The Long and Winding Road of Chuck Liebenrood

Chuck Liebenrood may not have been on the ice when the South Carolina Stingrays lost to the Allen Americans in Game 7 of the 2015 Kelly Cup Final. But as the Stingrays’ equipment manager at the time, he’d like nothing better than to erase that bitter feeling lingering in his mind.

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The 32-year-old Summerville, South Carolina native lived approximately 20 miles from North Charleston Coliseum and played hockey at Summerville High School. Growing up, he frequently attended Stingray games with his family and was at the Coliseum the night the Stingrays clinched their second Kelly Cup Championship in 2001.

Liebenrood is as hungry as any player or coach to help the Stingrays compete for a fourth Kelly Cup title this season. His role as head of the Stingrays equipment department may be behind the scenes, but it’s as crucial as any in the organization.

Some of Liebenrood's duties start the night before a game day, including sharpening skates, hanging laundry bags, and preparing backup gear sets.

On game days, Liebenrood may put in as many as 16 hours. Some of his tasks during that time frame include communicating with trainers and coaches, brewing coffee, cleaning the bench areas, doing laundry, cleaning visors, and taking inventory of players’ gear.

How the Journey Began

It’s not every day a kid dreams of working in the equipment department of a hockey club, but that was Liebenrood’s goal coming out of high school. He credits his cousin for inspiring his enthusiasm for the department.

"I just want to be able to help the players when they're on the ice. It's a big part of the league," Liebenrood said. "Without the equipment manager, they can't really perform. I have a hand in it, in a way. I get to drive on that as just being able to help the guys perform and, you know, win games and stuff like that."

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After graduating from Summerville High School, Liebenrood went straight to the source. He messaged then-Stingrays head equipment manager John Williams, expressing his desire to help and learn about the role.

When Williams offered him an entry-level position, Liebenrood jumped at the opportunity. He joined the Stingrays as an equipment assistant for the 2011-12 season. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the head equipment manager at age 22 before the 2014-15 season.

The only thing that could make his first campaign as the head man complete was winning a Kelly Cup.

A Tough Pill to Swallow

The Stingrays got to the 2015 Finals and would face the Allen Americans, who had won back-to-back CHL President’s Cups in 2013 and 2014 before joining the ECHL.

The Stingrays won two of the first three games in Allen to take a 2-1 lead in the series. But the Americans took back-to-back games in North Charleston, including a double-overtime goal by Vincent Arseneau in Game 4.

It was more of the same in Game 5, as Greger Hanson banged home the winner in overtime to give Allen a 3-2 lead and put South Carolina on the brink of elimination.

The Stingrays fought back to take Game 6, setting up the winner-take-all Game 7 in Allen.

It wasn’t close. Allen jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 6-1 victory, earning the club its first of two consecutive Kelly Cups.

The loss was as painful as anything Liebenrood had ever felt growing up as a Stingrays fan and then working at his dream job. Following that season, he decided he needed a year off to "focus on himself," "mature," and "figure things out."

The time away gave Liebenrood some perspective. With 2016-17 on the horizon, he reached out to his former peers in the equipment department and expressed interest in returning to his high school dream profession.

But some things had changed. Cameron Parker had become the club’s head equipment man, and the only position available was a part-time assistant.

Liebenrood didn’t hesitate.

"I'm there," he said. "But it's (Parker's) show. I'm here to help in any way and anything I can do."

A Renewed Sense of Purpose

As painful as the game seven loss in 2015 was for Liebenrood, it also factored into his itch to return to the Stingrays.

"It stung, and it will never leave the back of my mind. Never." Liebenrood said. "That's the drive that is in me right now. I want the championship. I want the ring. I want it for the fans and everything like that. It's been a while since we won it, and I want to do what I can and make sure the guys can get it done this year."

Liebenrood served in the part-time role for the last seven seasons before becoming Stingrays' head equipment manager again this past August. His ultimate goal is to work at the highest level in the NHL. Developing relationships within the equipment world could help him achieve that.

"Whoever you're with at the time, it’s important to make connections, whether with the guys in the NHL or AHL or even the ECHL, because everybody knows everybody," Liebenrood said. "So you've got to network, and you've got to be able to talk to people and just be yourself."

Liebenrood looks to continue to write his storied history in his second stint as the Stingrays' head equipment manager.

"It's been awesome," he said. "It feels like this is something I'm just meant to do."

The perfect ending to that story for Liebenrood and the Stingrays would be a Kelly Cup ring to erase the bitter taste of falling just short in 2015.