With a new head coach, a number of returning players, as well as some new faces, the South Carolina Stingrays officially kicked off the 2009-10 regular season this weekend, playing host to the Wheeling Nailers and Charlotte Checkers.

After raising the banner for their ECHL-record third Kelly Cup championship, the Rays started anew, beginning their title defense on Friday against the North Division’s Wheeling Nailers. The two teams remained scoreless until the 8:54 mark of the first period, when Rob Ricci scored an even strength goal from third-year pro Matt Scherer. Exactly four minutes later Michael Dubuc, who led the team in goals last year, picked up right where he left off, tallying his first of the season to give the Stingrays a 2-0 lead. Wheeling finally got on the scoreboard at 14:39, when Andrew Lord beat goaltender Todd Ford to cut the lead in half. Twenty-nine seconds later, though, Ricci quickly regained a two-goal advantage on helpers from rookie Jake Hauswirth and Dylan Yeo, who last season ranked among the ECHL’s leading scorers among blueliners. SC capped a four-goal opening stanza at 18:04, when Keith Johnson tipped a Zach Tarkir shot from the left point past Nailers goalie Jordan Parise, upping SC’s lead to 4-1. The power play marker was also assisted by Gregg Johnson, Keith’s older brother, who was added to the roster earlier in the day. Midway through the second Joey Haddad penned Wheeling’s second goal to the scoresheet, making it 4-2. Nikita Kashirsky registered the Rays’ fifth goal of the night at 13:33, once again staking the defending champs with a three-goal edge. Rookie Joe Finley, who earlier dropped the gloves with Wheeling enforcer Thomas Harrison, bagged his first professional point on the lamp-lighter. T.J. Fox hit paydirt at 15:37, sending Greg Puhalski’s club into the second intermission with a 5-3 deficit. Thomas Beauregard got the visitors within one, collecting the only goal of the third period at 15:42. Fox assisted on the marker, as did Casey Pierro-Zabotel, who led the WHL in scoring a year ago. But momentum and a late charge by the Nailers was made difficult when Fox was whistled for tripping at 18:25, enabling South Carolina to hold on for a 5-4 win in Cail MacLean’s head coaching debut. Ford earned the victory with a 24-save effort while Parise, a teammate of the Stingrays’ Finley and Zach Jones at North Dakota, suffered the loss on 26 stops.

The Charlotte Checkers came calling Saturday evening, looking to continue the success they had the previous weekend when the South Division rival took a pair of preseason contests against SC. And with the way things got going for the Rays, it looked to be a long night for Derek Wilkinson’s squad. On the opening shift of the game, Matt Scherer skated into the Charlotte zone unmolested, stopped and unleashed a wrist shot from the top of the left circle, beating Ryan Munce to the top right corner. It was the only offense the Rays would muster on this night, however, as the Checkers held SC to four 1^st period shots, killed all ten penalties, and rallied for three unanswered goals to claim a 3-1 win. Charlotte, who rang up a goal in each period, saw scores from veteran Aaron Slattengren, Tyler Doig, and Ethan Graham. Munce turned aside 22 of 23 shots before leaving the game in the third period with an apparent shoulder injury. His replacement, Colorado Avalanche prospect Billy Sauer, stopped all nine shots in 11-plus minutes of relief. Todd Ford, making his second start in as many games, took the loss with 37 saves on 40 attempts.

The Stingrays will look to revisit the win column this week, getting very familiar with the Gwinnett Gladiators, who they host on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at the North Charleston Coliseum.