October 10-11

It is entirely possible that I may one day look back on the events of October 10 and laugh about it but right now is not that time. We did our usual Saturday lunch in Quarryville, later in the afternoon Jenny, her mother and I made our way north to downtown Reading. The Royals' 15th anniversary ECHL season kicked off with an exhibition game at Santander Arena against the Norfolk Admirals, one of the league's newest franchises. When we arrived at the arena I tested the PA mic in the penalty box, I thought I could hear something but it was very faint. At on-air time the mic was completely dead, they brought me a wireless mic and it didn't work either. We tried changing the battery but the only available spares were marked "best if used by March 2011" (I can see where that might be a problem). When the referee came on ice at game time I informed him that we would have no PA, he told the teams to line up as normal for the anthem and we played a recorded version. I was angry at first because I went there as a professional to do my job and I couldn't but once the game started I got over being angry, I merely stayed at my post and did everything else I normally do (everything, that is, except TALK). It ended up being a much easier night's work than I expected, at least it happened at a practice game that few will ever remember. In the contest itself the Royals defeated Norfolk 5-4. Newcomer Mike Pereira (from UMass-Amherst) scored two goals, the club got single tallies from local product Tyler Gjurich (from Hatfield, PA), returning veteran Ian Watters and veteran newcomer Geoff Walker (he appeared in the ECHL All-Star Game when we hosted it in 2009). Connor Knapp was the winning goalie, he and Watters are among thirteen returnees from the '14-15 season. The landscape of pro hockey at the minor league level changed greatly in the offseason, as a result of the AHL's western migration the ECHL gained several new eastern-based franchises. Manchester, New Hampshire and Glens Falls, New York have joined Norfolk as former AHL markets now in the ECHL. All three of those clubs are in our division so we will see them frequently at the Arena. The regular season begins on the 17th, the Royals play their first three on the road before opening at home on the 24th. Take care, thanks for reading.