Local fans will welcome a new, but familiar coach, a nice complement of returning players and some exciting new faces signed by the club or assigned from the Washington Capitals and the Hershey Bears. South Carolina begins its sixth season as an affiliate of the National Hockey League Capitals and the Bears of the American Hockey League.
A quick analysis indicates that the ‘Rays should be a playoff team on the strength of their lineup, but will once again have to overcome some very tough rivals in what shapes up to be a strong South Division in the ECHL’s American Conference. A look at the roster follows:
Coach and Director of Hockey Operations: The changes start at the top with Cail MacLean replacing Jared Bednar as Coach and Director of Hockey Operations. Bednar led the Stingrays over the previous two seasons after a long stint as an assistant coach in the organization. He moved on to the American Hockey League as an assistant coach after two sparkling seasons behind the bench, including last year’s Kelly Cup win.
MacLean of Middleton, Nova Scotia, played professional hockey for 11 seasons spending time primarily in the ECHL. He also had long term stints at the AHL level and overall racked up 524 points, including 266 goals in 747 professional career games. He spent three seasons with the ‘Rays and after retirement, was hired last season, as an assistant coach to Bednar. He was named the Coach and Director of Hockey Operations shortly after Bednar’s departure. The MacLean appointment followed a long Stingrays’ tradition of promoting from within.
While his brief experience behind the bench is a question mark, he was enormously popular as a player here and has demonstrated leadership by serving as captain of three different teams over his playing career including wearing the “C” in South Carolina. He is seemingly a lot like Bednar, outwardly calm, and inwardly forceful.
Forwards: The current roster lists 11 forwards, eight of whom spent time in South Carolina last season. Included among the returnees is Michael Dubuc who led the Stingrays in goals last year with 35, despite an injury which cost him most of the last four weeks of the regular season. He also played somewhat sparingly in the playoffs. More recently Dubuc was impressive in terms of goal scoring in Washington’s rookie and preseason camps and is here to work on his defensive game.
Other returning forwards include Russian ex patriot Nikita Kashirsky, 24, who joined the Stingrays late last season from a Division III college program and impressed local fans with his 18 points in 21 playoff games. Keith Johnson comes back for his second full season after recording 21 goals and 25 assists in 62 games. He was another strong performer in the playoffs. Reliable and steady performer, Matt Scherer returns for his third season along with Spencer Carbery and Trent Campbell.
Campbell skated in all 23 playoff games, racking up 6 goals and 18 assists in the Kelly Cup run. Carbery, 6’ 2”, 190 lbs, provides nice size at forward and complements defenseman Nate Kiser. He is willing to drop the gloves and racked up 126 penalty minutes last year in 39 games with the locals. Lastly, among the returnees are Rob Ricci, 24 who played in seven playoff games after leaving his college team in late March of 2009 and Nick Berge, 24 who returns after beginning his professional career with the Stingrays last March.
Three pure rookies are also on the roster. They are led by big Jake Hauswirth, 21, 6’5”, 210 lbs, who skated the last two seasons with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League. MacLean has singled out Hauswirth as having “a ton of potential.” In the immortal words of one local observer when he saw Hauswirth “he has potential if for no other reason than you can’t teach size.” He is joined by Brandon Heck and Dain Prewitt who join the ‘Rays from college hockey to round out the rookie cadre.
Defense: The defense which played such an enormous role in last year’s success appears to be, on paper, comparative to last season’s initial lineup with the return of several veterans and a good mix of second and first year professionals.
Nate Kiser returns to bolster Stingrays%27 defense.
Nate Kiser, a fan favorite and the heart and soul of the defense, returns for what may be his last season. The rugged Kiser led ECHL defensemen with a plus/minus rating of plus 28 last season and is one of the most respected tough guys in the league.
Zack Takir who spent much of last year in the AHL and then returned to score 15 points in 23 post season games last season returns along with second year pros Josh Godfrey and Johann Kroll who were impressive last year in their first pro seasons. These three defensemen are all likely AHL call ups and for now, are simply caught up in the plethora of quality defensemen in the Washington and Hershey organizations.
