SWAMP RABBITS NEWS AND NOTES CATCH UP
RALLY FALLS SHORT AGAINST GHOST PIRATES
Swamp Rabbits strike twice in second, but couldn’t muster tying strike late
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – Tyson Fawcett scored shorthanded and Kyle Haskins added his first pro goal 85 seconds later in a second-period rally, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Savannah Ghost Pirates, who rode a 3-0 first-period lead to a 5-2 win on Sunday.
Devon Paliani started the early Ghost Pirates rally with his first of two on the game. With 9:58 to play in the first, the puck was turned over in the Swamp Rabbits' zone and worked around for a shot on goal started by Kolby Hay, producing a rebound that Paliani potted to give Savannah a 1-0 lead (Pat Guay and Matt Choupani assisted). Just 2:37 later, a neutral zone turnover sprung a Ghost Pirates two-on-one, leading to Rylan Van Unen notching his first pro goal to double the lead to 2-0 with 7:21 left (Kyle Jeffers assisted). Towards the end of the period, the puck was lost in the Swamp Rabbits' attacking zone, and the Ghost Pirates came up with numbers. Josh Davies scored in transition to make it a 3-0 lead with 1:10 left in the opening frame (Kyle Jeffers assisted).
Hay was removed from the game for Pierce Charleson, playing his fourth game in five nights and third straight. Charleson weathered a second-period storm and got some run support, starting on the first Swamp Rabbits penalty kill. With 8:00 left in the second, the Swamp Rabbits went up on a three-on-one break, with Tate Singleton and Tyson Fawcett leading the charge. Singleton found Fawcett, who uncorked a one-time blast past Ghost Pirates goalie Keith Kinkaid, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Exactly 85 seconds later, Kyle Haskins tucked his first professional goal, powering in transition down the ice past his defender, and squeaked the puck past Kinkaid’s leg to make it 3-2 with 6:35 left in the second (Brent Pedersen and John Parker-Jones assisted).
Charleson continued to weather the storm and kept the Swamp Rabbits in it, but the team was unable to muster a tying strike late. Savannah countered with two empty-net goals from Logan Drevitch and Devon Paliani to end the game 5-2 for the Ghost Pirates.
Kolby Hay suffered the defeat, stopping 11 of 14 shots in the opening frame before being subbed out (1-5-1-0). Pierce Charleson stopped all 25 shots he saw in relief in 39:11 of work.
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SWAMP RABBITS MAKE MULTIPLE SWAPS
Trade and reassignment deadline sees busy days of transactions in the Upstate
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, announced a plethora of Swamp Rabbit Moving Transactions surrounding the ECHL’s assignment and trade deadlines:
- Goaltender Dryden McKay has been recalled by the Ontario Reign and assigned to the ECHL’s Bloomington Bison. As part of the recall/reassignment, the Swamp Rabbits will receive future considerations at the conclusion of the 2024-25 ECHL Season
- Forwards Bryce Brodzinski and Colton Young have been recalled by the Ontario Reign and reassigned to the Norfolk Admirals. As part of the recall/reassignment, the Swamp Rabbits receive forward Stepan Timofeyev and additional future considerations at the end of the 2024-25 ECHL Season
- The Swamp Rabbits have signed forward Ryan O’Hara to his first professional contract
- The Swamp Rabbits have signed goaltender Mattias Sholl to his first professional contract
- The Swamp Rabbits have acquired Kyle Haskins from the Orlando Solar Bears in exchange for future considerations
Timofeyev joins the Swamp Rabbits in the conclusion of his third ECHL season. This year, the 5’9, 190-pound forward has collected 14 goals, 25 assists, and 39 points in 45 games, currently fourth-best in helpers and third-best in team scoring for the Admirals. On November 16th earlier this season, he registered his 100th career ECHL point, a goal, in a 6-2 defeat against Toledo.
From St. Petersburg, Russia, Timofeyev, 29, amassed 129 points (51g-78ast) in 150 games with the Admirals since his signing in December 2022. Before becoming a full-time ECHLer, he suited up in the SPHL with the Birmingham Bulls, Knoxville Ice Bears, and Macon Mayhem, and in the FPHL with the Elmira Enforcers and Port Huron Prowlers. As a rookie in the 2017-18 campaign with Port Huron, Timofeyev garnered Forward of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, racking up 13 goals, 23 assists, and 36 points in 29 games. He played junior hockey briefly in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League, winning the 2016 championship with the Tottenham Steamers and 2017 Team World All-Star honors and North Most Valuable Player accolades while serving as the captain of the Bradford Rattlers.
