The Ontario Reign were a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team from

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

that played in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

. Their home arena was the

Citizens Business Bank Arena Toyota Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Ontario, California, United States. The arena hosts local sporting events and concerts and is suitable for indoor events, including basketball, ice hockey, ice shows, boxing, graduation ceremonies and con ...

. They were affiliated with two

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

teams: the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

were the team's primary affiliate, and the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

were the secondary affiliate. In 2015, the franchise moved to

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...

, to become the

Manchester Monarchs Manchester Monarchs may refer to: *Manchester Monarchs (AHL) (2001–2015) *Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) The Manchester Monarchs were a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL which began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Manchester, New ...

while the

Monarchs A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

moved to Ontario and became the

Reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Andorra), of a people (e.g., the Franks, the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g., Catholicism, Tibetan Buddhism, N ...

as part of the AHL's plan to create a Pacific Division.

Team history

Huntington Blizzard/Texas Wildcatters years and becoming the Reign

The Reign started as the Huntington Blizzard in 1993. After the 1999–2000 season, the team went dormant until 2003, when new owners bought the team and moved it to

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

as the

Texas Wildcatters The Texas Wildcatters, who took their name from Texas wildcatters, were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Beaumont, Texas. They played their home games at the Ford Arena. The franchise previously played in Huntin ...

. The team played as the Wildcatters until they were unable to secure an arena lease in Beaumont in 2008. On February 26, 2008, the team announced its plan to relocate to Ontario for the 2008–09 season and became the Ontario Reign. The team's logo was unveiled on March 17, 2008.

Ontario Reign

Citizens Business Bank Arena photo D Ramey Logan

During the 2008–09 regular season, the Reign went 38-29-4-2 and captured the 2008–09 Pacific Division championship. However, their success was short lived as they lost in round one of the playoffs to the Stockton Thunder. Head Coach Karl Taylor finished second in the

John Brophy Award The John Brophy Award goes to the ECHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success as voted by the coaches of each of the ECHL teams. The John Brophy Award has been awarded since 1988-89 ECHL season, 1989. The award is named a ...

balloting for ECHL Coach of the Year, losing to

Trenton Titans The Trenton Titans were a professional minor league ice hockey team that played in the ECHL. The team last played in the Atlantic Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Titans played their home games at the Sun National Bank Center in Tren ...

' head coach Rick Kowalsky. The Reign had a total attendance of 210,801 at 36 home games, an average of 5,856 per game, making it second-highest in the league. Kyle Kraemer lead the franchise in goals scored for the Reign. During the 2009–10 regular season, the Reign went 31-31-3-7 and despite being a playoff contender until almost the last regular season game, they were unable to secure a playoff berth. The Reign had a total attendance of 232,223 at 36 home games, an average of 6,451 per game and over 10% higher than the previous season. This was more than enough to capture the league attendance record for the season. In the 2010–11 regular season, the Reign went a dismal 27-39-2-4, including losing their first 15 home games. The season was marred by numerous injuries, illnesses, trades and a few players defecting to European hockey leagues. Despite their hopes for a late-season recovery, they were never a playoff contender and missed the playoffs for the second straight year. Despite their poor season on the ice, the attendance at 36 home games was an amazing 240,596, an average of 6,683 per game and over 3% higher than the previous season. For the second straight season, the Reign captured the league attendance record despite the poor on-ice performance. Head coach Karl Taylor, who had been with the franchise since its inaugural year in Ontario, signed with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

of the AHL as an assistant coach. He left Ontario with a 96-99-22 record. On August 23, 2011, the Reign announced that

Jason Christie Jason Christie (born April 25, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is currently an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. He was previously the head coach of the Bloomington PrairieThunde ...

would succeed Taylor as head coach for the 2011–12 season. On August 24, 2011, the team announced that Christie would be joined behind the bench by former

defenseman and assistant coach Mark Hardy. The Reign finished the 2011–12 season with a franchise-best 43-21-5-3 record and clinched their second Pacific Division title.

Team name

The name was derived from an

abstract noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...

related to

royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...

. Its name follows the pattern the Kings have established with the AHL affiliate the

. The name was chosen from a contest held by the team's website, where over 600 entries were submitted. Mike Brewster of

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional h ...

submitted the winning entry.

Players

References

External links

Ontario Reign official site

intotheboards.net – Ontario Reign
{{ECHLdefunct 2008 establishments in California 2015 disestablishments in California Defunct ECHL teams Ice hockey clubs established in 2008 Ice hockey teams in California 2 Ontario Reign Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2015 Sports in Ontario, California Sports in San Bernardino County, California Sports in the Inland Empire Winnipeg Jets minor league affiliates