October 29-31

In 2011 the last weekend of October brought us a freak snowstorm, one year later it was a tropical storm/hurricane named Sandy. The rain from Sunday continued straight through to Tuesday evening, on Monday and Tuesday mornings I was out for only as long as I needed to be. By Wednesday morning the worst of it was over. I had lunch with Jenny in Quarryville. After that I stopped by the rink, the wind and fallen leaves had made it a shipwreck. I did what I could to make it playable but with showers forecast for later and discretion being the better part of valor we decided to postpone the evening's games. The contingency schedule I had developed came in handy as Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday's games were plugged into the following week. Many years ago we adopted the practice of not playing on October 30 or 31, experience showed us that the outside mischief on those particular dates wasn't worth the aggravation. This season with three divisions, an odd number of teams in each and the need for off-night games we decided to schedule for those nights out of necessity. Maybe the weather we've had was the street hockey gods telling us not to do that anymore. There is a slight chance of rain forecast for Thursday but chances are we'll be able to make a go of it. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 27-28

Had the usual Saturday lunch date with Jenny, the rest of the day was quiet with little else on the schedule. On Sunday the ladies were along as we returned to Berks County, the Toledo Walleye visited for their lone appearance of the regular season. The Royals went 0-1-1 in Wheeling on Friday and Saturday, on this day the slide continued with a 4-2 loss. Yannick Tifu and Brett Flemming scored for the Royals, Philipp Grubauer was the goaltender of record. The month of October was a struggle for the club as the record drops to 1-5-1 (1-2 at home), in November the boys play fourteen games (seven home, seven road). The next home date is Saturday the 3rd, it's the back end of a home-and-home with Trenton. It was raining when we came out after the game, with that storm system moving up the coast the forecast for the week is not encouraging. The brunt of it is expected on Monday and Tuesday with heavy rain and high winds. I've already worked out a contingency make-up schedule for street hockey since it appears we'll need it. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 24-26

A typical Wednesday morning errand run got the day started, in the evening we played three games (one from each division) at the rink. On Thursday Jenny and Helen rode the access van into town, Jenny had a 9:00 appointment. I met them there, we had an early lunch and went to Jenny's second appointment at 11:45. She was all done shortly after noon, I took them home from there. In the evening we wrapped up the week at Reservoir Park with four games. Six weeks are in the book but the first part of week #7 could be a challenge, there is a storm center in the western Atlantic Ocean that is expected to move north along the east coast. Early reports are for severe rain and high winds (shades of late August 2011) so we'll just wait and hope for the best. On Friday evening it was football night at Rossmere Stadium, just my second time there this season and first in five weeks, This was LCHS's final home game featuring the usual senior recognition activities in the pregame. The game itself was over shortly after it started as the Crusaders scored early and often in a 49-0 whitewash over Cedar Crest. This was the sort of game LCHS used to have in Section III, it was 42-0 at the half as the entire second half was played under the mercy rule. Roman Clay scored four touchdowns, Carmelo Cruz added two (one rushing, one receiving) and Sean Titus returned an interception for a score. Evan Purvis threw the TD pass to Cruz and went perfect on extra points as the placekicker. The win ups the Crusaders' mark to 6-3 and sets the stage for the city rivalry game at McCaskey on November 2. Saw on the Internet where JPM lost at Manheim Township, that drops their mark to 4-5. Both teams are in contention for district playoff berths but with one regular season game left the road for the Red Tornado is a little longer and harder. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 22-23

Monday morning at the mall for lunch, in the evening we played two games of street hockey at the rink. It started raining overnight into Tuesday, it was still coming when I left the house in the morning. I had a dental appointment at 11:00, perhaps the fact that it was raining was appropriate since both experiences tend to be depressing. This was just a routine six-month checkup, they said everything is in good order. In the afternoon the rain stopped, the sun came out and the temperature rose accordingly, it was in the high 60s when I went to the rink at 5:00. The rink surface was relatively dry but the undersurface was still wet, by 6:15 game time the sun was setting and condensation was forming making the surface slipperly. We played a full night of four games with no incidents, there was a lot of slipping and sliding but luckily nobody got hurt. They are calling for record highs on Wednesday, somebody forgot to tell the weather bureau that this is late October. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 21

