March 28-30

Not much going on Monday besides the morning errand run, on Tuesday morning I took a drive west to York. The Baltimore Orioles have a souvenir store in the mall there, I went to pick up a copy of the team media guide. I've been an Orioles fan since childhood and although the club has struggled in recent years a true fan sticks with his team. As the Philadelphia Phillies are my National League allegiance so the Orioles are in the American League and I make no apologies. In the afternoon I was at the health campus for a checkup on the oral surgery I had in January, the doctor said it had healed nicely. On Wednesday Jenny was with me after work in the afternoon as we headed to the Sovereign Center, the Royals were in action against the Wheeling Nailers. For whatever reason the Royals have had Wheeling's number this year, the boys had won nine of eleven in the season series. They made it ten-for-twelve on this night with a tough 3-2 shootout win. Ryan Cruthers and Olivier Labelle scored in regulation, the Royals won the shootout two goals to none to claim the victory. Matt Dalton earned the game's #1 star by stopping forty-five shots during game play plus all four he faced in the shootout. The club has two regular season games remaining, on Friday the 1st they play in Trenton before hosting the T-Devils on Saturday in the home finale. These games mark the end of the season for Trenton (they are out of playoff contention) but you know it won't be easy because Trenton/Reading games never are. The ECHL playoffs start next week but nothing is finalized yet, the Royals could any of six opponents in the opening round. We'll know by Sunday. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 26-27

Saturday morning in Quarryville with Jenny, in the evening she and her mother were along for our final AHL game of the season in Hershey. We saw ten games there this year, our friend Mazi only made it to one. Between the recovery from her ankle injury, various bouts of illness and other misadventures this hockey season was not kind to her at all. On this night she elected to stay home because her dogs were expecting a litter and she understandably didn't want to leave them alone so Helen used her seat. Hershey won 7-4 over the Albany Devils in a game played under unusual circumstances. The game started at 7:00, the first two periods went by with no issues. At the start of the third period the ice at one end of the rink was not freezing properly, the game was delayed for fifteen minutes while the ice crew worked on it. Midway through the period the game was stopped again for the same problem, by the time 9:30 rolled around the delay was becoming interminable. The ladies and I voted 3-0 to call it a night, it's very rare to me to leave a game before it ends but things didn't appear to be getting any better. We listened to the radio broadcast in the car, the game finally resumed at 10:10 (as we were driving by Lancaster on the way south to Q-ville) and wound down at 10:30. We all got home an hour earlier than we would have had we stayed and we didn't miss much anyway so it was the right decision. Sunday was a quiet day at home, got word during the day that Mazi's dog litter had arrived. The Royals won back-to-back games on the road on Saturday and Sunday, we're at home on Wednesday against Wheeling. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 21-25

Quiet week thus far, typical for this time of year. Stopped by the service center on Monday to make an appointment for the car, the work was done on Friday. Got a call on Tuesday that my new eyeglasses were ready for pickup, I got them on Wednesday. I tried to pick a style as similar to my old pair as I could, I didn't want anything radically different because that's something everyone would immediately notice. On Thursday we had our usual lunch in Quarryville, Jenny had an afternoon appointment in Willow Street. On Thursday night we had our Captains Meeting for the Spring street hockey league at Reservoir Park. Right now it looks like we may have roughly the same number of teams as we had in the Fall, the only question is whether we play in two divisions or three. The league may start as soon as April 4 but that may be optimistic. The Royals are on a road swing through the south, they are 0-2 with games to come on Saturday and Sunday. The club is back home on Wednesday the 30th against Wheeling. We'll be making a trip to Hershey for AHL hockey on Saturday, it's the last game of our ten-game package. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 20

Got an e-mail on Saturday night from Phil Zangari, an old friend and street hockey colleague. He's the commissioner of an area APBA Baseball league, they were holding their annual free agent draft on Sunday afternoon. This league began way back in 1978, I was a charter member but it's been many years since I played. I attend the draft each year if I'm available, I help out with the record-keeping so the proceedings move at a good pace. After thirty-four years there are only three charter members of the league still playing (Phil, Woody Kleinhaus and Tom Doran) but I know almost everyone else in the current group as well. The draft got started around 1:30 or so, we were done by 4:30. Saw on the internet where the Royals won in Elmira on Sunday 2-0. According to the boxscore the game was relatively calm, there were only ten penalties called (all minors) as several of the Saturday troublemakers were not in uniform. The win is noteworthy as it clinches first place in the Atlantic Division and guarantees the club a top-three playoff berth. It is the second regular-season division title the organization has won, the 2005 Royals finished first as well. The boys travel south for a four-game swing later this week, the next home game is Wednesday the 30th. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 19

