NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – South Carolina hockey fans have high expectations each year as the Stingrays have made the playoffs all but once in their 16 years in the ECHL. Fan expectations are even higher than usual this season thanks to the team’s fast start and last year’s playoff run to the American Conference finals where they lost to the Cincinnati Cyclones, the eventual Kelly Cup winner. The Stingrays have not disappointed their fans thus far in the 2008-09 season. The team completed the first two months of the season winning 11 of the 17 games played during October and November. After 17 games, the Ray’s overall record is 11-4-1-1 (24 points), good for second place in the ECHL’s South Division, and a tie for seventh overall in the ECHL. The Rays trail the Florida Everblades, by three points in the division. While the Stingrays are off to a strong start, they have struggled some in their last six games. Back to back home ice losses against Mississippi in a shootout, and to Dayton in regulation time were followed by four straight games against the Mississippi Sea Wolves, one at home and three away. The Rays and Sea Wolves split the four games against each other. While South Carolina was able to salvage five of eight possible points in the last four games, the call-up of four players to the Hershey Bears over the past ten days has the potential to hurt the Rays over the long term. Such promotions are both positive and negative for minor league franchises with working agreements with AHL and NHL teams. South Carolina, who are affiliated with Hershey and the Washington Capitals, has been hit especially hard. The injury depleted Washington Capitals reached down and promoted a number of players from the Hershey Bears. In turn, Hershey recalled defenseman Sasha Pokoluk, as well as forwards Steve Pinizzotto, Michael Dubic, and Maxime Lacroix. Dubic, in his first professional season, is the Stingrays’ leading scorer with eighteen points, including nine goals, while Lacroix, also a rookie, leads the Rays in goals with ten and has six assists. Pokoluk and Pinizzotto were also making extremely valuable contributions prior to their their promotions. The Stingrays enter the balance of the season with the challenge that success sometimes brings, the loss of some of a team’s top performers. They have been successful in meeting the challenge to date. Here is a synopsis of their overall performance. Coaching: Head Coach Jared Bednar, in all of his public statements, and by his past actions always sees call-ups as a privilege of being part of an overall organization and importantly as a great opportunity for his players. In fact, on a Washington Capital’s televised broadcast this past week, Bednar and the Stingray’s were cited for their contributions to the Bears and Capitals during the rash of injuries that has placed seven Capitals on the IR list. Bednar, while acknowledging the impact of call-ups, treats them as part of his role of developing prospects. Bednar simply expects his team to regroup and perform and has in the past been able to reach out and find replacements and motivate his current roster so, even in the face of the loss of so many top contributors, Bednar remains optimistic. The local consensus is that Bednar exceeded all expectations in his first season last season and continues to do so in season two. Goaltending: The Rays started the season with the duo of Bobby Goepfert, 25 who was signed during the summer from the Augusta Lynx, and Josh Johnson, who was returning for his second season. The assignment of Michal Neuvirth, 20, a 2006 second round draft choice of the Washington Capitals, came unexpectedly the day the season started for the Rays. When it became apparent that Neuvirth would at spend some time with the Rays, Bednar, who is both coach and General Manager, traded Johnson to Augusta where he could play regularly. The new tandem has performed extremely well as both are statistically ranked among the top five goalies in the league. Neuvirth has a 5-2 record with a goals against average of 1.56, second in the ECHL. Goepfert is 4-0-1-1 and a 2.12 goals against average, good for fourth in the league. Thus, goaltending which was expected to be a strong suit for the team has flourished with the very talented tandem splitting time in goal almost equally. Defense: The excellent goaltending comes in part as a result of very strong defensive play. Allowing just 39 goals in 17 games, the Ray’s trail only the Florida EverBlades (34 goals allowed) in goals allowed in the entire ECHL. Since all of the members of the defensive corps have played well, the defense has until recent call-ups, given Bednar a challenge. Who sits and who does not to dress for each game? Veterans such as Nate Kiser, Brad Farynuk, and Scott Romfo have played excellently while second year players Zack Takir and Victor Dovgan have also been great steady contributors. Meanwhile, first year pro Johann Kroll has been excellent on both defense and on the point during power plays. Meanwhile, Pokoluk has been at times the best player overall for the Rays according to local media observers. Forwards: While the Rays have played strong defense, they have also been productive on offense. The Ray’s are scoring on .230 percent of the time on the power play, good for first overall in the ECHL. The M@M line, which is made up of Travis Morin, Maxime Lacroix and Michael Dubic, has accounted for one-third of the team’s goal total. Stingray fans, with apologies to Hershey, are hopeful that the line can be reunited at some point in the near future. Morin, who led the Rays in goals last year, is thriving as a playmaker. He is the team’s leader in assists while paired with the two rookie goal scorers. Pierre- Luc Obrien, Trent Campbell and defenseman Kroll round out the top scorers. A late addition, who came to the Stingrays in a recent trade, Jeff Corey, has been impressive especially with his speed and can hopefully help pickup any loss of scoring punch. Looking ahead: As the Stingrays enter December, they are currently positioned to build on their initial success. The challenge will be to avoid injuries and fill the void in scoring especially, if some of the call-ups become long term. So far the (average of 4,915) fans in attendance at seven home games have had plenty to be excited about. Contact the author at phil.brand@prohockeynews.com
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