Also returning is Lyon Messier a second year professional who appeared in 16 contests last year, as a late season pickup from the CHL. Messier made enormous strides in his short tenure with the ‘Rays coming in at a time when the blue line corps had been badly eroded by call ups and injuries. He will have to fight for his ice time, however given the team’s depth on defense.
Newcomers include Joe Finley, Washington’s number one pick in the 2005 entry draft, who is an imposing 6’7” and 240 lbs (remember you can’t teach size). Other newcomers include third year pro Dylan Yeo who split his time last season between Victoria of the ECHL and the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.
Rookies Zach Jones, Grant Farrell and David Grimson, who played eight games with the Ray’s last spring after his NCAA career ended, round out the defensive roster
The bottom line is the ‘Rays enter the season with a potentially strong lineup on the blue line. The concern is simple. The potential of this cadre is so good that the likelihood of retaining players like Takir, Godfrey and Kroll for the full season is highly unlikely. Goaltending: This area was a strength going into last season until call ups and a loss of a goalie to Europe made what was a strong point going into the season a problem mid way in the season. For example, the AHL Calder Cup MVP Goal Tender Michal Neuvirth, started last season in South Carolina. In the end, some sharp work by Bednar and MacLean brought in two very strong replacements that combined could help lead the ‘Rays to the ECHL Championship. The ‘Rays start this season with an experienced number one goalie in Todd Ford. The Calgary, Alberta native was so good last year in Victoria that his play was partially responsible for making another Victoria goal tender expendable. Jonathan Boutin who was traded to the Stingrays late last year from Victoria went on to make major contributions to the team’s Kelly Cup win with a record of 12 and 4 in the playoffs. Ford, 25 posted a record of 17-15-1 in 35 games last season with Victoria. He posted 2.63 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. The 6’4” Ford previously played for an old rival the now defunct Columbia Inferno. Steve Bounds, another Alberta native is currently projected to share goal tending duties with Ford. Bounds played three years of junior hockey in Alberta and British Columbia before playing four years of D-3 college hockey in Minnesota. He struggled in his two pre season games but this is not unexpected, given this is his introduction to professional hockey. However, the mix may change as it appears that Braden Holtby, has been sent to the ‘Rays from the Hershey Bears. Michal Neuvirth has returned to the Bears after being out with an injury freeing up the Holtby. The 20 year old Holtby, a 2008 draft choice has played well for the Bears posting a record of 2-1-1, a 1.01 Goals Against Average and a .967 save percentage in his three games. The goaltending going into this season does not look on paper, as strong as the lineup, going into and then finishing last season. However, Ford should thrive with an experienced defensive cadre in front of him, Holtby looks extremely promising and hopefully Bounds will become another Nikita Kashirsky, a D-3 player who makes a major impact as he becomes accustomed to the ECHL.
Broadcasting: Joseph Zakrzewski becomes the voice of the Stingrays replacing Josh Heller who moved on to the new Toledo ECHL club. Zakrzewski spent the past two seasons as a broadcasting intern for the Houston Aeros of the AHL while finishing college. The Texas born and educated broadcaster played college club level hockey at Sam Houston State University. He graduated from Sam Houston in 2009 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. He will handle all media relations activities for the team, manage the content on the Stingrays website, and serve as the team’s play-by-play broadcaster. The ‘Rays join a trend in minor pro sports as they will use the internet and B2 networks as their broadcasting outlets moving away from the traditional over the air outlets.
Conclusion: It can be argued that South Carolina is the bell weather franchise in the ECHL in terms of on ice performance as the ‘Rays have missed the playoffs only once, going into their 16th season in the ECHL. They hold ECHL records for most playoff game appearances and wins in post season play. Lastly they are tied with now defunct Hampton Roads for the most playoff championships with three. Local fans are hoping for number four when the puck drops this weekend and have full expectations that the ‘Rays will continue to be a contender for the Kelly Cup.
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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