November 27-30

At this time of year the end of street hockey season always signals a bit of a slowdown, not being at the rink four nights a week makes a difference. Had there been games on Monday we would have been OK but Tuesday was rainy from morning into the early evening. Stopped at the hospital in the morning, a young man who plays in the league was recently admitted. His name is Austin, he's seventeen years old and he was involved in an automobile accident as a passenger. His father Don was there, he played in the league years ago so we've all known each other for a long time. Austin's injuries were extensive and it will be awhile before he goes home but he was in good spirits and by all accounts the recovery is going well. On Wednesday Jenny and I headed north to Reading as the Royals hosted Elmira. Earlier in the week the club acquired the services of forward Yannick Tifu, he made his Royals debut on this night. Tifu has played against the Royals many times and been roundly disliked as an opponent, he's the "in-your-face pain-in-the-ass" type of player every successful team needs. He didn't figure in the scoring in this game but his presence was noticeable. So far this season the Royals have had trouble holding leads, that was the case on this night as well. The club took an early 2-0 lead on goals from Louis Liotti and Dennis McCauley only to fall in shootout fashion 3-2. Joe Palmer took the loss in net as the club's winless streak reaches six games (0-3-3). The boys are just 2-6-1 on home ice, they'll look to get things turned around on Friday when the Wheeling Nailers come to town. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 25-26

Jenny and I had a rare Friday lunch together in Quarryville, she's usually in town on Fridays on business but not on this day because of the holiday. She and Helen were with me in the evening for the Royals' rematch with Chicago. A longtime Royals fan passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, her name was Marilouise Vicari. She was at the game on Wednesday night, she was 57 years old. On this night her friends turned her seat in the arena into a memorial, cards and flowers were placed there in her memory. Jenny took the news hard when I told her on Thursday night, she knew Marilouise and often talked of what a nice person she was. We had a moment of silence before the game in her honor, her daughter Sarah dropped the ceremonial first puck. In the game itself the Royals lost 4-2, Denny Urban and Ryan Cruthers were the goal scorers. Karel St. Laurent played the first two periods in goal and took the loss, Joe Palmer worked a scoreless third period in relief. Saw on the internet where the LCHS Crusaders won the district title on Friday evening, they defeated the team that had eliminated them in '10 (many would say that is the sweetest kind of victory). They will play a state quarterfinal game on December 2nd. On Saturday the ladies and I were in Hershey for AHL hockey, the Lake Erie Monsters (from Cleveland, Ohio) were the opponent. Cleveland has a long history in hockey, from 1936 to 1973 the Cleveland Barons were one of the AHL's hallmark franchises. The Monsters won the game 5-4, they rallied from a two-goal deficit to score the winner in the closing seconds of regulation. The Royals played in Elmira on Saturday night and lost in overtime, they are 0-3-2 in their last five games. The Jackals visit Reading on Wednesday the 30th. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 21-24

It rained overnight into Monday morning, I was in Quarryville for lunch at the pizza parlor since we won't be there on Thursday. It rained again lightly during the afternoon, according to the radar and forecast we had a window of opportunity in the evening for street hockey. This night featured the second game of each division's finals, we got started at 6:30 and managed to get both games played in spite of slick rink conditions and some spotty mist. The rain returned in earnest later in the evening and continued all day Tuesday, all controversy was removed as the scheduled games were postponed. On Wednesday Jenny was in town on business, she and I were joined by Jamie Burkholder for the Royals game at the Sovereign Center. The Chicago Express made its first-ever appearance in Reading, they are a first-year franchise based in suburban Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The Express' head coach and several of the players are former Elmira Jackals, this game had the feel of that rivalry all over it. After going 0-1-1 on the road over the weekend the Royals' home record dropped to 2-5-0 with a tough 3-2 loss. Matt Schepke and Marvin Degon scored for the Royals but it wasn't enough to save Joe Palmer from the loss. The teams will meet again on Friday at the SC, the Royals will play two games in Chicago in January. When I got home there was a phone message from Ron, the street hockey playoffs ended on Wednesday evening. I went to the rink on Thursday morning to secure everything for the offseason, we won't be there again until April. The rest of the day was slow and quiet at home with pro and college football games on TV. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 19-20

