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Stingrays Week 23 Recap: How the South Was Won

After 72 games against 16 different teams, the South Carolina Stingrays ended the season on a 16 game run without losing in regulation.

The Rays also ended the year with no shortage of league accolades. Goaltender Vitek Vanecek ends his first professional season as Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Month (March), ECHL Rookie of the Month (November), and the netminder on the All-Rookie Team. Defenseman Joey Leah added a +5 from this week to his league-best +40, earning the AMI Graphics Plus Performer of the Year.

The last time a Stignray won the +/- race was Travis Morin with a +37 in 2008-09, the last season the Rays won the Kelly Cup.

The team finished a three game slate last week with three wins, all coming by multi-goal margins. First up was the last of 13 matchups with the Atlanta Gladiators.

The mid-weel tilt had nothing exciting to speak for until Caleb Herbert and Ian Barteaux dropped the gloves halfway through the first period. Herbert got the worst end of the bout, taking around 14 hits before landing two of his own.

Herbert got the last laugh twenty seconds into the third, taking a puck that squibbled off the disintegrated stick of Max Everson two-thirds up the ice by himself before roofing his eighth ECHL goal past Matt Ginn.

Another stick issue cost the Gladiators a goal eight minutes later. With his stick far out of reach, Ginn took teammate Luke Shiplo’s stick to defend the Stingrays attack. Austin Fyten then flipped his shot to the stick side, sensing vulnerability, for the 2-0 advantage.

Herbert completed his Gordie Howe Hat Trick with an assist on David Pacan’s empty-netter. Vanecek finished the shutout with 24 saves, elimiating Atlanta from playoff contention.

In the final weeked series of the regular season, South Carolina ventured north to face the Norfol Admirals, firm in their fate of missing the post-season.

Braden Chirstoffer danced around Bobby Shea for a mini-breakaway goal and Greg Chase broke past three defenders for a five-hole shot past Mark Dekanich. All three Rays defenders converged on Danick Gautier, who got the primary assist with his pass.

Shea, late in the period, tossed the puck looking for a teammate to tip it in the zone while he went off for a change. Pacan did, fetched the tip, worked a shot on net where Fyten cleaned up the rebound. Shea did not get a plus for being on the ice, but did earn an assist.

From the 19:10 marker, the floodgates opened and the Rays released the river of offense. Shea, again, hit Fyten with a two-line pass to spring him into the Admirals’ zone. His wrap around bid failed, but the rebound came right to a crashing Herbert for his ninth goal. After 30 seconds of second period action, it was clear who would win the game.

Kelly Zajac scored ECHL goals seven and eight before the teams switched sides for period number three, yielding two more Stingrays goals from Joe Devin (PP) and Herbert.

The win secured a banner to be hung at North Charelston Coliseum for the South Division Champions. Dekanich stopped 27 of 29 shots on that night, and would stop 21 more for a 5-4 win, his 20th of the year, on the rematch the next night.

Zajac reversed the fortunes of South Carolina, putting the Rays out in front. He tipped in a behind-the-net feed from Derek DeBlois.

Dekanich would stop a Ryan Salkeld shot, but the rebound went in off Matt Cope. The former Robert Morris standout had the puck bank in off his upper-body for his first professional goal. Chase scored moreconventionally, off a rebound on the power play, to give Norfolk a lead.

On a carry-over man-advantage, the Stingrays would strike back for the equalizer. Gabriel Verpaelst attempted to clear the zone after dispossesing Stephan Vigier. The pass hit DeBlois in the slot, who responded in kind by blasting a slapshot past Nic Riopel.

Jared Staal’s 12th of the year was bookended by Joe Devin’s 17th and 18th (EN) to give South Carolina five goals. Maxime Legault scored a late one, but the comeback effort stopped there.

By virtue of the Toledo Walleye winning in overtime Friday — in a schedule make-up — and losing Saturday, both against the Kalamazoo Wings, South Carolina finished second in the East.

The end result pits them against an unfamiliar foe: a #2 seed playing the #7 Kalamazoo Wings. It will be the first matchup of the franchises since March 7th, 2014, a 6-0 thrashing by the Wings in Kalamazoo.

The playoffs will begin Friday in Kalamazoo. Despite technically having home-ice adavantag, the Rays have to play the first three games of the series on the road as the circus is coming to town Wednesday and will stay until Sunday.

The Rays look to add Kelly Cup number five to their franchise history.

FINAL STANDING

44-18-7-3, 98 Points, 2nd in East, South Division Champions

Max Wolpoff

Churchill High School graduate (2015) and current Boston University journalism student. Follow me on Twitter (@Max_Wolpoff) for game-day tweets or my random musings about being a college student.

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