October 9

Sunday afternoon on the road north to Reading for the first time in a month, hard to believe hockey season is here already. After an overtime win in Elmira on Saturday the Royals played their lone home exhibition game against the Trenton Titans. When the Trenton franchise started back in 1999 the club was known as the Titans, the New Jersey Devils became the NHL partner in '07 and the team nickname changed accordingly. When that association ended over the summer the first thing the new management did was restore the original name. The Royals have several players on the roster who played in Reading in '10-11 including defensemen Louis Liotti, Rob Kwiet and Denny Urban plus forwards Casey Haines, Matt Caruana, Olivier Labelle, Ryan Cruthers and John Scrymgeour. Most of the veterans sat out on this day as players on the bubble got a chance to play in an effort to make the club. The Royals made it two for two on the weekend as they won the game via overtime shootout 2-1. The lone goal in regulation was scored by newcomer Matt Schepke, rookie goaltender Karel St. Laurent picked up the win. St. Laurent is on assignment from Providence of the AHL, he played junior hockey in Canada last season. The ECHL season begins for the Royals on Friday the 14th on the road, the home opener is on Saturday the 22nd. Take care, thanks for reading.