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.