Game Preview: Swamp Rabbits at Stingrays, 7:05 PM
Published on December 5, 2020 under ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Tonight, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits kickoff the 2020-21 regular season against their in-state rival South Carolina Stingrays. Both teams are slated to meet four times in the first 10 games of the new campaign.
Greenville Swamp Rabbits (0-0-0-0) at South Carolina Stingrays (0-0-0-0)
December 11, 2020 | 7:05 PM | Game #1 | North Charleston Coliseum
Referees: Sean MacFarlane (4)
Linesmen: Shane Gustafson (87), Daniel Iulianello (65)
Broadcast Information:
WATCH LIVE: https://www.flohockey.tv/
LISTEN LIVE: https://mixlr.com/swamp-rabbits
GAME ONE:
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits begin a new 72-game schedule tonight and their 11th season in the Upstate. The first 10 games of the schedule features four meetings with the Stingrays, two games against Florida next weekend and a road trip to Indy on January 8-9. On Greenville's opening night roster of 26, eight players are awaiting their professional debut. Swamp Rabbits Head Coach Andrew Lord will also be making his ECHL coaching debut after six seasons with the Cardiff Devils in the United Kingdom. Since 2014-15, Lord posted a 221-75-22 record with Cardiff and sits as the winningest coach in Devils history.
PRESEASON REMATCH:
The Swamp Rabbits and Stingrays met for a preseason dress rehearsal on December 5 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena with South Carolina claiming a 6-3 victory. Dan DeSalvo scored for the Stingrays at the 35 second mark of the opening stanza and added a shorthanded tally at 3:08 of the second period. Only 51 seconds later, Mike McNamee struck on the power play for Greenville to cut their deficit in half. The Stingrays countered with strikes from Cameron Askew at 9:43 and a 5-on-3 power play goal from Cole Ully at 18:06. Both clubs traded a pair of goals in the third period with Kamerin Nault and Matt Wedman scoring for the Swamp Rabbits to bookend strikes from Ully and Mark Cooper.
LAST SEASON-SERIES:
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits danced eight times last season with the South Carolina Stingrays and finished 2-4-1-1. In the season-series, returning Swamp Rabbits forward Kamerin Nault posted four points (one goal, three assists) in six games. Goaltender Ryan Bednard appeared in net twice against the Rays and sported a 0-1-1 record with a 2.38 goals against average and .923 save percentage. Mark Cooper led South Carolina in scoring against Greenville with eight points (three goals, five assists) in five meetings. South Carolina returning captain Andrew Cherniwchan also contributed four goals and tallied an assist in eight games.
CARLISLE FOR 300:
Tonight will mark professional game #300 for Chris Carlisle in his Swamp Rabbits debut. Carlisle posted 21 points, all assists, last season in 55 games with Budapest MAC in Slovakia. One season prior, the 25-year-old defenseman made American Hockey League stops in Belleville, Providence and Grand Rapids, in addition to producing 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) in 44 contests with the Manchester Monarchs. Entering tonight, Carlisle has appeared in career 46 ECHL games and 153 at the AHL level. The former Oshawa General was an every day blueliner for the Binghamton Senators in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
OPENING NIGHT HISTORY:
Greenville enters tonight sporting a 3-6-1-0 record in their last 10 opening nights dating back to 2010-11. Last season, the Swamp Rabbits defeated the Jacksonville Icemen in their opener, 4-3 in overtime, with Nathan Perkovich scoring the sudden-death winner. Since 2016-17, the last four openers have all been decided by one goal. Tonight also marks the first time since 2016-17 the Swamp Rabbits kickoff a new season on the road. On October 14, 2016, Greenville fell to the Florida Everblades by a 3-2 count.
ECHL Stories from December 5, 2020
- Game Preview: Swamp Rabbits at Stingrays, 7:05 PM - Greenville Swamp Rabbits
- Rays Earn 6-3 Victory in Exhibition Outing - South Carolina Stingrays
- Solar Bears Fall 4-0 to Everblades in Preseason Finale - Orlando Solar Bears
- Blades Finish Preseason on High Note - Florida Everblades
- Team Black Edges Team White in Intrasquad Scrimmage - Wheeling Nailers
- IceMen Announce Additions to Training Camp Roster - Jacksonville Icemen
- ECHL Transactions - December 5 - ECHL
- Stockton Assigns Goalie Andrew Shortridge to Kansas City - Kansas City Mavericks
- Game Preview: Solar Bears at Everblades - Orlando Solar Bears
- Final Preseason Preview - Florida Everblades
- Thunder Signs Former Niagara Forward Curran - Wichita Thunder
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