Much like their NHL parent, the San Jose Barracuda are having a rather difficult 2023-24. With only 11 games remaining on their regular season schedule, they’re battling to stay out of last place in the AHL.
“Yeah, he’s a liar!” Akil Thomas didn’t hold back when we asked about rookie Franky Pinelli this week. To reverse a few steps and set the scene properly, just moments earlier, Pinelli – a first year pro in the AHL – was talking about some fun he and his teammates have been having recently.
The Bakersfield Condors are coming, and they’re coming in hot. Sitting just one point behind the Reign in the Pacific Division standings, each team has won seven of their last 10 games; pushing to secure third place and home ice in Round 1 of next month’s Calder Cup playoffs.
Overall, things are going pretty well for coach Marco Sturm and his Ontario Reign right now. They picked up points in 10 of the 11 games played in the past 30 days, securing a season-high eight wins along the way.
After eight straight wins, the Reign have put themselves solidly in a playoff position, so nobody around the team has been hanging their heads after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss in San Diego.
This year’s Ontario Reign team is on the verge of something special, and they’re doing it without a full compliment of Kings prospects. Coach Marco Sturm’s squad arrives in San Diego tonight for a matchup with their longtime rival in the San Diego Gulls — in fact, for years it was the AHL’s best rivalry.
Maybe — just maybe — the tide is turning for coach Marco Sturm and the Ontario Reign. Winners of three straight, there seems to be some pep in everybody’s step right now.
For the first of three games at home this week, the Ontario Reign will host the visiting San Jose Barracuda at Toyota Arena on Tuesday night. On the surface, results thus far this season would suggest coach Marco Sturm and his squad should have this game firmly under control.
Last season is a distant memory at this point when it comes to the longstanding Reign-Gulls rivalry. One year ago, Ontario dominated their Pacific Division neighbors to the south, posting a 6-1-1 record in their eight-game season series.
For the finale of this weekend’s back-to-back set in Tucson, perhaps the biggest question on Reign coach Marco Sturm’s mind is — ‘Can my team simply repeat
Marco Sturm wears many hats as head coach of the Ontario Reign. However, his most important role isn’t measured via wins or losses in the AHL standings, it’s about player development.
Marco Sturm has seen quite a lot during his time in Los Angeles. Back in 2010, during his playing days, there was an on-again, off-again trade that brought him here from Boston; that seemed to drag on for weeks.
For Ontario coach Marco Sturm, Friday night probably could not have gone much better, as the Reign skated to a dominating 5-1 victory over the Pacific Division leading Roadrunners in Tucson.
Sturm has been a member of the Kings organization since 2018-19, serving as an assistant coach in that timeframe.
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