Take two.
Last time in Bakersfield wasn’t very fun for the Ontario Reign. In mid-December, coach Marco Sturm and his group made the trek up to Kern County. They took warmups. They even came out to start the game. Then, there was a slight delay to make some last-minute repairs and adjustments to the glass. What was originally thought to be just a few minute delay eventually ended up being a postponed game. So, back to the dressing room they went. The team changed out of their gear into street clothes, boarded the bus, and headed back down the 5 freeway.
On Wednesday night, both teams will attempt to do it all over again. Only they’re expecting to actually play a game this time around. Hopefully.
For Ontario’s first game of the new year, Sturm appears to be planning on a few lineup changes. Based upon what the Reign were showing at practice this week, Andre Lee looks to be the odd man out among the bottom-6 forwards. Matt Villalta is also expected to start in net, replacing Cal Petersen. Both are interesting moves, as the Reign beat the Condors twice in December — with Petersen backstopping both victories, and Lee scoring a goal in their most recent matchup on December 17.
ONTARIO REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. BAKERSFIELD CONDORS
Andersson – Tynan – Madden
Ward – Turcotte – Fagemo
Quine – Thompson – Dudas
Wagner – Helenius – Chromiak
Björnfot – Spence
Bisson – Grans
Moverare – Gaunce
Villalta
Petersen
Game scratches: Allard, Lee, Nousiainen
Recalled to NHL: Kupari
Returned to ECHL: Inamoto
Out injured: Thomas, Doty
Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30pm PST tonight and the game can be viewed on AHL TV.
RELATED CONTENT:
VIDEO: Hoven on Kings Intermission Report via Bally Sports West
Sturm, McLellan, and Blake Seeing Positive Strides in Reshaping of Ontario Reign
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com
IMHO I have ZERO confidence in the decisions made by Marco Sturm. His scratches make me scratch my head. His line change adjustments are puzzling, the PP which was lethal last season under Hajt and CJ has reverted to what we saw with the Kings last season. He isn’t tough enough on the players especially QB. Lastly, this Reign team laden with talent, should never have the losing streaks we’ve seen this year. One of 6 and presently of 4. Marco Sturm is not a HC.