Located in Ontario, California, the Toyota Arena is home to one of the best teams in the American Hockey League (AHL), the Ontario Reign. The Reign currently sit atop of the AHL Pacific Division and the Toyota Arena plays a big role in the team’s success.
With a capacity of almost 10,000, the Reign have the entire Inland Empire behind them and they boast one of the best home records in the entire AHL.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, I had the luxury of watching the Ontario Reign host the San Jose Barracuda, the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s San Jose Sharks, my favorite NHL team. Despite both teams being Pacific Division rivals and fighting for playoff spots, the game was extra momentous as it was Black Heritage Night.
In preparation for the occasion, I wore my Sharks Black History Month practice jersey, an item I found at a thrift store in Monterey, California, on top of my Barracuda shirt. As I arrived at my seat, I made it just in time for the playing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” A nice touch from the organizers of the event.
The song was followed by the traditional playing of the national anthem. Then, it was time for puck drop. I couldn’t wait. As a diehard Sharks fan, there hasn’t been much to root for the past few years. However, the years of losing have beefed up the team’s prospect pool and I was very excited to watch a handful of potential future Sharks in person.
Guys like Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund and Will Smith are already in the NHL. Nevertheless, the Barracuda are still littered with young and hungry players. This group includes Thomas Bordeleau, Luca Cagnoni and Filip Bystedt. But the player I really wanted to see was Yaroslav Askarov, the Russian goaltender the Sharks paid a premium to acquire from the Nashville Predators this past offseason.
Askarov has been hyped up as one of this generation’s best goalie prospects, but unfortunately, he’s been dealing with a lower-body injury. Instead, former University of Vermont goalie Gabriele Carriere took his place.
Despite this loss in net, the Barracuda had plenty of reasons to come out with a win. These two teams had played each other just three days prior at the TechCU Arena in San Jose. The Reign left the Bay Area with a 6-3, so a payback victory would be extra sweet for the Barracuda.
Yet, from the opening minutes of the first period, it appeared that this game would be a repeat of its predecessor. The Reign dominated offensive zone time and continuously peppered Carriere with shots. The former Vermont Catamount was up to the test, stopping every shot that came his way.
Carriere was sharp early on, but his teammates were not. The Barracuda struggled with breaking out of their defensive zone as the Reign’s neutral zone trap was working wonders. This sustained pressure in San Jose’s own zone riled up the home crowd.
They would have more reason to cheer after Barracuda defenseman Braden Haché was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Screams of “Get in the shed!” erupted around the Toyota Arena as the Reign were about to go on the power play.
They’d come up empty on the man advantage, but the Barracuda were still pinned in their own zone. This led the Barracuda to play dump and chase hockey. As I was sitting behind the Reign goal, I got an up-close view of some big hits from the Barracuda forecheckers. The biggest of them came from the 5’ 9” Bordeleau. The young forward constantly threw his body around with reckless abandon.
This strategy led to plenty of post-whistle scrums as the tension on the ice started heating up. The physical nature of the game gave the Barracuda some momentum, but they were unable to capitalize on their chances in the first period.
The Barracuda seemed destined to break the deadlock in the second period. San Jose’s checking line created a couple chances for Mitchell Russell, but he was denied both times by Reign goaltender Phoenix Copley. Then, Cagnoni rifled a wrister off the post. Eventually, the Barracuda found the goal they had been so desperately looking for.
A beautiful tic-tac-toe play from forwards Andrew Poturalski and Ethan Cardwell gave Bordeleau a wide-open one-timer off the rush. The former Michigan Wolverine made no mistake and buried his chance.
I was initially a little shy to celebrate Bordeleau’s goal since I was sitting in front of perhaps the biggest Reign fan in the entire stadium. He was decked out in Reign gear and would initiate every “Go Reign Go!” cheer. He even brought a cowbell with him to further enhance the atmosphere in the arena.
Fortunately, he was very respectful and didn’t give me any trouble. In fact, the two of us laughed off the whole situation as I celebrated one of my favorite Sharks prospects giving the Barracuda a 1-0 lead to end the second period.
In the tightly contested third and final period, both teams continued to push, shove, and exchange words with each other. A couple fights almost broke out, but the referees were quick to break the players up, much to the disappointment of myself and every other fan in the Toyota Arena.
All the Reign fans would have to get used to the disappointment as the Barracuda quickly made it 3-0. First, it was Cardwell who pounced on a loose puck in the slot. Then, Russell finally capitalized on a chance off a beautiful feed from teammate Rem Pitlick.
These two quick goals completely changed the outlook of the game, but didn’t deflate the spirit of the Reign. They kept looking to break the shutout as their passionate fans continued to cheer them on. However, Carriere was sharp the whole game and he looked destined to earn his first career AHL shutout.
As the seconds ticked away, it seemed Carriere would fulfill this destiny. But with less than a minute left, Ontario’s Andre Lee and San Jose’s Scott Sabourin were each awarded game misconducts for their scrap on the ice after the referee’s whistle. Sabourin also picked up a minor penalty for cross-checking on the play, which was served by Bordeleau.
Lee’s wrestling match with Sabourin inspired his teammates and the fans finally had something to cheer for. The Reign would capitalize on the ensuing power play via a Martin Chromiak one-timer. Carriere’s shutout was spoiled, but his performance was still worthy of the first star and a 3-1 revenge victory for the Barracuda.
Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at the Toyota Arena. Not only did I get to see my favorite AHL team beat one of their fiercest rivals, but I also witnessed the diehard fanbase of the Ontario Reign firsthand.
Despite never once leading the entire game, the Reign faithful backed their team the whole way. The fans were able to tilt the ice in their favor and this especially showed early in the first period. If Carriere hadn’t stood on his head for 60 minutes, this could have easily been another big win for the Reign.
Since this game, the Reign have gone undefeated at home and look primed to make a deep run in the Calder Cup Playoffs. If they do win their first Calder Cup this year, the Ontario Reign will put the Toyota Arena and the Inland Empire on the hockey map.