Saturday morning in Q-ville with Jenny for lunch, in the evening we headed west on route 283 for our first AHL game of the season in Hershey. We were supposed to be there on October 30 when they hosted Binghamton but the snow and rescheduling of the Royals game that weekend changed those plans. When we arrived I went to the box office to exchange the unused tickets from the 30th for another game, I've done it before under similar circumstances. On this occasion  it was a combination of rocket science and brain surgery to get it done, I must have stood at that window for close to ten minutes. The substitute game is also against Binghamton, that will be near the end of the season. On this night the Albany Devils were the opponent, the game went through overtime and a shootout before the Devils prevailed 6-5. Albany has been in the AHL since 1993 but Hershey is by far the league's most tenured franchise, they've been around since 1938. When they started they played at the Hershey Arena (lovingly known as "the old barn"), I saw my first game there in 1968. The current building opened in 2002, like most newer buildings it has that corporate feel to it that a lot of older fans don't like because the intimacy of the Old Barn just isn't there anymore. Everyone talks about progress but it's not always for the good. Sunday was a quiet, uneventful day at home, for the first time in two months there was no street hockey, Royals game or anything else going on. Sometimes it's good to take a day to relax, with street hockey playoffs continuing and the Royals at home as well this week will be busy. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 17-18

The rain was gone by daybreak on Thursday, it turned chilly and windy in the morning. Had my usual Thursday lunch with Jenny at the pizza parlor, in the evening we were at the rink for the start of each division's Finals. The East game got the night started at 6:30, it took an hour and ten minutes to play it (thirty minutes of actual play and forty minutes of whining about every call). The West game was much more sensible, no less intense but with a different mindset. As a rule the teams in that division come to play the game, some of the East boys are just there to bitch about every little thing. With it all we were done by 8:45 or so, with a sharp wind and temperatures in the low 40s it was a good time to call it a night. On Friday it was another football night at Rossmere as the Crusaders of Lancaster Catholic hosted Trinity (from suburban Harrisburg) in a district semifinal. The teams met back on September 2, on that night LCHS prevailed in overtime. Many were predicting a similar contest this time around but it was not to be as the Crusaders took control early and won in resounding fashion 60-7. It was 39-7 at the half, the mercy rule was invoked midway through the third quarter. LCHS scored seven rushing touchdowns, three by Roman Clay and two each by Brandon Hollister and Carmelo Cruz. Andrew Dzurik passed for two touchdowns, one to Cruz and the other to Charles Sweigart. Amid predictions of a tight game (and perhaps an LCHS loss) nobody could have expected it to be so utterly one-sided especially when Trinity was the defending district champion. For the Crusaders the victory means a trip to Hershey on the 25th for the district championship game and a shot at a berth in the state playoffs. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 14-16

Monday morning at the mall for lunch and a visit to the auto service center. One of my tires looked slightly under-inflated, I had them all checked just to be on the safe side. In the evening we were at the rink for one street hockey playoff game. The East Semifinals started on the 7th and continued on the 9th, one series required a deciding game on this night. The game went into double overtime but it was ended in the first minute of the second OT period. On Tuesday morning Jenny was in town on business, we had lunch and ran an errand during her break time. In the afternoon there was rain to the north and west of the county but we were not touched at all, at 5:00 we headed to Reservoir Park for West Semifinals. This was game #2 of each series, the games had been rained out on the previous Thursday. We had some light rain during the evening but nothing too severe, just enough to be a nuisance. Both of the game #1 winners prevailed on this night as well, the West Finals begin on Thursday the 17th. The rain came harder overnight and continued all day Wednesday, the entire day was a washout. The East Finals had been scheduled to start on this night but the rain put the whammy on that, the game was reset for Thursday so both Finals will start on the same day. The rain is supposed to be gone by the afternoon on Thursday with cooler temperatures to follow. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 12-13

Saturday morning as usual in Quarryville with Jenny, she and Helen were with me in the afternoon as we headed north on 222 for the first time in the month of November. The Royals hosted Elmira in the second game of the weekend miniseries, the momentum from the Friday win did not carry over as the Jackals won 4-2. Seasons change and players come and go but these two teams have a history, the early part of the game was very testy but things eventually settled down as the teams concentrated on playing hockey. Olivier Labelle and Matt Schepke scored for the Royals, Karel St. Laurent was the goalie of record. On Sunday afternoon we were back at the Sovereign Center for the weekend's rubber match, the Royals atoned for the disappointing Saturday result with a 6-2 win. Yannick Riendeau scored two goals, Dennis McCauley, Ryan Cruthers, Rob Shearer and Olivier Labelle also lit the lamp. Olivier's score was a milestone, it was his 54th as a Royal establishing a new franchise record. The old mark of 53 was set by original Royal Brad Rooney in '03 and tied by Dany Roussin in '08 and Ben Gordon and Andrew Sarauer in 2011. Joe Palmer won his second game in the series, he played the Friday game in Elmira as well. The boys play two games on the road this week, the next home game is on Wednesday the 23rd when the Chicago Express makes its first appearance ever in Reading. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 7-11