Saturday morning in Quarryville for the usual lunch visit, in the evening Jenny and Helen were along for the hockey game at the Sovereign Center. The Royals atoned for the loss on Friday in a big way as they crushed Elmira 9-2 before a crowd of better than 6000. It was a 4-2 game midway through the second period, a four-goal third period removed all doubt as to the outcome. Yannick Riendeau and Andrew Sarauer scored two goals each, Casey Haines, Chris Blight, Olivier Labelle, Ryan Cruthers and Denny Urban also contributed to the onslaught. Daren Machesney picked up his first win as a Royal as he faced his former teammates, he played nine games for Elmira earlier this season. This was ONE NASTY GAME, the teams combined for 136 penalty minutes. The Jackals accounted for ninety-one of those, two ten-minute misconducts and three game misconducts helped to inflate the totals. As it was the Royals scored five goals with the man advantage as Elmira surrendered ten power-play opportunities. It will be interesting to see if anything further comes from this game, the league may act against those who were ejected. After two straight match-ups in Reading the teams meet again on Sunday in Elmira, that game could get very ugly very quickly. I understand that the league likes to schedule home-and-home series but putting two heated rivals against each other three days in a row is practically asking for trouble. It's like throwing five sticks of dynamite into a fire-you know what's going to happen, it's just a matter of when and how much damage there will be. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 18

Daytime high on Friday was 77 degrees, way too warm for this time of year. Gave my chest a vapor-rub massage before bed on Thursday, it helped somewhat but I'm still not 100%. It's so frustrating especially when there are games to work. Jenny was with me in the afternoon as we headed to the Sovereign Center, the Elmira Jackals were in town for the first game of the weekend miniseries. Things did not go well for the Royals on this night as the Jackals took Round I by a count of 8-5. Andrew Sarauer scored three goals (too bad it wasn't St. Hattrick's Day), Yannick Riendeau and Ben Gordon also scored as Matt Dalton took the loss in net. There was one positive development in this game-Gordon's assist on Reindeau's goal made Ben the all-time leading scorer in franchise history. The old record was held by Brad Rooney, a charter Royal who played in Reading from 2001-2003. Ben came to the Royals in March of 2009 and wasted little time becoming one of the most popular players in club history. The announcement of  his achievement got a great response but I'm sure he would have preferred it happening as part of a victory. The boys have a chance to get even on Saturday before heading to Elmira for the Sunday game. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 14-17

Slow week thus far, typical for this time of year (high school hoops ended in February, baseball and street hockey start in April). The spring allergy season is underway, on Tuesday night my throat started feeling scratchy and the nose stuffed up. Strange how you can feel good and suddenly it hits you but it's nothing new for me, it kicks my butt every year and I hate it. I hope I'm in respectable voice for the Royals games on Friday and Saturday, otherwise it will be a struggle. Don Tankesley and I talked on Tuesday, we'll have our Captains meeting for the Spring season on March 24 at the rink. I've had teams calling for practice time already so the new season isn't far off. They are calling for temperatures close to 70 on Friday but with overnight lows in the 30s it's no wonder people get sick. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 13

We turned the clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night, we'll get that lost hour of sleep back next November. Jenny and Helen were with me in the afternoon as the Royals again hosted Toledo. The boys held a 3-2 lead in the second period but it all fell apart from there as the Walleye scored five in a row and won 7-3. There was some carryover nastiness from the night before but for the most part there were few issues. Andrew Sarauer, Yannick Riendeau and John Scrymgeour scored for the Royals, goaltender Daren Machesney took the loss. Machesney is an interesting story-he started the season in the ECHL, the Royals acquired him at the end of January and almost immediately loaned him to the AHL's Worcester Sharks. He rejoined the club earlier this week and made his Royals debut on this night. The loss was no fault of his, he was under siege most of  the game as Toledo recorded fifty shots on goal. The Royals have ten games left in the regular season (four home, six road), the record stands at 38-19-5. The boys will have off until Friday the 18th when the Elmira Jackals come to town. That will be the start of a weekend miniseries with a rematch at the Sovereign Center on Saturday and Round III in Elmira on Sunday. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 10-12

Rain moved in early Thursday morning and continued hard and fast for most of the day. Jenny was in town for a morning appointment, I took her home and we had lunch at the pizza parlor. By Friday the rain was over but a lot of low-laying road areas were flooded, I had a haircut appointment in the afternoon. On Saturday we did our usual lunch at the shopping plaza in Quarryville, in the evening Jenny, Helen and Jamie Burkholder were along for the drive to Reading. The Royals hosted the Toledo Walleye in the first game of a back-to-back. This was our annual Saint "Hat-tricks" game, if any Royals player scored three goals a fan could win $10,000. Nobody came close but the club got single tallies from five different players in a 5-2 victory. Denny Urban scored his first professional goal (it proved to be the game-winner), Casey Haines, Eric Castonguay, Andrew Sarauer and John Scrymgeour also lit the lamp. Matt Dalton won it in net and picked up his first scoring point of the season with an assist on Castonguay's goal. Better than 6200 in the house for a game that had an edge to it, as the final horn sounded there was a lot of pushing and shoving. It could make for an interesting rematch on Sunday afternoon. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 7-9

