Kyle Garcia 
The Ontario Reign ended the season with a 2-0 loss to the Abbotsford Canucks. Now, they turn their attention to the Calder Cup playoffs.
See you in the playoffs, Reign fans! 💜 pic.twitter.com/LsEnPPuBnT
— x-Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) April 19, 2026
Goal Breakdown
First period:
ABB: Ben Berard (19), ASST: Cooper Walker (4)
ABB: PP Bennett Schimek (5), ASST: Ty Mueller (20), Jack Thompson (19)
Second period:
None
Third period:
None
Stats
Goals:
ABB: 2
ONT: 0
Shots:
ABB: 19
ONT: 25
Power plays:
ABB: 1/4
ONT: 0/5
Here are the takeaways from Saturday night’s 2-0 defeat:
Regular season over, attention turns to playoffs
That’s a wrap on the 2025-26 regular season for the Ontario Reign. In a season with plenty of first and second-year players on the roster, the Reign set a franchise record in wins (47) and points (99).
It wasn’t a flashy team by any means. It was a collective team effort to get to this point. It is why they are the Pacific Division champions. Now, those numbers won’t help come playoff time. The page has turned, and Ontario will have its sights set on making a deep playoff run and hoping to capture the Calder Cup.
Their opponent won’t be determined until the first round is over, but from what we know about how the standings have shaped out, they will be playing a team from California.
Game 1 starter not yet confirmed
If the Reign didn’t win the division, the odds of Erik Portillo being the Game 1 starter in the first round would’ve been high. However, with the bye week looming, Head Coach Andrew Lord seemed non-committal in tipping his hand.
We have a great number of goalies in our organization, and we have a really long wait (10 days), so a lot can happen between the Kings and prospect-wise. We’ll see,” said Lord after the game on who the Game 1 starter would be.
If the Kings get ousted quickly by the Avalanche before the Reign’s playoff run even begins, Pheonix Copley, recalled by the Kings Saturday morning to serve as the third goalie, will be headed back to Ontario.
Then you have highly touted prospects in Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George as well. In the end, I would expect Erik Portillo to be the first option and Copley the second (if he is back by then).
A year of growth
Glenn Gawdin, Cole Guttman, and Nikita Alexandrov highlighted most of the season, but several prospects made a name for themselves, too. Kenny Connors wrapped up his rookie season with 41 points in 65 games and played an excellent two-way game as Ontario’s second and third-line center.
Martin Chromiak, in his fourth season, finally put it together and had a breakout year with 28 goals (12 on the power play) and 56 points in 71 games. Jared Wright, although he is up with the Kings, had an impressive season in Ontario as a bottom-six forward and penalty killer. Koehn Ziemmer and Francesco Pinelli also had a solid second half of the season despite not racking up a ton of points.
The Reign will need all of these players to continue making contributions if they expect to go on a deep playoff run.
NOTES:
*Joe Hicketts played in his 600th professional game.
Congrats Mr. 6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 🤩👏 pic.twitter.com/udlMZwL0iD
— x-Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) April 19, 2026
*Ontario got shutout for the third time this season.
UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will have a bye week in the first round. Their first-round opponent is TBD, but will be one of the following four teams: Bakersfield Condors, Coachella Valley Firebirds, San Jose Barracuda, or San Diego Gulls. Stay tuned, as I will provide more information throughout the week on Ontario’s possible matchups and a series preview once their opponent is determined.
Featured image credit: Megan Sanders/Ontario Reign