The Solar Bears make a Christmas meal of the #2 ranked team in the ECHL by gormandizing the South Carolina Stingrays Sunday night (Dec. 22, 2024) at the Orlando KIA Center!
Sushi isn’t usually the first thing that pops into one’s mind for Christmas dinner, but in the Orlando Solar Bears’ case, bears love seafood! Donning their Christmas Gingerbread Man uniforms, they skated onto the ice Sunday evening in front of a sold-out crowd – only the second time this season the arena has filled to capacity for a Solar Bears home game – and commenced to play what no one expected to be a shutout in the making.
Solar Bears Go Gigging for Stingray
This game was the official Teddy Bear Toss where, when the first Bear goal is scored, the fans all start throwing teddy bears and other stuffed animals and toys onto the ice. They only had to wait 10 minutes into the game when Jarrett Lee scored the Solar Bears’ first goal before the sky started raining 12,121 stuffed toys. (Goal was assisted by Alex Frye and Kris Myllari.) Hudson Thornton then scored the Bears’ second goal of the first period with only 32 seconds before the first intermission assisted by Aaron Luchuk and Spencer Kersten.
Period Two
As one would expect, South Carolina came out with a vengeance. Determined to turn this contest into a game that the second highest ranked team in the league is known for, the Stingrays took 14 shots on Bear goalie Alexis Gravel. All of which were either blocked, caught or just missed the mark altogether and just happened to be the exact same number of shots taken by the Stingrays in the first period. However, after taking a mere nine shots on goal, the Solar Bears extend their lead by two more with Andrew Coxhead and Jack Adams both finding the back of the net (assists by Kelly Bent & Kris Myllari and Hudson Thornton & Aaron Luchuk respectively).
Period Three
Though periods one and two saw its share of fights and penalties, the third period was pretty much a very desperate and angry bunch of Stingrays doing anything they could to just get on the scoreboard. Yet at the end of the game, it was only Spencer Kersten of the Solar Bears who made a beautiful steal in the Stingray’s zone and easily put the puck into a goalie-less net and sealing the shutout.
Solar Bears Goalie #37 Alexis Gravel
Alexis Gravel (pronounced grah-vél), born in Val-des-Sources, Quebec, was awarded the Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for Dec. 16-22. Gravel stopped an ECHL record breaking 52 shots in this game against the Stingrays (which is also a record for most saves in a shutout) and 32 in Saturday night’s game against Savannah with a 3-2 win in overtime. A humble man who always claims the blame of each of his losses, now leads the league with a .938 save percentage.
Solar Bears Next Home Games
Sunday evening’s home game was their last for this year. They head down to Estero, Florida for a three-game road trip before coming back to Orlando for three home games in a row January 3, 4, &7, 2025. There are still plenty of great seats available for each of those game but get your tickets now before those games sell out as well!