O’Hara begins his professional career with the Swamp Rabbits following his final NCAA season with Bowling Green State University. The 5’10”, 180-pound forward captained the Falcons in his final campaign and tied his career-high in goalscoring and set new highs in assists and points, culminating in 11 goals, 22 assists, and 33 points in 36 games.
From Oakville, Ontario, O’Hara, 23, earned 36 goals, 53 assists, and 89 points in his 131 games with Bowling Green State. Before going to the NCAA, he played one USHL season with the Waterloo Black Hawks (52gp, 16g-15ast-31pts), and parts of three seasons in the OJHL, primarily spent with his hometown Oakville Blades. With the Blades, he finished just shy of a career point-per-game average (104gp, 101pts), and captured the 2019 OJHL Championship and Dudley Hewitt Cup.
Sholl also signs his first professional contract with the Swamp Rabbits out of the NCAA, coming from Bemidji State University. The 5’11”, 180-pound net-minder concluded his tenure with the Beavers with a 14-17-5 record in 37 games, earning two shutouts to compliment a 2.81 GAA and .897 SV%.
From Hermosa Beach, California, Sholl, 24, put together a lifetime record of 52-51-12 in 117 games, all with Bemidji State, with six shutouts, a 2.58 GAA, and .904 SV%. As a junior in 2023-24, Sholl earned CCHA Goaltender of the Year honors, in addition to CCHA 1st Team All-Star recognition, going 14-8-2 with three shutouts in 24 contests. Prior to going to college, Sholl backstopped the Youngstown Phantoms for one USHL season and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for two NAHL campaigns, earning 2020 Midwest MVP and Goaltender of the Year honors with the latter as part of a 29-8-3 season in 41 games, supplementing his league standing with three shutouts, a 1.99 GAA, and .924 SV%. He is the brother of former ECHLer Tomas Sholl, who claimed ECHL Goaltender of the Year honors in 2020 as a member of the Idaho Steelheads.
Haskins comes to the Swamp Rabbits from the Orlando Solar Bears in exchange for future considerations. The 5’10”, 180-pound forward made his professional debut on March 14th at Jacksonville, going +1 in a 4-1 win over the Icemen. He’s skated four games with the Solar Bears before coming to the Upstate.
A native of Huntington, Vermont, Haskins, 25, turned professional following his last season in NCAA hockey with Canisius College, smoking his career highs with 11 goals, 12 assists, and 23 points in 37 games. Between three seasons at Michigan State University and his final two with Canisius, Haskins racked up 44 points (16g-28ast) in 129 contests. Before going to college, he notched 43 points (23g-20ast) in 106 games over two USHL campaigns with the Waterloo Black Hawks.
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SWAMP RABBITS FALTER IN 3RD PERIOD AGAINST EVERBLADES
Power play stays hot to tie it in the 2nd, but the Everblades score four unanswered in final 20 minutes
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – John Parker-Jones tied the game in the second period in a tightly contested affair, but Jesse Lansdell started a 4-0 run for the Florida Everblades in the final frame to defeat the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 5-1 on Wednesday night. The loss officially eliminates the Swamp Rabbits from Kelly Cup Playoff contention with 10 games remaining in the season.
Both teams skated to a scoreless frame to open up, with a rare low shooting affair of nine combined shots. Florida had five of them, all negated by Pierce Charleson, while the Swamp Rabbits threw four at Cam Johnson of which he stopped.
There was call and response in the middle frame, with both teams leaving 40 minutes level at 1-1. Carson Gicewicz started the scoring entries off with 6:59 to go in the second after the puck was misfired on a pass during a Swamp Rabbits zone entry. It kicked out into neutral ice where Gicewicz picked it up, broke down the right side, and flipped the puck over Charleson’s glove to give the Everblades a 1-0 lead. Moments later, however, the Swamp Rabbits punched back with their red-hot power play, hitting paydirt for a fourth straight game. Under three minutes later with 4:02 to go, John Parker-Jones fired a sharp angle try from the side of the net that went wide of the goal mouth. It pinballed off of Connor Doherty in the crease and past Johnson, squaring the game at 1-1 (Carter Savoie and Tate Singleton assisted).
