Minnesota natives Travis Morin (Osseo), Johann Kroll (Wayzata), Scott Romfo (Blaine) celebrated a league championship, the Kelly Cup, together for their ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) hockey team, the South Carolina Stingrays. The Stingrays are an affiliate of the NHL's Washington Capitals.It took a seven game series but the Stingrays prevailed over the Alaska Aces 4-2 on Friday night at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska. Stingrays center Morin scored an assist on the first goal of the final game. The 25-year-old Morin (6'2", 195 lbs) finished as the fourth leading scorer in the ECHL playoffs by scoring four goals and assisting on 18 others in 19 playoff games. He finished third in scoring in the league during the regular season. He scored 26 goals and 62 assists in 71 games. He was the highest scoring Minnesotan in the league.
ECHL rookie defenseman Kroll had one goal and 10 assists in 20 playoff games. He compiled one goal and had 21 assists in 40 games for the Stringrays during the regular season.
Defenseman Romfo assisted on four goals in 21 playoff games. He had scored eight goals and had 22 assists in 63 regular season games.
Both Morin and Kroll were selected to the ECHL All-Star Game for the American Conference. This is the second year in a row that Morin was selected.
Travis Morin was honored as the 2001-2002 Metro Player of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune for Osseo High School during his senior season. He went on to play for the Chicago Steel of the USHL (United States Hockey League) right after his senior high school season's final game. He then played one additional year with the Steel before moving on to Minnesota State University-Mankato. He played all four years for the Mavericks. He has been playing mostly in the ECHL since the late 2006-2007 season with some brief appearances in the AHL (American Hockey League)
Johann Kroll also graduated in 2002 from Wayzata High School. Like Morin, Kroll also spent time, two seasons, in the USHL with the Sioux City Musketeers from 2002-2004. From the USHL, Kroll enrolled at Ohio State University and spent four years playing for the Buckeyes graduating in 2008. Kroll has been playing back and forth betwen the AHL and ECHL since the fall of 2008.
Scott Romfo played for Blaine High School through 2002. After Blaine, Romfo too played for the USHL, the Tri-City Storm, from 2000-2002. He then went on to play Division I college hockey like his two teammates. He was on the ice for RPI from 2002-2006. He has been with the Stringrays since then.
For the runner-up Alaska Aces, Roseau native Luke Erickson scored five goals, three assists in 21 playoff games. In 68 regular season games, he scored 21 goals, had 34 assists, and compiled 75 penalty minutes. Erickson was on the 1999 Rams Minnesota state championship team and he is still the all-time leader in scoring at Bemidji State University.
Matt Lundin also played for the Aces this season as the backup goaltender. He played in only one full regular season game and played just 13 minutes in one playoff game. Lundin graduated from Apple Valley High School in 2004. He was the winning goaltender for the Sioux Falls Stampede when they were Clark Cup Champions in 2007.
