ORLANDO, FLA – On any given ECHL roster, especially ones that are influenced by NHL and AHL affiliates, the players can be split into two distinct groups: the players who are on ECHL-only contracts and those that are assigned through the affiliation agreements. How those two subsets relate and react to each other can be the difference between success and failure.
For this year’s Orlando Solar Bears team, the division was actually three-pronged: the core group of Solar Bears on ECHL deals, those sent to them by their primary affiliates in Tampa (NHL) and Syracuse (AHL) and the handful who came east from the NHL’s San Jose Sharks and its AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. And if the regular season is any indication, there could be more to come when the 2019 ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs begin Wednesday night at the Amway Center.
Orlando’s Tayler Thompson (7, black jersey) battles South Carolina’s Chase Harrison in an early January game (File photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
“The guys mesh really well off the ice as well as they do on the ice. It’s just a good group of guys. [They are] good people,” Solar Bears forward Troy Bourke, part of the group sent to Orlando by the Tampa/Syracuse affiliation, said following the regular season finale against Jacksonville on Sunday. “There’s no real issues in the [locker] room. Sometimes on teams there are some issues that can cause guys not to like each other but it’s a pretty solid group. I think that kind of helps us on the ice.”
The Solar Bears will need to be functioning as one when they take on the South Carolina Stingrays in the South Division semifinals. If the matchup sounds familiar, it is. The two rivals met in last year’s semifinal round and Orlando, playing as the three seed, swept the Stingrays, the number two seed, in four games for the Solar Bears first ever post-season series triumph.
This time around, the Solar Bears are the higher seed, carrying a 41-25-5-1 record – the second most wins in the seven seasons the team has been in the ECHL along with 88 points, also the second highest total in that time. Orlando’s record was remarkably even when it comes to home and road marks. The Solar Bears posted a 21-13-1-1 mark at the Amway Center and went 20-12-4-0 away from Central Florida.
South Carolina comes in with a 35-31-5-1 record, good for 76 points. They too were consistent when it came to home and road records, going 17-17-2-0 at the North Charleston Coliseum while posting a mark of 18-14-3-1 on the road. The Stingrays had to fight and claw right down to the final minute of the regular season, defeating Atlanta Sunday night to pull even with Jacksonville. South Carolina claimed the third seed based on the second tie breaker – goal differential.
An analysis of the team statistics show some similarities. The first number that stands out is how each team played down the stretch. The Solar Bears were 7-2-1-0 in their final ten games while the Stingrays went 7-3-0-0. Both teams outscored their opponents at home (131-114 for Orlando, 114-112 for South Carolina). Each squad surpassed 1,000 penalty minutes (1,338 for the Solar Bears, 1,055 for the Stingrays).
Then there were other numbers that showed differences. When it came to a breakdown of goals scored by periods, Orlando was strong in the first and second frames, outscoring the opposition 74-73 in the first and 91-78 in the second. South Carolina was better in the second and third periods, outscoring its opponents 73-70 in the second and 80-79 in the third.
Special teams are always a factor in the playoffs and this series will be no exception. The Solar Bears power play struggled at times, going 48-for-297 for a success rate of 16.2 percent, which was 17th best in the league. They were stronger on the road (25-for-143, 17.5 percent) than at home (23-for-154, 14.9 percent). The Stingrays were not any better on the man advantage, going 45-for-289 (15.6 percent, 21st in the ECHL) which broke down to 26-for-155 at home (16.8 percent) and 19-for-134 away from home (14.2 percent).
Where there is a huge difference is on the penalty kill. Just like last year, South Carolina was one of the best, successfully killing off 86.3 percent of its times short (38 goals allowed on 277 chances) with a home success rate of 88.3 percent (113-for-128) and a road mark of 84.6 percent (126-for 149). Orlando was not as good, only killing disadvantages at a rate of 78 percent (73 goals allowed on 332 chances) which broke down to 78.1 percent (118-for-151) at the Amway Center and 77.9 percent (141-for-181) away from the friendly confines.
