April 8-10

Quiet weekend for the most part, Friday was a rainy day. Stopped by the hockey rink on Saturday morning to test the scoreboard clock for the new season, from there I was in Q-ville for a visit and lunch with Jenny. Good news on the ECHL front as the Royals finished off the series with Cincinnati, they won both games in Cincinnati on the weekend to seal the deal. They won the third game 3-0 behind Matt Dalton's shutout effort and took game four when Ryan Cruthers scored the series-clinching goal in double overtime (deja vu). After losing in the playoffs to the Cyclones in two of the last three years this is a great victory for the club, it eliminates an old antagonist and exorcises a few demons as well. The team moves on to the Eastern Conference semifinals and a best-of-seven matchup with the Kalamazoo Wings. The K-Wings were only a rumor in Reading this season-although they are a conference opponent they never played at the Sovereign Center, both games in the season series were in Kalamazoo. There are many things about the ECHL schedule that make little sense and that was one of them right there. The Royals met the K-Wings in a first-round series in 2010, the deciding game went into OT at the Sovereign Center as Andrew Sarauer scored the GWG. This upcoming series begins in Reading on the 15th and 16th (bad for me both nights because of baseball), the middle three are in K-Zoo. If it goes beyond that we're back at home on the 26th and 27th (no baseball). Street hockey season starts on Monday, they are calling for rain during the day. Take care, thanks for reading.