South Carolina Stingrays

South Carolina Stingrays
City	North Charleston, South Carolina
League	ECHL
Conference	American Conference
Division	South Division
Founded	1993
Home arena	North Charleston Coliseum
Colors	Navy blue, red, white, silver
Owner(s)	Anita Zucker, Greenwald Family
General manager	Cail MacLean
Head coach	Cail MacLean
Media	WTMZ
Affiliates	Washington Capitals (NHL), Hershey Bears (AHL)
Championships
Regular season titles	1996–97
Division Championships	1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98 regular season, 2000–01, 2007–08 playoffs, 2008–09 playoffs
Conference Championships	1996–97, 2000–01, 2008–09
Kelly Cups	1996–97, 2000–01, 2008–09

The South Carolina Stingrays are an ECHL team based in the city of North Charleston, South Carolina, a suburb of Charleston. Since 2004, the team has been affiliated with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. The Stingrays found success early with an average attendance of over 10,000 fans a game in the early years. Currently, the Stingrays average 5,000 per game, occasionally selling out (10,540) for military night games that are usually played with rivals.

The Stingrays play their home games at the North Charleston Coliseum.

The ECHL team began in 1993 with an ownership group which included Marcel Dionne, but was sold shortly afterwards to a local investment group led by Edward Pearlstine, owner of Pearlstine Distribution, the owner of the local Budweiser Distributor.

The Stingrays are the current ECHL Kelly Cup Champions. The 2009 championship, won following a seven-game final against the Alaska Aces, along with championships in 1997 and 2001, tie them with the Hampton Roads Admirals for the most Kelly/Riley Cup wins in league history. Alongside the Idaho Steelheads, they are one of only two active ECHL teams to win multiple league championships. They are also the first ECHL team and one of three overall to win both a regular season and postseason championship in the same year, with the Alaska Aces (2006) and Cincinnati Cyclones (2008) later accomplishing the feat.

Their current mascot is CoolRay, a stingray that resembles the previous Stingrays logo used from 2000–2008.

Current roster

As of March 30, 2009. Data taken from ECHL website.[1]

GOALTENDERS
#		Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth
30		Jonathan Boutin	L	March 28, 1985	Granby, QC, Canada
47		James Reimer	L	March 15, 1988	Arborg, MB, Canada

DEFENSEMEN
#		Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth
2		Josh Godfrey	R	January 15, 1988	Collingwood, ON, Canada
4		Zach Tarkir	R	June 28, 1984	Fresno, CA, USA
5		Nate Kiser	R	May 4, 1982	Southgate, MI, USA
6		David Grimson	L	May 28, 1984	Mozart, SK, Canada
8		Viktor Dovgan	L	February 27, 1987	Moscow, Russia
8		Lyon Messier	R	August 16, 1987	Dallas, TX, USA
9		Patrick Wellar	L	December 4, 1983	Carrot River, SK, Canada
28		Sasha Pokulok	R	May 25, 1986	Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC, Canada
45		Scott Romfo	L	July 10, 1981	Blaine, MN, USA

FORWARDS
#		Player	Position	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth
7		Spencer Carbery	RW	R	November 9, 1981	Victoria, BC, Canada
16		Michael Dubuc	LW	L	June 29, 1988	Granby, QC, Canada
17		Stefan Della Rovere	LW	L	February 25, 1990	Maple, ON, Canada
18		Pierre-Luc O'Brien	C	R	July 22, 1982	Nicolet, QC, Canada
19		Keith Johnson	F	R	October 21, 1984	Windsor, CT, USA
20		Mick Berge	F	R	February 8, 1985	Oklahoma City, OK, USA
22		Maxime Lacroix	LW	L	June 5, 1987	Quebec, QC, Canada
25		Jeff Corey	RW	R	October 10, 1982	Boothwyn, PA, USA
26		Nikita Kashirsky	F	L	January 24, 1985	Moscow, Russia
27		Travis Morin	C	L	January 9, 1984	Brooklyn Park, MN, USA
42		Matt Scherer	F	R	April 19, 1982	Seattle, WA, USA

Retired numbers

12 - Mark Bavis, who played from 1994–96 when the Stingrays were an affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. Bavis, by then a Los Angeles Kings scout, was killed along with Kings Director of Professional Scouting Garnet Bailey on United Airlines Flight 175 when Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked the airliner, and steered it towards the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The Stingrays retired his jersey before the start of the 2001–02 season.

14 - David Seitz, who played from 1996–2004 and was a popular forward on the franchise with team records in goals, assists, and points, including over 200 goals and 500 points overall, fifth on the ECHL's all-time assists list, and two ECHL Kelly Cups. Seitz's retirement, caused by an ECHL restriction on experienced players on a roster after the Stingrays signed players for a road trip, sent shockwaves through the community.

24 - Brett Marietti. A popular player and former captain, Marietti retired after the 2002–03 season, and management promptly retired his jersey in 2003. Marietti's Tenure as captain ranks among the longest in ECHL history for a player to captain a single team.

Logos

Stingrays secondary, Has a reference to the state flag, which was on the original jersey.

Stingrays tertiary, Has a reflection of the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge.

Stingrays former, 2000–2008

Stingrays original logo, 1993–2000

Quick facts

Founded: 1993–1994

Arena: North Charleston Coliseum (capacity 10,429)

Uniform colors: navy blue, red

Logo design: A stylized stingray swimming upwards.

Affiliates: Washington Capitals (NHL), Hershey Bears (AHL)

Division titles won: 4 regular season (1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01), 2 playoff (2007–08, 2008–09)

Regular season titles won: 1 (1996–97)

League championships won: 3 (1996–97, 2000–01, 2008–09)

External links

• South Carolina Stingrays
• The Post & Courier Stingrays section

v • d • e Sports teams based in South Carolina Baseball CL: Myrtle Beach Pelicans • SAL: Charleston RiverDogs • Greenville Drive • CPL: Columbia Blowfish • Florence Red Wolves Football AIFA: Florence Phantoms • South Carolina Force Hockey ECHL: Columbia Inferno • South Carolina Stingrays Soccer USL-1: Charleston Battery College athletics (NCAA Division I) Charleston Southern • Clemson • Coastal Carolina • College of Charleston • Furman • Presbyterian • South Carolina • South Carolina State • The Citadel • USC Upstate • Winthrop • Wofford