The game stayed deadlocked until 7:45 of the third when Florida began a 4-0 run to cruise to the win. With 12:15 left, Jesse Lansdell started the run with a net-front tap-in, slipping a Santino Centorame pass behind Charleson to break the deadlock at 2-1 (Centorame and Colin Theisen assisted). Just 59 seconds later, another misfired pass came right to Gicewicz in the slot area, who walked in uncontested toward Charleson and buried his close range try for his second unassisted strike of the night, expanding the gap to 3-1 with 11:16 to play. Dillon Hamaliuk continued the run with 8:20 to go, sending a Centorame pass from behind the net past Charleson on his short side to balloon the lead to 4-1 (Centroame and Sean Allen assisted). The final tally belonged to Alex Kile, who, while falling, rifled off a one-timer from Lansdell’s pass on the left side of the slot to bring the game to its final score of 5-1 with 5:38 remaining in regulation.
Pierce Charleson, making his second pro start in the last three games, stopped 18 of 23 shots in the loss (0-1-1-0).
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SWAMP RABBITS SWAP GOALIES WITH AHL ONTARIO
McKay returns from the Reign, Ingham goes back
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, announced today via Swamp Rabbit Moving Transactions that the team and its AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, have swapped goaltenders. Dryden McKay returns to the Upstate, while Jacob Ingham has been called up to the Reign.
McKay returns to the team for the first time since his call-up to the Reign on February 19th. The 6’0”, 185-pound net-minder played in one game during his recall, falling 5-3 to the San Diego Gulls on March 8th, making 32 saves on 36 shots to split his career AHL record at 1-1-1 in three games with Ontario and Toronto. He returns to the Swamp Rabbits with a 12-17-4-2 record through 35 games, registering a pair of shutouts, a 2.93 GAA, and a .910 SV%.
From Downers Grove, Illinois, McKay is 39-37-9-2 with four shutouts over 92 ECHL games in his three-year career. He turned professional following the 2021-22 NCAA season, where he completed one of the most successful careers in collegiate history. As the backstopper of the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks, McKay 113-20-4 in 140 games, with an all-time NCAA record 34 shutouts, a 1.46 GAA, and a .932 SV%. He was a two-time WCHA Goaltending Champion, three-time All-American, and a three-time finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, becoming the third goaltender in NCAA history to earn college hockey’s highest individual honor while compiling an NCAA single-season record 38 wins. McKay is the son of former NHLer and 1991 Calder Cup Champion Ross McKay.
Ingham heads back to Ontario for the third time this season. The 6’5”, 205-pound net-minder leaves the Swamp Rabbits with a 10-9-0-1 record, two shutouts, a 3.06 GAA, and .916 SV%. Last Friday, he played in his 100th career professional game, and celebrated the milestone with a career-high 50 saves on 51 shots in a 4-1 win against the Kansas City Mavericks.
With the Reign this season, he’s 0-2-0 in a pair of games, and is 6-6-1 in 14 appearances in the AHL lifetime, all with the Reign, along with a 3.34 GAA and .891 SV%. All-time in his ECHL career, entirely spent with the Swamp Rabbits over five seasons, Ingham is 40-32-7 with six shutouts in 87 games.
From Barrie, Ontario, Ingham earned 93 wins in 177 OHL games with the Kitchener Rangers and Mississauga Steelheads, garnering both Second-Team All-Star honors and the Dan Snyder Trophy as the OHL’s Humanitarian of the Year in 2020. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2018 NHL Draft (6th Rd/#175).
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MAVERICKS TAKE THE RUBBER MATCH; HOME POINT STREAK ENDS AT 8
Brodzinski nets two, Swamp Rabbits fall in regulation for first time at home since January 24th
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – Bryce Brodzinski struck twice on the power play, but the Greenville Swamp Rabbits fell to the Kansas City Mavericks in their rubber match by a 5-3 score. The Swamp Rabbits fell for the first time in regulation on home ice since January 24th, and finished the series 1-1-1-0 against the #2 team in the Western Conference.
Kansas City scored twice before Brodzinski answered with his first of two to halve the deficit after one. At 9:26, Damien Giroux buried a bullet on the first Kansas City power play, beating Swamp Rabbits net-minder Jacob Ingham on a cross-ice pass from the right to put the Mavericks up 1-0 (Justin MacPherson and Zack Trott assisted). Almost a minute and a half later, there was a delayed penalty against the Mavericks, prompting Ingham to leave the net for an extra attacker prior to the whistle for a Swamp Rabbits power play. A pass to the offensive blue line misfired and went all the way back and into the Swamp Rabbits empty net, doubling their lead to 2-0 with 9:06 to play (Marcus Crawford was credited with the goal). On the final of four first period power plays, Brodzinski received a Jon Parker-Jones pass, delayed, and rifled home a laser that beat Noah West in the Mavericks net under his glove, getting the Swamp Rabbits on the board at 2-1 with 2:16 to play in the first (Parker Jones and Dustin Geregach assisted).
