February 10

Up and at it early on Sunday morning as we returned to the Sovereign Center for the first time in February. The first order of business on this day was the annual Battle Of The Badges fundraiser game featuring the Reading Fire and Police Departments. This series started in 2006 and has become very popular over the years. The Fire Department held a 5-1-1 series advantage but on this day the Police had the better of it with a 6-2 victory. The game started shortly after 12:30 and ended around 2:15, at 4:05 the Royals took the ice against the Kalamazoo Wings. The club went 2-2-1 on the road trip, after a Friday game in Trenton and a Saturday date in Wheeling one had to wonder how much gas was in the tank for this game. It was a tie score midway through the third period before the Royals broke it open and won it going away 5-2. Stanislav Galiev scored twice (including the game-winner) as Nikita Kashirsky, Ian O'Connor and David Marshall hit the net once each. Drew MacIntyre was the winning goaltender. The victory was the twentieth on home ice for the Royals and ups the season record to 33-12-6. The K-Wings were the last of our opponents to visit the SC this year, they'll be back on February 21. In the meantime the Royals will gear up for a three-game miniseries with the Elmira Jackals, games in Reading on Wednesday and Saturday sandwiched around a Friday date in New York State. If Royals-Jackals history is any indicator it will not be dull. Take care, thanks for reading.