March 29-31

Saturday morning in Quarryville for lunch with Jenny and her mother, in the afternoon we made the drive north for the final home game of the regular season. The Elmira Jackals were looking for a win to improve their playoff position, the Royals were looking to build some momentum for the postseason. Stanislav Galiev gave the Royals an early 1-0 lead but Elmira replied quickly to tie it. In the second period Julien Cayer lit the lamp to make it 2-1 but the Jackals scored late in the third period to send the game into overtime. After a scoreless extra period Elmira outscored the Royals three goals to none in the shootout and won the game 3-2, Riley Gill took the loss in net. The Royals finish with a record of 46-19-7 (26-8-2 at home), it is the best record in the club's twelve-year history. It was an interesting year to say the least, after starting 1-5-1 in October the club went 22-2-1 through the rest of the calendar year. After the New Year the usual roster attrition began to settle in, in January and February the record was a somewhat pedestrian 13-10-4 but in March the ship was righted as the club went 10-2-1 down the home stretch. The annual players' award winners were announced, Yannick Tifu was the recipient of the Ironman Award, team MVP and fan's choice as most popular player. Stanislav Galiev was Offensive Player of the Year, Ethan Cox won Defensive Player. David Vallorani was Top Rookie, Julien Cayer won the Heart Award. Defenseman Bryant Molle won the Unsung Player Award, fellow blueliner Dustin Stevenson was Scrapper of the Year. Guys like Molle and Stevenson don't usually make headlines because they're not big scorers, they are the physical stay-at-home defensive presence every good team must have. With the regular season in the books the focus shifts to the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Royals meet the Greenville Road Warriors in the best-of-seven series starting at the Sovereign Center on April 5 and 6. The middle three will be in Greenville, if the series returns to Reading those games would be on the 16th and 17th. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 22-28

Not much going here of late on the home front, over the weekend the Royals finished the road portion of the regular season schedule. The club went 4-0 on the trip to finish at 20-11-5 on road ice, in the process they cemented first place overall in the ECHL's Eastern Conference. There was some light snow on Monday morning but it didn't last, by the evening hours it was all but gone. On Wednesday Jenny had an appointment in Willow Street, the access van took her there and I took her home. On Thursday she and her mother were along as we went north on 222 for the first time in twelve days, the Royals hosted the Trenton Titans in the season's next-to-last home game. With the club having clinched the top spot and the Titans out of contention this had all the feel of a glorified exhibition, the Royals lost 6-4. Trenton took a 4-1 lead into the third period before the Royals mounted a rally but it wasn't enough. Barry Almeida (back from the AHL) scored twice for the home team, Kirk MacDonald and Stanislav Galiev added single markers. Brandon Anderson started in goal making his first appearance in five weeks, he's been nursing an injury. He appeared to aggravate it in the second period and had to leave the game, Riley Gill played the third period in relief and took the tough-luck loss. Between injuries and promotion the Royals have utilized eight different goaltenders thus far, at this point it would appear that Gill will be the playoff starter. Since he was acquired in late February the club has gone 11-3-0, ten of those wins belong to Gill. Who the Royals will play in the first round of playoffs is anybody's guess, the bottom four playoff qualifiers are closely bunched and there are many possibilities. The regular season wraps ups on Saturday night, the Royals host Elmira in a game that will be important for the Jackals' postseason standings. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 18-21

The month of March always tends to be among the slower times of the year, the early part of the week bore that out emphatically. Stopped by the ballpark on North Prince Street and picked up some pocket schedules for the upcoming season, the Lancaster Barnstormers begin their ninth year in the Atlantic League at home on April 18. On Thursday morning I was in Quarryville for lunch with Jenny, in the evening we convened at Reservoir Park for our organizational meeting for the Spring street hockey league. There were nine teams represented but there are always others who get in at the last minute (or just never bother to attend the meetings). Right now we're planning to get started on April 8th. The Royals' road trip got underway with a Wednesday night victory which clinched first place in the division, this insures a top-three seed in the conference playoffs. The boys play three more games on the trip before returning home for the final two home games on March 28 and 30. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 16-17

It was rainy and raw on Saturday morning, we did our usual lunch date in Quarryville. In the afternoon we heard reports of snow flurries in Berks County, when the ladies and I arrived for the Royals game the precipitation had ended. This night at the Sovereign Center featured the top two clubs in the Eastern Conference going head-to-head and virtually even. The Cincinnati Cyclones came in with eighty-eight standings points on a 40-17-8 record, the Royals had the same point total but led the conference on the basis of their 41-18-6 mark. This was not a postseason game but the intensity level was playoff caliber. The Cyclones drew first blood but the Royals evened it on a score by Stanislav Galiev. The club took its first lead of the night when newcomer Robbie Bourdon lit the lamp for his first goal as a pro, he recently finished his collegiate career at Colgate University. Yannick Tifu added an insurance marker before the 'Clones struck again to make it 3-2, down the stretch Riley Gill was immense in net as the Royals recorded a huge twenty-sixth home-ice win. The victory gives the club a two-point cushion in the conference standings and a two-win tiebreaker advantage, the twenty-six home wins are a new franchise record. The boys will play their next four on the road before returning to the Sovereign Center on Thursday the 28th. On Sunday Jamie Burkholder joined the ladies and me as we headed to the road one last time for the week, the destination was Hershey for our final AHL game of the season. The Adirondack Phantoms made the last of their two regular-season appearances in Hershey and for a while it looked like a rerun of the game in February as the Bears scored the first three goals. Ex-Royal Philipp Grubauer was in net for Hershey, he would have no shutout on this night but he was the winning goalie as the Bears took it 5-2. In recent years the Phantoms have not been very good and they almost never win in Hershey but they are the Flyers' AHL club and as a Flyers fan I try to see them whenever they visit (the likelihood of me getting to Glens Falls, New York anytime soon is highly doubtful). Take care, thanks for reading.

