Despite their poor season on the ice, the attendance at 36 home games was an amazing 240,596, an average of 6,683 per game and over 3% higher than the previous season. For the second straight season, the Reign captured the league attendance record despite the poor on-ice performance. Head coach Karl Taylor, who had been with the franchise since its inaugural year in Ontario, signed with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL as an assistant coach. He left Ontario with a 96-99-22 record. On August 23, 2011, the Reign announced that Jason Christie would succeed Taylor as head coach for the 2011–12 season. On August 24, 2011, the team announced that Christie would be joined behind the bench by former Los Angeles Kings defenseman and assistant coach Mark Hardy. The Reign finished the 2011–12 season with a franchise-best 43-21-5-3 record and clinched their second Pacific Division title. The name was derived from an abstract noun related to royalty. Its name follows the pattern the Kings have established with the AHL affiliate the Manchester Monarchs. The name was chosen from a contest held by the team's website, where over 600 entries were submitted. Mike Brewster of Fontana, California submitted the winning entry.