Reign's Kraemer Shining On, Off Ice

Win in pro sports, and fans will come.

But to earn the fans respect, it takes more than just wins and losses. It can take being a part of the community. Doing extra work away from the stadium.

Kyle Kraemer now has a handle on that part of the job.

The Ontario Reign’s fourth-year pro out of St. Louis has become one of the faces of the franchise, especially when it comes to the Reign fans.

“In any pro sports, the fans make the team, right? So without the fans, you don’t have the team,” Kraemer said after Saturday’s 3-2 shootout loss to Stockton. “I like to play in front of a sold-out crowd, it’s the best thing. If you had no fans, and play in an empty arena, it wouldn’t be fun. The fans to me are the most important thing to this organization. We have great support, great fans. To me, it’s like playing in an NHL venue.”

In his third year with the Reign, Kraemer has started to give back to those fans. He pledged five dollars for every goal he scores this year to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital – a total that reached $120 thanks to his first-period goal Saturday. He has become the “president” of the Reign’s Kids Club. And along with the jersey off his back, the winning bidders for his special San Bernardino Valley Humane Society uniform got a dinner date with Kraemer.

Kraemer’s jersey fetched the highest bid of the night -- $2,200.

“It’s for a good cause, raising money, so it’s all … whatever I can do to raise money and help the team out and the foundation, I’ll do it,” he said.

“It’s how you carry yourself. Carrying yourself is very big, and (the fans) can see that.”

And while his off the ice actions are earning him extra respect from the fan base, his play on the ice is also catching their eye. He is second on the team in goals with 26, and points with 59. His 33 assists are tops on the team. All of this coming after he went the first 10 games of the season without a goal.

“I’m just trying to stay focused. Trying to stay positive,” Kraemer said. “There are ups and downs in a season. Every year, I go through a little thing, I guess I’m becoming a little more professional as a player and I’m starting to learn how to stay focused and be a professional hockey player.”

PENALTY PROBLEMS: The Reign had a 2-1 lead after the first period, thanks to goals from Kraemer and Kevin Estrada.

But any momentum the team had disappeared when the buzzer sounded.

That’s when Chris Cloud was penalized for roughing, and started a period-long march to the penalty box.

Ontario was assessed 12 minutes of penalties in the period, slowing any chance of recovering from Matt Bergland’s power play goal with 24 seconds left on Cloud’s carryover penalty.

“We’ve got to learn,” Kraemer said of the penalty parade – of which he was a part of, cited for tripping “It’s a learning process, and I think we are, but it just kind of happened that way tonight.”

SLAP SHOTS: Saturday night’s game was announced as a sell out, as Dwight King bobbleheads were given to the first 3,000 fans through the doors. It was also a benefit night for the San Bernardino Vallley Humane Society. The post-game auction of the special jerseys raised $31,500 -- including $1,000 for Rancho Cucamonga native Branden Parkhouse's game-worn jersey. … The Reign will play at 4 p.m. Sunday at Stockton, and return home Wednesday for a 7 p.m. start against Las Vegas.

You can follow in-game updates on the Ontario Reign on Twitter at @ontreigninsider.