Superman had Lex Luthor, Batman had the Joker, and the Ontario Reign have that of the San Diego Gulls.
It is perhaps one of the more tiring cliches of hockey to say that two teams don't like each other. This is said about the two parent clubs of the Gulls and the Reign. Truer words may never be spoken about the minor league affiliates though.
It is a series that has spawned several fights, a 12-game suspension, and as many behind the play pokes, scrums, and post-whistle fracases that you could imagine.
And if you think the players don't buy into it, guess again. Earlier in the year captain Kris Newbury said, "I don't like anyone on that team", It was a sentiment later echoed by Brian McGrattan about Ontario, "“I don’t really like anybody on their team, starting from their coach all the way down, not one person on that team."
These are two teams that deep down, REALLY don't like each other. On top of the crazy and perhaps brutal potential series, the scheduling is equally crazy and brutal.
The two teams, separated by exactly 111 miles and an hour and 51 minutes drive (w/o traffic..thanks googlemaps!), will embark on a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 series. That is right, a seven game alternating series with the Reign holding games 1-3-5-7. It is a strange format, but should only add to the grinding tension that this series will feature.
It is not just going to be all grit and guts though. These are two teams that have some highly skilled players to boot. While some Reign-Gulls game can be awful, sloggish affairs, there are plenty of pure thinkers and talents of the game on the ice between the two to make it enjoyable.
With that in mind, let's break down each team, their strengths and weaknesses, and get a feel for what to look for over the next two weeks as these teams take each other on.
San Diego Gulls
The Gulls offense stops and starts with these five players: Brandon Montour, Shea Theodore, Nick Ritchie, Michael Sgarbossa, and Chris Mueller. They make up an immense amount of the San Diego offense, and altogether make their powerplay and ozone time click.
Mueller and Sgarbossa combined all year as a formidable 1-2 punch down the middle, while a group of hit and miss wingers like Noesen and Kerdiles funneled in and out. There was 37 goals and 101 points between the 30-year old AHL vet (Mueller) and the former Avs draft pick (Sgarbossa). While they generally did not get much help at wing in the top six, Ritchie was a consistent contributor when he WAS with the team. He played just 38 games with the Gulls this year between call-ups to the Ducks, and amassed 30 points and 16 goals in that time. He was the highest goal scoring winger on the team, and second in points just behind Stefan Noesen with 32, despite playing almost half as many games. The Gulls also added former NHL player with Buffalo and Columbus, Corey Tropp, and got a healthy Ondrej Kase late in the year to help give another scoring element to their top six wing group. Those two were strong down the stretch to close out the season.
The biggest strength with San Diego might be their center depth. On any given night you are looking at Mueller, Sgarbossa, and then a combination of the extremely underrated Antoine Laganiere, Joseph Cramarossa, and the newly added Chris Wagner. Nic Kerdiles who can play center OR wing is also a player often in the mix for the bottom C group of they do not use him in the top six as a wing. It is a group with a lot of versatility down the middle, and a lot of depth down the middle. The Reign, who have had injury problems in their center group, will be challenged to match up against them outside of top line center Nic Dowd. They do not have much to play with out wide, but down the middle they are as solid as they come.
You also can't talk about the Gulls without talking about the two absolutely dynamic defensemen they have on their roster. Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore are the straws that stir the drink for the Gulls. Theodore is a calming presence. He sees the ice, moves the puck exceptionally well, and plays a very intelligent two-way game. He and Montour quarterback a heck of a powerplay to boot, which was one of San Diego's strengths this season (3rd best powerplay in the league at 20.8%). Montour is the risky spark plug who can sometimes get punished for his aggressive play. However, he certainly gives as much as he gets. He was tied for the team lead in points this season with 57, despite still being an even 0 in plus/minus. He is mobile, elusive, and has a tremendous point shot.
The duo are often split up on the top two pairs, with the steady Jaycob Megna and Andrew O'Brien playing the roles of stay-at-home. Like their center group, this gives them threats across multiple lines and pairs that can be tiring for opponents.
They proved that their offense could outpace that of the highly mobile and aggressive Texas Stars in the first round. They scored an average of four goals a game and ground the Stars into a fine powder over four games.
The remainder of the Gulls lineup is made up of nasty customers. Brian McGrattan, Shane O'Brien, Stu Bickel, and even Chris Wagner and Nick Ritchie get in on the agitation. Their goal is to get opposing teams to lose their cool, and let their immensely powerful powerplay go to work.
Between the pipes the majority of work falls on Anton Khudobin. However, Khudobin was hurt in the last game of the first round series with Texas, and is considered day-to-day.
Another former NHL potential, Matt Hackett, is in line to pick up the work left by Khudobin.
