November 24-25

They say an animal is most dangerous when it is wounded, that might be the best way to describe what happened on Saturday night at the Sovereign Center. The Evansville Icemen (one of the new clubs in the ECHL this season) made their first appearance in Reading, they came to town with one of the league's worst records and because of injuries and suspensions they played a lineup that was three men short. With the Royals riding an eleven-game win streak it looked like it might be easy but it wasn't as the streak ended with a 4-2 loss. The Royals' goals were courtesy of rookie Barry Almeida and veteran Patrick Wellar, Brandon Anderson started in net and took the loss. On a side note I had the pleasure of meeting Evansville radio announcer Terry Ficorelli before the game, he is a veteran of the business who worked AHL hockey in Baltimore in the mid-1980s. I was able to hear those games on radio back then and always enjoyed listening to Terry, his broadcasting style is unique and very popular with his fanbase. On Sunday we capped a busy weekend with an AHL game in Hershey. The Bears hosted the Toronto Marlies in a game of Royals affiliates past and present. The Marlies' roster featured ex-Royals Greg Scott, Will Acton and Kenny Ryan plus goalies Mark Owuya, Ben Scrivens and Jussi Ryness. On the Bears' side were Alex Berry, Evan Barlow (just recalled from Reading) and T.J. Syner. The Bears won the game 4-2, Alex Berry scored the game's first goal and Evan Barlow assisted on the second. Mark Owuya was the goalie of record for the Marlies. Take care, thanks for reading.