The rain moved out overnight into Monday, the day was clear and chilly. Had my taxes done in the morning, there's no point in waiting until April 15 for Uncle Sam to get you. Had my vision examined on Wednesday morning and ordered a new pair of eyeglasses. I haven't been having any problems but my current glasses are several years old so they're overdue for replacement, the doctor said everything is OK otherwise. In the evening I was in Reading for Wednesday night ECHL hockey as the Trenton Devils visited the Sovereign Center. This was another tough game against a troublesome opponent, it took an overtime shootout for the Royals to win 4-3. The boys held three separate one-goal leads in regulation time on goals from Rob Kwiet, Chris Blight and Olivier Labelle but the T-Devs just don't quit. In the shootout the Royals outscored Trenton two goals to one to gain the victory for Matt Dalton. Shootout goals do not count towards individual statistics but it should be noted that rookie Denny Urban scored the shootout-winner in just his second professional game. The Royals added another collegian to the roster before the game as Matt Arhontas joined the club, he just finished his senior year at Princeton University. The Royals continue this home stretch on the weekend as the Toledo Walleye come to town for a two-game set, those game are the next big thing on the calendar. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 6

It started raining early in the morning and continued almost nonstop well into the evening hours. It would have been a good day to stay in and stay dry but that was not an option because it was a hockey day in Reading. Jenny and her mother were along for the trip as the Royals finished up the weekend set with Wheeling. Unfortunately the momentum from Saturday's win did not carry over, playing undermanned caught up with the boys on this day as the Nailers won in regulation 2-1. Before the game the Royals added two free agent defensemen to the roster, Denny Urban played at Robert Morris University and Eric Baier played at Providence College. The youngsters acquitted themselves well but between injuries and AHL absences the club had little left in the tank, that will happen when you play four games in five nights. Andrew Sarauer scored the Royals' lone goal, Matt Dalton took the loss in net. The club continues the homestand on Wednesday when Trenton comes to town, on Saturday and Sunday the Toledo Walleye visit for a back-to-back. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 5

The usual Saturday morning visit with Jenny got the day started, in the afternoon we headed north on 222. The Wheeling Nailers were in town as the Royals started a seven-game stretch at home. Between injuries and AHL callups the club is shorthanded right now, on this night the boys played with fifteen skaters (one below the limit). They say times like this bring a team together, that was certainly true on this occasion as the Royals won easily 7-2. Matt Dalton was the winner in goal as seven different players lit the lamp-Olivier Labelle, Rob Slaney, Rob Kwiet, Andrew Sarauer, Casey Haines, Chris Blight and Ryan Cruthers all scored for the Royals. A good crowd of better than 5200 in the house as we celebrated our mascot's birthday, "Slapshot" (the King of the Jungle) had quite a few of his friends from other area teams and businesses as his guests. The Nailers stay in town for a Sunday rematch, on Wednesday the Trenton Devils return to the Sovereign Center. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 28-March 4

Not much going on over the last few days. Rain moved in early Monday morning with thunder and lightning, it continued into the daylight hours with temperatures close to 60 degrees (keep in mind this was all happening on FEBRUARY 28). On Tuesday it turned dry and cooler, by Wednesday it was downright chilly. The first baseball game from spring training was on TV on Tuesday afternoon, just a reminder that the Reading Phillies' home opener on April 14 is not far away. I haven't been by the ballpark since December but by all accounts the renovations are coming along in good order. On Thursday Jenny had an appointment in the city at 9:00 and another in Willow Street at noon. The access van was transporting her to both stops (and home as well), she called me when she left for Willow Street. I called Mazi, picked her up at her house and we met Jenny at her second appointment. With better than an hour of down time to kill we had lunch together at the shopping plaza in Willow Street. We had all this arranged beforehand and it was nice to have Mazi with us, it's always good to have The Band back together. In the afternoon my mother had an eye doctor appointment at the health campus, since she was having her pupils dilated she asked me to drive. Her appointment was for 2:30, she wasn't done until almost 5:00 (HUH?? The world could have come to an end in that time). I must have read every magazine in that waiting room that interested me cover to cover (and maybe a few more that didn't interest me at all). The Royals lost both games on the road trip, that's four losses in a row after an 11-2 run. Every team hits a cold spell, perhaps now is a better time than in April or May. The boys are at home for a back-to-back with Wheeling on Saturday and Sunday, it's the start of a seven game homestand (the next road game isn't until March 20). Take care, thanks for reading.