The teams met eleven times during the regular season and the Stingrays won the season series 6-5, all in regulation. The strangest part of the record was that each side actually did better on the other team’s ice surface as South Carolina went 4-2 at the Amway Center while Orlando was 3-2 at the North Charleston Coliseum. From a special teams standpoint, the numbers were almost even. On the power play, the Solar Bears went 8-for-44 (18.2 percent) while the Stingrays were 10-for-53 (18.9 percent). Flipping over to the penalty kill, Orlando was 43-for-53 (81.1 percent) to South Carolina’s 36-for-44 (81.8 percent).
As far as individuals, Grant Besse (30 goals, 32 assists) led the Stingrays with six goals against the Solar Bears while teammates Jonathan Charbonneau (16 goals, 35 assists) and Tad Kozun (18 goals, 32 assists) led with ten points apiece. On the opposite side of the ice, Colby McAuley (15 goals, 16 assists) led the way for Orlando with five goals and points with nine.
Overall, South Carolina packs an offensive punch with no less than four players over 50 points and seven with ten or more goals. Andrew Cherniwchan topped the list with 29 goals and 38 assists for 67 points to go along with 129 penalty minutes. Cherniwchan can also get under the other team’s skin, as he did back on January 19th when he knocked Solar Bears defenseman Myles McGurty out of a game, drawing much ire from the Orlando team.
On defense, the Stingrays are strong, led by Joey Leach who posted 28 points(3 goals, 25 assists) and a plus-11 rating. Tim Davison (4 goals, 26 assists) and Kevin McKernan (6 goals, 22 assists) also put up points while McKernan had a plus-9 rating. Ryker Killins was late season addition and posted nine points in 14 games while adding a plus-10 rating.
In net, Parker Milner was not that same goalie who was among the league’s best a year ago but he is still a solid netminder. He posted a 19-17-1 record in 2018-19 with a 2.95 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. His partner will be Adam Morrison, who was 6-5 with a 2.87 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.
On the Orlando side of the ice, the Solar Bears had 12 different players with ten or more goals. Mathieu Foget (21 goals, 28 assists) led the way with Bourke close behind with 45 points (11 goals, 34 assists) and a plus-11 rating. Second year player Chris LeBlanc (10 goals, 29 assists, plus-16 rating) was hot in the second half of the season. Rookie Dylan Fitze (14 goals, 13 assists, plus-3 rating) added a spark as will Brent Pedersen (12 goals, 20 assists, plus-10 rating) who is back after spending much of the year in the AHL.
Defensively, Cody Donaghey was the biggest contributor with 15 goals and 28 assists and a plus-2 rating. His co-San Jose prospect, Michael Brodzinski, chipped in with 9 goals and 29 assists and an excellent rating of plus-20. A third San Jose player, Zach Frye, got into 25 games and posted 5 goals and 11 assists to go with a plus-12 rating. Captain Mike Monfredo, who spent some of his time up front, was a plus-10 while scoring 8 goals and adding 28 assists as well as leading the team with 207 penalty minutes. Veteran Akim Aliu played in just 14 games but had 4 goals and 7 assists and a plus-6 rating.
Tending the nets for the Solar Bears will be the tandem of Connor Ingram and Clint Windsor. Ingram, who was assigned to Orlando by Tampa late in the season, showed his talents with a record of 8-2 with a 2.81 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. Windsor, who joined the team during the back half of the season, posted a record of 4-2 with a goals against average of 2.48 and a save percentage of .926.
If the Solar Bears are to replicate last year’s success against the Stingrays, they will have to play as one. Like Bourke, Fitze said that the closeness of the team starts off the ice and has translated over to the play on the ice.
“Everyone on the team likes each other. We talked about it – me, Brodsy [Brodzinski] and Donny [Donaghey] – how whatever happens in the future, if we ever came across any of the guys that are here and we’re playing against them, we wouldn’t hesitate to go out for a meal with any of the guys here,” Fitze said. “I don’t know if a lot of teams can say that. This is my first year pro so I’m kind of experiencing it all for the first time but even some of the guys who were veteran presences at the start of the season said that we had a tight group right from the start. I don’t think that the whole San Jose-Syracuse-rookie-ECHL guys, I don’t think that anyone thinks like that. We’re here, we’re all Solar Bears and we all have one common goal and that is to play for the next couple of months.”
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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