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.