Jose. They were the better team in a series that saw the Reign swept out of the playoffs in Round 1; an exit way sooner than players and management were expecting.
Sure, coach Marco Sturm has been replaced by Andrew Lord. And, yes, more than a handful of players from that playoff roster are no longer around, having given way to a fresh batch of Kings prospects on this year’s squad. Still, though, there are still some guys around who would like some revenge for that playoff series. From veterans like Joe Hicketts and Glenn Gawdin, to LA hopefuls like Andre Lee, Martin Chromiak, and Franky Pinelli — it’s a memory that’s still fresh. They didn’t want to go out like that.
Tonight brings them their first taste of possible payback. The Reign are in San Jose for a pair of games against the Barracuda this weekend, playing a back-to-back set on Friday and Saturday.
Pheonix Copley was in goal for those playoff losses last season and he’ll likely get the net again tomorrow. Having played in Henderson on Wednesday, we’d expect Lord to rotate Erik Portillo back into the crease for the series opener.
Young Koehn Ziemmer drew in last Sunday in Abbotsford and he could certainly see action again this weekend, after being a healthy scratch against the Silver Knights last time out.
On defense, Angus Booth made his season debut last game after suffering an injury during training camp. Inserting him onto the second defensive pairing pushed fellow Kings prospect Jakub Dvorak to the sidelines. We’re guessing Lord will look to rotate the latter back in soon — but who will come off the blueline to make room?
All the Time in the World for Connors
With less than 10 games in the books thus far, coaches typically don’t want to overhype the performance of individual players. Occasionally there are exceptions — and Kenny Connors is the latest Kings prospect to draw some attention for his play in the AHL.
“He’s been great,” Lord said at the mere mention of Connors’ name. “I think he’s really earned it, and then some, throughout this process — all the way back to NHL Rookie Camp; where I’d argued he was the best player on the ice there in those couple games. Then, through main camp, did his job. AHL camp, very good. And now, he’s started a little lower down the lineup, and he’s just been consistent. Whether it’s PK, whether it’s playing good solid defensive hockey; it’s a fun one. He’s very intelligent. His work ethic is obviously there. I think he has a skill set in the skating ability that can really allow him to play in different spots in the lineup. Whether it’s down the lineup, or similar to a few games ago where we gave him a little bit more. Then, he earned quite a bit more; he even got popped on the power play. He’s doing great and been a real bright spot early in the season.”
One of the reasons Connors has drawn praise from Lord on several occasions over the past month is his ability to impact the play in multiple areas. Even though these are sometimes things that don’t always show up on the stats sheet, they’re elements that don’t go unnoticed.
“I think it’s so early that you can’t get hung up on the production,” Lord explained. “It really has to be about process right now. From practice, then linking that to our gameplay. The production will come. Line chemistry always takes some time, and our overall game takes some time. For him in particular, he does so much, aside from just production. His PK has been elite at times, multiple block shots, his d-zone five-on-five; you name it, it’s all very solid.”
Entering play tonight, Connors leads all Reign players with a plus-7 rating. Interestingly, it’s another pair of first-year players who are right behind him on that list — fellow Kings prospects forward Jared Wright (plus-5) and defenseman Kiril Kirsanov (plus-3). Also of note, they are the only rookies who have played in all seven games this season.
Additional Pregame Notes
— The same two teams will play for a third straight time after this weekend’s games in NoCal. Come Tuesday, the Barracuda will visit the Reign at Toyota Arena. As if that’s not enough, they’re scheduled to meet a total of eight times over the next two months, capped off with a New Year’s Eve game.
— With Warren Foegele’s recent injury, the Kings could be looking to recall a forward soon. Which Reign player may get the nod? We broke down the situation here.
— Forward Kaleb Lawrence is out month-to-month with an injury.
What You May Have Missed
This Week’s Kings Prospect Tracker — Looking at all the top performances LINK
Kings Of The Podcast, Ep. 235 with Andrew Lord, New Reign Head Coach LINK
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Barracuda
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Ward – Gawdin – Chromiak
Pinelli – Thomas – Guttman
Lee – Connors – Wright
Jamsen – Hughes – Doty
Hicketts – Millar
Booth – Salin
Kirsanov – Bolduc
Portillo
Copley
Likely scratches: (F) Ziemmer and (D) Dvorak, Rego
Injured: Brown, Lawrence, Parker-Jones
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and will be streamed via FloSports. Additionally, a Reign radio feed is available here.
Follow @mayorNHL
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