ECHL: South Carolina Stingrays Announce 2024-25 Leadership Group

The South Carolina Stingrays have announced their 2024-25 leadership group that will be led by defenseman Jacob Graves. Blake Thompson, Josh Wilkins, and Grant Cruikshank will all serve as alternate captains.

The Captain

(C) Graves,29, is entering his ninth season in the league as he’s put up 11 goals and 61 assists for 72 points, along with 639 penalty minutes in 327 career games. The Barrie, Ontario native was the captain of the Atlanta Gladiators last season before he was traded to the Toledo Walleye.

“It feels good,” Graves said of being named captain. “There’s a lot of leaders on our team. Everyone in the room should have a voice, and it feels like they do.”
Graves on being named captain of the South Carolina Stingrays (via South Carolina Stingrays Press Release)

The Alternate Captains

(A) Thompson, 31, is no stranger to holding a leadership role, as he wore an “A” during the 2021-22 season with the Adirondack Thunder before heading overseas for the last two seasons. The Listowel, Ontario native is entering his sixth season in the ECHL as he’s put up 14 goals and 52 assists in 66 games with the Adirondack Thunder, Orlando Solar Bears, and Cincinnati Cyclones.

(A)Wilkins,27, is the only member of the Stingrays leadership group who has played with the team. He’s played in 99 games with the Stingrays and scored 41 goals and added 58 assists for 99 points. He’s also played five games with the Florida Everblades. The Raleigh, North Carolina native finished last season in Slovakia with HC Dukla Michalovce, scoring five goals and two assists for seven points in nine games.

(A) Cruikshank, 26, is entering his third season of professional hockey as he’s spent 22 games with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL and played in 35 games last year with the Newfoundland Growlers, where he put up 21 goals and 22 assists, for 43 points. Prior to going pro, the Delafield, Wisconsin native spent five years at the NCAA level, where he put up 60 goals and 38 assists for 98 points in 164 games. He would also spend two of those seasons as the captain of Colorado College.