GREENVILLE , S.C. – After a successful first year in Greenville, the Road Warriors are ready to get back to playing hockey, with one goal in mind, get back to the playoffs. Last year, the Road Warriors, finished the regular season as the best team in the Eastern Conference, however were eliminated by the Wheeling Nailers in second round of the playoffs.
This year the Road Warriors open the season against that same Wheeling Nailers team on Friday.
“We’re excited to open the season against the Nailers,” Greenville Head Coach Dean Stork said, “They played us tough last year and I expect the same this year.”
Going into the season, there will be some familiar faces, with several players returning to the Greenville ice. T.J. Reynolds, last season’s team captain and Wes Cunningham return to the defensive zone. Defenseman Woody Klassen, Sam Klassen’s younger brother, will come back to Greenville, after appearing in four games for the Road Warriors last year.
Marc-Olivier Vallerand, Justin Bowers, Brandon Wong, and Sean Berkstresser will return to Greenville’s offense. Last season, Bowers led the team in points during the playoffs with thirteen. Compared to last year’s team, Stork says that this team is definitely much younger in terms of experience, especially on the defensive side.
“We are a bit un-tested on defense and also in goal, as we’ll have two New York Ranger prospects splitting time in goal” said Stork.”I think our offense will be fine with the guys we are returning to that side of the ice.”
The Road Warriors open the 2011-2012 regular season against two North Division opponents, with the Nailers coming to town tonight and the Reading Royals coming to the BI-LO Center on Saturday, October 15.
Greenville will then hit the road the following weekend for a pair of games in Gwinnett, where they will face the Gladiators. As far as the other South Division rivals, the Road Warriors will first see the Florida Everblades on October 28 in Greenville and will then face the South Carolina Stingrays on November 11 also in Greenville.
Hoping to stay true to the club’s name, the Road Warriors will spend the New Years’ holiday in the Windy City, as they play a weekend series against the ECHL newest team, the Chicago Express, before welcoming the Express to Greenville on February 12.
Contact author at ryan.kouvolo@prohockeynews.com
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