Street hockey playoffs for the East Division started Monday and continued Wednesday, the West got started on Tuesday. On Thursday it was raining in the morning, I went south to Quarryville to visit Jenny and have lunch. The forecast called for the rain to continue into the evening and that is exactly what happened, the West playoff games were postponed and moved to Tuesday the 15th. On Friday it was football night at Rossmere Stadium, district playoff action as the LCHS Crusaders hosted Boiling Springs (from the Carlisle area, about fifty miles west-northwest of Lancaster). The Crusaders kept their unbeaten season alive with a 61-7 rout, it was 55-0 at halftime with the mercy rule in effect at that point. Sean Titus scored four touchdowns for LCHS, three on pass receptions from Andrew Dzurik and another on an interception return. Roman Clay had two rushing TDs while Brandon Hollister, Carmelo Cruz and Marc Royer scored one each. It was a milestone victory for Crusader head coach Bruce Harbach as he recorded his 100th win, in ten seasons at LCHS his mark is 100-24 (an .806 winning percentage, not too shabby). With the win the club advances to the second round and another home game on the 18th which I'll be available for since there is no hockey in Reading that night.. The Royals won on Friday in Elmira to complete a 3-2 road trip, they will host the Jackals on Saturday and Sunday (nothing like three games in three days against the same opponent). Take care, thanks for reading.

November 5-6

Not much going on Saturday, a visit and lunch with Jenny was about it for the day. This was the weekend for changing the clocks, it always takes me about a week to get used to the hour difference. On Sunday I was at the rink at 2:30, we played the final regular season games for the East Division. The day turned out to be shorter than planned, the first game at 4:00 was the only one played. The second and third games were forfeited, one team only had three guys show up and another called ahead to tell us they wouldn't be coming. With it all we were done and home by 5:30, I figured we'd be there until 7:00 at least. Playoffs for the East begin on Monday night, the West will get started on Tuesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 4

Friday night at Rossmere Stadium for the first time in four weeks, the Lancaster Catholic Crusaders finished a 10-0 regular season with a 51-7 win over Elco (from Myerstown in Eastern Lebanon County). Before the game we did the usual Senior Night activities not unlike the previous week at McCaskey. The game itself was one of the more competitive the Crusaders have had this season, at halftime it was (only) 21-0 and the mercy rule was not invoked until the final two minutes of the third quarter. LCHS scored six rushing touchdowns: Roman Clay had four, Brandon Hollister and reserve quarterback Mac McCafferty had one each. Sean Titus caught a scoring pass from starting QB Andrew Dzurik and placekicker Satchel Ziffer added a field goal to round out the scoring. This marks the second consecutive unbeaten regular season for LCHS, in 2010 the season ended with a loss in the district semifinals. In '09 the club lost in the third week of the season but never tasted defeat again en route to a state championship. District playoffs start on the 11th, the Crusaders will again be a top seed so we'll see what happens this year. Saw on the internet where JPM finished its season with a win in Ephrata, after starting 0-6 they recovered to win three of their last four. It means little in the short term but it's something to build on for 2012. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 31-November 3

Stopped by the rink on Monday morning, it was still about 70% snow-covered from the weekend. We had no games scheduled for the evening because of Halloween, history has shown us that it's better to stay home on that night and let the troublemakers pick another target. After supper I was there for about an hour to do some shoveling around the perimeter. Jenny was in town on Tuesday on business, after we had lunch together I went back to the rink and finished the job. With temperatures in the low 50s and sunshine there had been a lot of melting, it took about ninety minutes or so to clear what was left. The games on Tuesday and Wednesday night went off as scheduled although the surface was slippery from the moisture on the under-surface. Jenny was in Willow Street on Thursday for an appointment, we did lunch at the pizza shop in Q-ville. In the evening we finished the week at the rink as the West Division completed its regular season, they start their playoffs on Tuesday the 8th. The East teams finish their schedule with make-up games on the 6th, their playoffs will get underway the next night. The weather forecast for the next several days is good, after the weekend we just had we can use it. Take care, thanks for reading.