Sunday afternoon with Jenny and her mother on the road north to Reading, the Royals hosted the Wheeling Nailers in the season's second home game. The club has started slowly, a midweek loss in Trenton dropped the team's record to 0-3-0. On this day at the Sovereign Center the Royals broke into the win column with a 3-0 victory as rookie goaltender Brandon Anderson posted his first professional shutout. Goal scorers included returning captain Yannick Tifu and newcomers Joel Champagne and T.J. Syner. Champagne played in the AHL in '11-12, Syner is a first-year pro who played college hockey at UMass-Amherst. The Royals meet the Nailers again on the weekend for a pair of games in West Virginia before returning home on the 28th against Toledo. When I got back to town I headed to the rink for what remained of the day there. we had makeup games going. Ron was supervising in my absence, he had been there since 4:00 (the first game started at 5:15). He had a early wakeup call on Monday morning, I relieved him so he could go home and get some rest. There were five games played, with it all the day ended for me around 10:00. The league continues with a full docket Monday through Thursday. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 19-20

The Thursday night rain continued overnight into Friday morning, there were periods where it was torrential. I had a haircut appointment in the afternoon, from there I planned to spend the evening at home since both McCaskey and LCHS were on the road and more rain was in the forecast. On the Internet in the evening there were reports of a tornado in Maryland, rain started to fall in Lancaster. Later on Marty called, he was at JPM's game at Cedar Crest. It was raining there as well, the game had gone into a rain and lightning delay and was ultimately postponed to Saturday. I called Jenny around 10:00 or so, when there was no answer I figured she probably went to bed early. She called me on Saturday morning, they had a power outage in Quarryville from 8:00 Friday night until Saturday morning at 5:00. The tornado had tracked northward into her area, there were trees and power lines down and reports of building damage. After lunch we took a short trip to her sister's house, there were several trees down in her back yard but luckily everyone was OK. In the afternoon I joined Marty and Dick Myers as they made the return trip to Lebanon County, the game was picked up in progress at 7:00 (they had played fewer than three minutes on Friday before the storm hit). I've been to Cedar Crest many times for football but not for about five or six years, every time we go there it either rains or gets cold as hell. No rain on this night but temperatures were in the 40s by the time the game ended. The Red Tornado led 35-21 in the fourth quarter before CC rallied late to tie it and force overtime. In OT JPM scored on the first possession to take a seven-point lead before Crest replied on its possession to pull within one point. CC gambled on a two-point conversion for the win but the attempt went awry as JPM held on for a 42-41 triumph. Aaron Swinton scored four touchdowns (including the game-winner), Diante Cherry also found the end zone twice as Connor Zahm went six-for-six on extra points. The win evens the club's record at 4-4 and keeps them in the hunt for a district playoff berth. The boys will play at Manheim Township on the 26th before wrapping up the regular season at home on November 2nd. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 15-18

Another week of street hockey at the rink, all of the play was divisional (no East-West crossovers this week). On Monday we had an East game and a West game, Tuesday featured three Midwest contests and the off-night East game. On Wednesday night we had one game in each division and Thursday had the off-night West game scheduled following the Midwest. Rain was forecast for later on Thursday evening, it started during the third period of the third game and caused postponement of the West game. We have make-up games set for Sunday the 21st, we plugged in the Thursday rainout as the first game beginning at 5:15. I will be absent as the Royals will be at home for a 4:00 game but I'll be at the rink later in the evening. Five weeks are in the books and the league has gone well all things considered, we have not yet had a suspension but you know that will change as we head down the home stretch towards the playoffs. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 13-14

Saturday morning lunch in Quarryville, in the afternoon Jamie Burkholder joined the ladies and me for the drive to Reading. The Royals opened the season with a 3-2 loss in Elmira on Friday, on this night the Trenton Titans were the opponent for the twelfth home opener in franchise history. This game was eerily similar to the exhibition game the clubs played on the 6th as the Royals lost by the identical score of 6-2. Popular returnee Denny Urban scored for the Royals as did Kirk MacDonald, a Royal in '08-09 who has come back to Reading as a free agent. Brandon Anderson took the loss in goal, he is a first-year pro who played in the Western League in '11-12. The club currently has ten players on assignment from Washington/Hershey plus eight new players on ECHL contract, how the talent meshes together will be the big story in the early going. The boys play in Trenton on Wednesday, the next home game is on the 21st against Wheeling. Sunday was quiet until late afternoon, we had three games of street hockey at the rink. We generally reserve Sundays for makeup games but this day was the second of two regularly-scheduled Sundays (ironically, the first one was rained out on September 30). We got underway at 6:15 and were done in good order, I was home shortly after 9:00. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 12