March 14-15

Thursday morning lunch with Jenny and Helen, in the evening there were two hockey games on TV. On Friday we were on the road north for the start of a busy weekend, the Elmira Jackals provided the opposition. For most of this game it was a classic goaltenders battle, the game was still scoreless going into the final minute of the second period. Kirk MacDonald (back from a stint in the AHL) and Julien Cayer scored thirty-four seconds apart to give the club a sudden two-goal advantage at the intermission, from there Riley Gill kept the door closed at his end as the Royals took it 2-0. The shutout is Gill's second in eight games since joining the club and the team's fourth, Brandon Anderson has the other two. The win clinched a playoff spot marking the fourth consecutive year the club will play in the postseason. It is also the club's twenty-fifth win on home ice matching the record achieved twice before. The boys stay at home for a Saturday date with the Cincinnati Cyclones. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 11-13

Not much going on Monday or Tuesday, the big news was an extreme change in the weather. Monday was bright, sunny and very comfortable, in late evening rain moved in and stayed around for the Tuesday morning errand run. By afternoon the rain had cleared out and ushered in lower temperatures, Wednesday was a chilly and windy day. Jenny and her mother were along in the evening for midweek hockey at the Sovereign Center as the Wheeling Nailers returned for the rematch from the weekend. After the game on Saturday there was a lot of posturing and mouthing off before the teams left the ice. The Royals had an opportunity to work off some frustration with the game in Elmira on Sunday but this was Wheeling's first game since their Saturday win. On this night the Royals atoned for the weekend loss with a convincing 7-1 win scoring the first six goals in the game. Nikita Kashirsky gave the club the early lead before T.J.Syner scored three consecutive goals to make it 4-0. Yannick Tifu and Joel Champagne upped the lead to six before the Nailers got on the board, David Vallorani added the final goal for good measure. Riley Gill picked up the win in net, with Brandon Anderson and Sergey Kostenko both nursing injuries he has carried the load in goal since joining the club in late February. The record improves to 40-18-6, this marks the fourth time in club history that the team has won at least forty games in a season. The Royals will stay at home for a busy weekend as Elmira visits on Friday and Cincinnati comes to town on Saturday. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 9-10

Had lunch with Jenny and her mother in Quarryville on Saturday morning, in the afternoon we headed back to Berks County for the second of back-to-back home dates. The Wheeling Nailers were the opponent as the Royals welcomed the first sellout crowd of the season, a good number of area Boy and Girl Scout groups were in the house. The big crowd had little to cheer about as the Nailers scored two early goals and made them stand up as the Royals lost 3-1. David Vallorani was the lone scorer for the Royals, Riley Gill played another strong game in goal but suffered the tough-luck loss. It proved to be an unmemorable day all the way around, as the Royals were losing at the Sovereign Center McCaskey's basketball season came to an end with a loss in the first round of the state tournament. JPM met Coatesville in a game at Garden Spot HS in New Holland and by all accounts it was an ugly affair. According to reports there were several skirmishes and a lot of trash talk, on one occasion punches were thrown and a Coatesville player was ejected. After the game there were fan altercations as well. All in all it was an unappealing end to an excellent season, the final record was 26-4. In twenty-one years as head coach Steve Powell's mark stands at 398-183. The 2013-14 season will be a new start in many ways with only a handful of returnees but with a JV program that went 36-2 over the last two seasons the cupboard is not bare. It may be a case of growing pains at the varsity level more than anything else because the talent will be there, it's all a matter of how it comes together in December. Sunday was the proverbial day of rest, with the semi-annual clock change taking place we lost a hour's sleep overnight. The Royals played a late-afternoon game in Elmira and rebounded with a 3-1 road victory, that improves the record to 39-18-6. The boys are back home on Wednesday the 13th as Wheeling makes a return visit. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 1-8

The first seven days of the new month were about as slow and uneventful as they come, not unusual for this time of year with basketball season winding down, the Royals on the road and spring activities not yet started. There was snow in the forecast for Wednesday, predictions were for several inches depending on location. It proved to be a fizzle as temperatures never dropped low enough, all we got was rain (not that anyone is complaining). On Friday the Royals returned home from a 2-1-0 road swing as the Orlando Solar Bears visited. The Royals' goaltending carousel continues to spin, during the road trip the club signed veteran Riley Gill as a free agent. Gill is no stranger to the ECHL, he spent two seasons with the Kalamazoo Wings. On this night at the Sovereign Center he made his home debut a successful one as the Royals blanked Orlando 3-0. Yannick Tifu, Nikita Kashirsky and rookie Julien Cayer scored for the Royals. Cayer has been with the club all season, between injuries and roster size he has battled for a place in the lineup. On this night he was rewarded with his first goal as a pro, it proved to be the game-winner. The club stays at home for a Saturday date with the Wheeling Nailers. Take care, thanks for reading.