October 7-9

Friday night on Penn Street in downtown Reading, the Santander Arena was the site for preseason hockey. The Royals are beginning their sixteenth season in the ECHL and it's hard to believe for two reasons: (1) that it's actually been that long already, and (2) I was there when it all began back in 2001. Obviously there is work involved in what I do but it's always better when you're in an environment where it's actually FUN to be there and the job is not made into a chore. On this night the Elmira Jackals were the opponent, the Royals have a fair number of returnees in camp but as is usually the case in preseason most of the players in uniform were those "on the bubble". Head coach Larry Courville observed the action from the suite level, assistant coach Kirk MacDonald (a member of the 2013 Kelly Cup squad) ran the game at the bench. The Royals lost 3-1, the lone score coming courtesy of rookie Zach Hall (from Belleville, Ontario). Veteran goaltender Mark Dekanich (signed in the off-season as a free agent by the Flyers organization) got the start and took the loss. On Saturday morning I was out and at it early, there was a soccer doubleheader going on at McCaskey. Jon Mitchell had asked me if I could work this, it was the girls team's Senior Day and they were playing in the stadium. That's one of the great things about my vocation: one night I'm working a pro event with several thousand in attendance, the next morning it's a high school game in front of several DOZEN. The JV game kicked off at 9:00, the senior ceremonies preceded the varsity game at 11:00. McCaskey's girls soccer program has struggled this season, on this day both games ended in shutout losses. In the evening the Royals played the back end of the exhibition home-and-home in Elmira. The boys lost that game as well but the results of preseason games are meaningless, it's all about evaluating the talent and figuring out who makes the cut. The Royals begin the regular season at home on Saturday the 15th against Elmira, the first of five times the Jackals visit during the regular year. Take care, thanks for reading.