Chilly, windy conditions greeted us on Friday morning, in the evening it was football time at McCaskey as the Red Tornado wrapped up a three-game homestand. It was Homecoming night with all the usual pomp and circumstance involved. Here is one of life's great mysteries: how can the third of three straight home games be Homecoming, after two weeks at home where are you coming home from? The night went about as well as we could have asked as JPM defeated Warwick 42-7. Aaron Swinton caught two TD passes from Collins Gantz and scored another on the ground, the club also got rushing scores from Diante Cherry, Sha-Ki Staten and Darrell Walton (all familiar names from basketball season, Walton played on the JV squad in '09-10). Diante reached a milestone when he eclipsed the 2000 yard mark for career receiving, he needed eight yards coming in and got it out of the way early. The win improves the club's record to 3-4 with three games remaining. After the game the McCaskey band performed their field show which was followed by a fireworks show sponsored by the JPM Alumni Association, I was home and in the shower by the time they started (one of the advantages of living a block-and-a-half from the school). The boys play the next weeks on the road, the final home date is November 2 against LCHS in the big season-ending city rivalry game. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 8-11

Another week of street hockey is in the books, with four weeks completed there are four weeks left in the regular season. We have seven outstanding make-up games on the docket so it's not the true midpoint but it's close enough. This was another week of crossover play between the East and West divisions, so far the East has had the better of it but that's not entirely surprising. I was absent for the first time this season on Wednesday, Jenny and I were at the Sovereign Center for the Royals annual meet and greet for season ticket holders. For me it's not a big thing (I've never been an autograph hound) but Jenny likes to meet the guys and get autographs, her team jersey has three years worth of signatures on both front and back. A local eatery sponsored the evening, all attendees got a food voucher so we had supper there as well. We were there when the doors opened at 6:00, by 7:15 the rounds had been made and we headed home. Helen was going to come along (she attended last year's event) but she had to babysit the great-grandchildren. The Royals play the season opener on Friday in Elmira, the home opener is on the 13th against Trenton. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 6-7

Saturday night hockey in downtown Reading as the Royals hosted the Trenton Titans in the second game of the home-and-home exhibition series. The organization is billing 2012-2013 as a "new beginning" in recognition of the affiliation with the Washington Capitals/Hershey Bears. The change in NHL/AHL partner brings many new faces to the Sovereign Center, the only returnees in uniform for the Royals were Yannick Tifu, Ian O'Connor, Ethan Cox and Derrick LaPoint. Many of the players in this game won't be around when the season starts, there are still assignees forthcoming from Hershey. After winning in New Jersey on Friday the Royals came up short on this night as Trenton won 6-2. Adam Comrie and David Vallorani scored for the Royals, Philipp Grubauer took the loss in goal. Grubauer is a highly-regarded prospect who appeared in an exhibition game with Hershey earlier in the week, he may see AHL time during the regular season as well. The Royals open the season on the 12th in Elmira, the home opener is the 13th when Trenton returns for a game that counts. It was rainy and chilly on Sunday, at 5:00 Don and I talked and decided to try to play the evening's games at the rink. These were the games postponed from September 30, we started at 6:15 and played most the night in light rain (never heavy enough to stop play but just enough to be annoying). We were done by 8:45 so at least for this night we avoided having to schedule make-ups of make-ups. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 1-5

The final quarter of 2012 began as a Monday usually does with lunch at the mall. The evening's street hockey games were played in good order, on Tuesday we were not as lucky. It rained for most of the day, at 5:00 Don and I conferred and postponed for the night. The weather improved markedly on Wednesday as the rest of the week's schedule was completed without issue, we'll be playing make-up games on Sunday the 7th. On Friday it was a football night at McCaskey, the Red Tornado lost to Penn Manor 42-14. PM was undefeated coming in so the result may not be entirely surprising, it was a competitive game for most of the first half before PM pulled away. Aaron Swinton scored both touchdowns for JPM, one on a pass reception from Diante Cherry and the other on a seventy-yard run. McCaskey's mark drops to 2-4 on the season, the boys host Warwick on Homecoming Friday the 12th. ECHL hockey season got underway with training camp in Reading on Monday, on Friday the Royals traveled to New Jersey for the exhibition opener and beat Trenton 5-1. The clubs meet again on Saturday night at the Sovereign Center. Take care, thanks for reading.