Both teams traded blows in the second, beginning with Kansas City’s third power play of the game. With 8:50 gone by, Drake Burgin netted his first professional goal from the right side, firing a puck that pinballed on its way past Ingham to stretch the lead to 3-1 (Landon McCallum and Marcus Crawford assisted). Austin Saint sparked back for the Swamp Rabbits with 4:15 remaining in the second, powering down the left wall, forcing himself to the net, and burying a tuck past West to close the gap at 3-2 (Brent Pedersen and Tyson Fawcett assisted).
The Mavericks continued to build consistent insurance and eventually pulled out the win. Landon McCallum tucked home his second goal of the weekend, finishing a two-on-one break down the ice with a backdoor tap-in of a Zack Trott pass, expanding the lead to 4-2 with 4:21 played in the third. Brodzinski answered and breathed more life into the Swamp Rabbits with his second of the game, and power play goal on a rocket of a one-timer to slash the deficit to 4-3 with 5:37 to play (Tate Singleton and Carter Savoie assisted). The Mavericks pushed ahead by two one more time when Luke Loheit got just enough of a Chase Brand rebound poked off of Ingham and in, giving Kansas City an eventual 5-3 win.
Jacob Ingham suffered the defeat, stopping 23 of 28 shots (10-9-0-1).
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PARKER BERGE HEADS BACK TO AHL ONTARIO
All-Star defenseman goes to California for second call-up of the season
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, announced via a Swamp Rabbit Moving Transaction that all-star defenseman Parker Berge has been recalled to the AHL by the team’s affiliate, the Ontario Reign.
Berge heads up to Ontario for the second time this season. The 6’0”, 180-pound blueliner once again leaves the Swamp Rabbits as the team’s leading scoring defenseman, adding a pair of assists in his return to the Upstate to improve his season totals to six goals, 32 assists, and 38 points through 52 games. He made his professional debut on opening night against Orlando on October 18th, registering a two assist game, and was later named to the ECHL’s Eastern Conference Midseason All-Star Team back in January.
From Edmonton, Alberta, Berge turned professional following a five-year career in the major-junior ranks with the WHL’s Regina Pats and Everett Silvertips, earning 100 points (18g-82ast) in 213 games. He signed with the Reign this offseason as an undrafted free agent.
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HOME POINT STREAK PUSHED TO EIGHT IN OVERTIME LOSS TO MAVERICKS
Singleton strikes twice, Charleson pushes Swamp Rabbits to overtime in debut; rubber match tomorrow
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – Tate Singleton hit pay dirt twice, including the tying power play goal with 3:22 left in regulation, and Pierce Charleson made 21 saves in his pro debut, but the Kansas City Mavericks got the second point up for grabs on Landon McCallum’s second point, the overtime winner with 1:25 left in the free hockey session to win 3-2 on Saturday night. The overtime loss extends the Swamp Rabbits home point streak to eight games going all the way back to January 25th against Reading (4-0-3-1).
Kansas City reversed the role in game two of the series, potting the first goal and heading into the intermission with the lead. Just 4:59 in, Zack Trott finished a three-on-one transition sequence created on a neutral zone turnover, dropped back, and fired a shot up the middle that trickled off of Pierce Charleson in net for the Swamp Rabbits, giving the Mavericks an early 1-0 lead on his first professional goal (Damien Giroux and Drake Burgin assisted).
Both teams traded blows in the second, but Kansas City held their lead going into the final 20 minutes of play. Tate Singleton fired home his first of two with 10:04 left in the second period after the puck came to him out of a scrum on the right side. He immediately uncorked a snapshot that froze everyone, including Mavericks goaltender Noah West, tying the game at 1-1 (Bryce Brodzinski and Carter Savoie assisted). However, the Mavericks pulled ahead moments later, and in doing so, ended the Swamp Rabbits impressive penalty killing streak. With 6:28 left in the second, Nathan Dunkley redirected a Landon McCallum shot past Charleson for his first North American professional goal on the power play, ending the Swamp Rabbits run at 29 straight power plays negated to give a 2-1 lead to the Mavericks heading into the third.
The Swamp Rabbits didn’t receive a power play until late in the game, and eventually found their equalizer on the man-advantage. Once again it was Singleton, who banged home a Parker Berge rebound in the slot area, squaring the game at 2-2 with 3:22 remaining (Berge and Carter Savoie assisted).
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