By: Stingrays Media
The South Carolina Stingrays, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Washington Capitals and AHL's Hershey Bears, announced Thursday that they have agreed to terms with goaltender Jake Kupsky on a standard player contract.
Kupsky, 25, returns to the Stingrays after helping the Pensacola Ice Flyers capture the Southern Professional Hockey League's (SPHL) President's Cup title, going 4-0-0 in the postseason with a goals-against average of 1.75 and a 0.920 save percentage. During the regular season, Kupsky appeared in 18 games for Pensacola, going 11-5-1 with a 2.52 GAA and a 0.907 save percentage.
After initially signing with the Rays on January 9th, Kupsky suited up for nine contests and held a 3.18 goals-against as well as a 0.899 save percentage with SC. The Waukesha, Wis. native recorded his first ECHL shutout in North Charleston against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Feb. 3 with 20 saves.
Formerly a 7th round selection of the San Jose Sharks in the 2015 NHL Draft (193rd overall), Kupsky had two ECHL stints during his rookie season in 2019-20 with Greenville and the Idaho Steelheads. In eight combined games between the two clubs, Kupsky went 4-2-1 with a goals-against of 2.14 and a 0.921 save percentage.
The 6-foot-3, 194-pound netminder played four seasons in the NCAA at Union College and earned a 23-22-5 record in 59 career games along with a 2.86 GAA and .900 save percentage. He was recognized on the All-ECAC Hockey Third Team after the 2017-18 season and was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List prior to 2018-19.
Additionally, the Stingrays also announced they have released defender Ryan Cook from his standard player contract. Cook made his ECHL debut with the Rays and appeared in seven games with the club, recording three assists and a +5 rating.
The Stingrays return to action this week when they travel to Orlando for a 3-in-3 series against the Solar Bears beginning Friday night at 7 p.m.