The achilles heel of the Gulls is almost certainly their defense. They gave up an average of 32 shots a game in the first series, and during the regular season the averaged 35 shots against a game. They are a team that bleeds chances to their opponent. At 200 goals against during the regular season, they gave the second most amongst the eight clinched Western Conference teams. Their goaltenders are peppered on a nightly basis. However, they do continue to be good on special teams defensively. They were 19-21 in the first round on the penalty kill, and 11th overall during the regular season.
They are head coached by former Oilers bench boss, Dallas Eakins.
Ontario Reign
By this time you know what the Reign are about.
Defense. Structure. Sound familiar?
They scored the third fewest goals during the regular season, but they gave up the least. They have the best penalty kill in the league, but the 20th ranked powerplay. They give up few shots (Around 22-23 a night), and have a goaltender in Peter Budaj that was league MVP worthy. They often out possess opponents, with heavy offensive zone time logged, but can go hit or miss on their prime scoring chances.
They are, in this regard, their own worst enemy at times with missed opportunities.
From an individual standpoint, this team focuses around no singular player. It is a score, kill, and defend by committee style of team. Yes, they do have standout performers, but it varies by night and by period. This is what makes them a dangerous team. Up and down the lineup there are players on any given night that could come through.
While the major offensive output certainly falls on the shoulders of their three most prominent and productive players, Sean Backman, Michael Mersch and Nic Dowd, there are a lot of Justin Auger's on this roster. Players who might not score every single game, but seemingly elevate when it matters and when the team needs it. The team had nine players in double digit goals, and 12 with 20 or more points. Compare that to San Diego who had eight and eight of each category.
With the Reign having to match up against a strong San Diego center group it is definitely going to be a series that the wing group needs to come through on. The Gulls have a nasty, physical group on the back end, but have questionable quality on the wings. Justin Auger, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Jonny Brodzinski, Adrian Kempe, and maybe even a guy like Joel Lowry, will have to come through with a bit here and there. It will be a tiring series where grinding out shifts against Shane O'Brien and Brian McGrattan will be commonplace. Newbury, Dowd, Brett Sutter, Ryan Horvat, and Andrew Crescenzi make up a workmanlike center group that often dominate the dots and do their fair share on penalty killing.
Defensively the Reign are rock solid, with quality top to bottom. They have NHL caliber players in Kevin Gravel, Derek Forbort, and Jeff Schultz, but also the talented AHL journeyman Vincent LoVerde, and the youthful contribution of Kurtis MacDermid, Kevin Raine, and Nick Ebert. It is a balanced offensive-defensive group, and one that has done the job all year.
Discipline can sometimes be an issue with Ontario, but their top-ranked penalty kill helps take care of it most the time. As stated before, they are their own worst enemies with goal scoring opportunities. They generate a ridiculous amount of shots generally, but can go M.I.A. when it actually comes to converting on those. They probably cannot match the pace of the San Diego offense, but they can certainly pot two or three (four on a really good night) while shutting down their opponent's chances and offense. That is generally the Ontario Reign way.
Keys to the Series
The Reign had a 4-7-1 record against San Diego this year. They gave up three or more goals in every loss to them except for one, and gave up four goals in three of those games. They have had considerable trouble limiting the San Diego offense, but also staying out of the penalty box. From a discipline standpoint, the Gulls are certainly able to get under the skin of the Reign and get them off their game. This will be a major key in this series. The Reign cannot put themselves behind the 8-ball too often, because the powerplay squad quarterbacked by Theodore and Montour will be licking their chops.
The Reign have had offensive outbursts of their own in the victories against San Diego, twice scoring four goals. They often do get chances against their SoCal rivals, but have trouble converting. Cashing in on opportunities given and discipline will be the two major things for them this series.
For San Diego the key is to simply continue doing what they have been doing. Their offensive pace and mixture of agitation and a lethal powerplay has paid dividends. If they can get the goaltending and penalty kill mixture to help continue outpacing opponent's offense, this could be a troublesome series for the Reign. Khudobin gave the Gulls a massive .934 save percentage in the Texas series, but his health is a question going into Game 1. Can San Diego rely on him to be as good as he was in the first series? The other aspect is the depth production. Once the Gulls get passed their top two defensemen and their top two lines, things can dry up for them. While they love the grit and tenacity brought on by their bottom lines, they have to make sure they are playing in a way that benefits them instead of being detrimental. There is a fine balance to this San Diego team, and it can easily turn on its head quickly.
Series gets under way at Citizen's Business Bank Arena tonight (5/7) at 7:00. Strap in because this should be a fun one with as much animosity as a Kings-Ducks series. Remember though, be respectful to your fellow rival fan if you do plan on attending!
No call on this, but the gut feeling is saying it is decided in a long series, probably six or seven games.
Stay tuned for more updates as the series progresses. Also follow along on twitter for live game tweets!
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