October 21-23

The warmer weather was still with us on Friday morning, in the afternoon dark clouds began to form in advance of an anticipated cool front. Jenny and her mother were along for the late-afternoon drive north to Reading, about halfway through the trip the skies opened up and we drove through a downpour. When we arrived at the Arena it was noticeably cooler, it had not yet rained in Reading but it did shortly after we were inside. The Royals won in Wheeling on Thursday, on this night the Manchester Monarchs were making the first of their seven regular-season visits. The organization celebrated Oktoberfest and German Heritage Night with a beer mug giveaway featuring former Royals Philipp Grubauer, Patrik Hersley, Charlie Kronschnabel, and Daniel Steiner. The game itself was just about all Manchester, the Mons led 2-0 in the the third period before Steven Swavely lit the lamp to get the Royals on the board. The momentum died quickly as the Monarchs replied with three more and won it going away 5-1, Mark Dekanich made his third straight home start (exhibition game included) in goal and took the loss. The club's mark stands at 2-1-0 in the early going as they prepare to embark on an eight-game road trip, the first game on the swing is on the 26th. According to research it is the longest stretch away from home in club history, the next home game is not until November 12. On Saturday the temperatures were only in the 60s, being outdoors was like being in a wind tunnel. Jenny and I had lunch together, on the way back into town I stopped by the rink. The winds on Friday had been strong from the southeast but they had shifted to out of the northwest with the cooler weather. There were a good number of leaves on the rink surface but the northwest wind had them in pockets in the corners, on Sunday after the early football games were over I went to the rink and cleaned them up. I'm sure there will be work to do on Monday as well but at least the weekend portion is done, winds are supposed to continue from the west/northwest so we'll take Monday as it comes. Take care, thanks for reading.