YouTube Tuesday: Blades vs. Rays

Last Tuesday was so much fun I had to try it again. The South Carolina Stingrays are one of the Everblades oldest divisional foes, with a regular season record against the Everblades of 45-41-9. They haven't had as much luck against the Blades in the post season losing three years in a row to the Eveblades. Their only post season win against the Blades came from the 08-09 season that saw them clinch the Kelly Cup for a third time.

The team was founded in 1993, the Stingrays are one of the oldest and most successful teams in the ECHL. They often lead the league in attendance. That doesn't mean they haven't been involved in some controversy though.

(Before we go any further I'm going to point out that this is an Everblades blog run by an Everblades fan, Stingrays fans might want to skip this)

The team faced an investigation from the league for their actions leading up to and during their 96-97 championship season. The ECHL discovered that the team had used money from the Charlestons youth hockey program to help pay their players. At the time, the team was already at the maximum payroll allowance. The money they received , about $23,000, covered about 18% of their payroll at the time. In the end, the was fined $50,000 by the ECHL and their coach was suspended for 6 games. If you're interested more information can be found here and here.

Since 2004 the Stingrays have been affiliated with the Washington Capitals, and their AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears. They have always fielded a fast, skilled team. Games between the Stingrays and Everblades are always heated affairs. Often this means some pretty good fights.





I'm not really sure why, but the we won't be seeing the Stingrays in Germain until March. By then, the Blades will have played eight games in Charleston. Whatever the reason, I can't wait. It's going to be good.