Reign Not Focused Beyond This Weekend

THIS ENTRY HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH NEW INFORMATION.

The last time the Ontario Reign visited Idaho, it didn’t go well.

Stopping in Boise for games four and five of a seven-game road trip in October, the Reign were thrashed in back-to-back games 7-2 and 6-2.

But as the Reign go into Idaho for three games this week, starting tonight, there’s no sense of needing to prove themselves after the early season performance.

“We know going into Idaho, even from last year in the playoffs, it’s not an easy building to win in,” said Reign captain Derek Couture after last Friday’s game against Stockton. “We’ve just got to go in there with the mentality that we’re going to play our game. And we’re all in it, we’ll see what happens.”

The Reign are already guaranteed at least the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference as the winners of the Pacific Division. But they still have a shot to overtake Alaska for the best record in the league. The Reign trail the Aces by six points in the standings with six games to play (including two to against Alaska to close the season) and a game in hand.

It may be an outside shot, but it’s not something that the players are focusing on at this point, Couture said.

“I can’t speak for everybody in the room, but most of the guys, we don’t even look at that kind of thing,” he said. “Who cares if we’re locked in the two spot? All we care about is getting better and preparing for the playoffs.”

It’s a sentiment his coach agrees with.

“Right now we’re trying to work on things and prepare ourselves,” coach Jason Christie said last week. “We’ve played good the last couple of games. We’re going through it a little bit right now, and it just makes you a better man when you figure it out.”

And the Reign got some lessons on figuring it out thanks to the lockout, Couture said. The captain said watching players such as Devin Setoguchi, Kyle Clifford and Paul Mara recover from mistakes was good for the players to see.

“Having those guys presence in the room, you can tell that those kind of players don’t get rattled, easily knocked off their stack,” Couture said. “Even they make mistakes down here. We all watched them play and they made mistakes but they didn’t let it bother them and they just continued to play.”

The Reign’s three games in Idaho are tonight, Friday and Saturday. All games start at 6:10 p.m.

NOT IN IDAHO: Two members of the Reign didn’t make the trip up to Idaho, and not because of injuries.

Chris Cloud left the team this past weekend and had his rights suspended by the team. He appeared in 47 games with the Reign, scoring three goals and notching four assists. It was his second season with the team.

Also not with the team is goaltender Dustin Carlson, who was released Tuesday. Carlson, who has been signed by the Reign multiple times this season to fill voids in net caused by call-ups and injuries, played in 10 games with a 2.92 goals against average and .877 save percentage.

Troy Redmann is still on the team’s active roster, and Chris Carrozzi will likely be activated after being injured two weekends ago.

UPDATE: Well, Carrozzi's not ready to go after all. Wednesday afternoon, the Reign announced the signing of goaltender Mike Condon out of Princeton University. Condon posted a 0.923 save percentage and 2.48 goals-against average in 24 games for Princeton this season, finishing his collegiate career with a 2.66 goals against and three shutouts in 51 appearances.

The Reign also signed right wing Jake Hauswirth from the Central Hockey League's Arizona Sundogs, where he scored 15 goals and 13 assists in 44 games.

PLAYOFFS: While the Reign are still waiting to see who they will play in the first round, they have announced tentative dates for the first round.

The best-of-seven first round series is scheduled to start April 2 and April 3 at Citizens Business Bank Arena. While the April 2 date is still tentative, there will be a game no matter what on April 3, Reign officials said.

The series then will shift to the opponent’s arena for the next three games. Games 6 and 7, if necessary, will return to Ontario on April 12 and 13.

Tickets are already on sale through the Reign.

LAST HOMESTAND: The Reign will finish the season March 29-30 against the Alaska Aces.

The March 29 game will be Star Wars Night, with characters wandering the concourse for pictures. It’s also “Tannerhead Night,” as the Be The Match registry will be taking new registrants in memory of hockey fan Tanner Raobin. There is a special group ticket set up for the game at this link, where $7 of each ticket sold will be donated to Be the Match. The promo code is TANNER. The folks at Los Angeles Kings blog Life in Hockeywood are helping to organize the event.

The season finale will be Fan Appreciation Night, with prizes given out to sections all night, including a Toyota Tacoma.