December 2-3

Friday afternoon: on the road north with Jenny and her mother as the Wheeling Nailers made their first appearance of the season at the Sovereign Center. The Royals' winless streak continued on this night as the Nailers won it 5-1. Dale Mitchell scored the lone goal for the Royals in the third period but that was long after the issue was decided. Joe Palmer started in net and surrendered three goals in twenty-one minutes of play, Karel St. Laurent finished it in relief. After ten games the club's record on home ice is 2-7-1, not good no matter how you look at it. On Saturday we did our usual lunch at the shopping plaza in Q-ville, in the evening we were in Hershey for the third consecutive week. The Portland Pirates were the opponent, they are the AHL affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes. From 1977 to 1983 the Flyers had their AHL club in Portland, at that time the franchise was known as the Maine Mariners. This night in Hershey was the annual Teddy Bear Toss night, we'll have ours in Reading on the 17th. The Pirates scored the first goal but it was the only one they got as Hershey won 7-1, our next game there is on the 31st against Norfolk. The Royals played on Saturday night in Elmira and lost 3-1, the winless streak now stands at eight (0-5-3) as the overall record drops to 7-11-4. The boys will have a chance to get some quality practice time, the next game is at home on the 8th against Trenton. The LCHS Crusaders won their state playoff game on Saturday afternoon, if they win their semifinal matchup on the 10th they'll have the opportunity to play for the state championship on the 17th. Take care, thanks for reading.