October 11-12

Saturday morning with Jenny and her mother for lunch, in early afternoon I had a phone message from Don. His son Derek was injured in an accident on Friday evening and was in the hospital. Sad news under any circumstances but especially so on this day because he and his fiance Kathy were supposed to be married at 4:00 Saturday afternoon. Jenny and I were actually invited but we had to regrettably decline because Saturday night was a hockey night in downtown Reading. The Royals are beginning their fourteenth season in the ECHL, on this night at the Arena the Elmira Jackals were the opponent in the back end of a home-and-home exhibition series. Every new season brings new players to the roster, we have seven players on assignment from the new Flyers/Phantoms affiliation. Returnees from '13-14 include Kevin Walrod, Sean Wiles, Ryan Cruthers, Ian Watters, Brett Flemming, Bryant Molle and David Marshall. Popular former Royals Adam Comrie and Olivier Labelle are back with the club as well, Comrie played in the AHL in '14 and Labelle has returned after spending two seasons in Europe. The Royals won 4-1 in Elmira on Friday, on this night they finished the sweep with another victory by the same score. The Jackals took the lead early on but in the closing seconds of the first period Wiles tipped in Molle's shot from the point to tie the game at 1-1. In the middle stanza Wiles struck again to make it 2-1, moments later Labelle found the net to extend the advantage to two. Midway through the third newcomer Justin Daniels added the final goal (Daniels is a hell of a story, he underwent heart surgery in the summer of 2013 and is just now resuming his pro career). Phantoms property Connor Knapp was the winning goaltender, he played in the NHL briefly in the '14 season. The Royals begin the regular season in Wheeling on October 18, the home opener is against Elmira on the 25th. The ECHL schedule is as geographically-driven as usual, the Nailers and the Jackals are our most frequent opponents. Take care, thanks for reading.