December 30-31

Friday night at Santander Arena for the final home date of the calendar year, the Wheeling Nailers were the opposition for the second of three regular-season visits. This was the first of five Friday home dates billed as "Flyer Fridays" featuring the Royals wearing Flyers-themed sweaters and a Flyers alumnus signing autographs, on this night it was Doug Crossman (a Flyer from 1983 to 1988 and a participant in the Alumni game we hosted back in February). The Royals goaltending situation is still in flux, with Martin Ouellette still in the AHL and Mark Dekanich on the disabled list the club acquired Austin Lotz on loan from the Arizona Coyotes organization. Lotz is a first-year pro who most recently played with Medicine Hat of the WHL. On this night he made his Reading debut and picked up the win and the game's #3 star. Justin Crandall scored late in the first period, the Nailers replied midway through the second to tie it 1-1. In the late going of the period Robbie Czarnik put the Royals back up but the pesky Nailers struck back midway through the third to square matters once again. Three minutes after the tying goal Chris McCarthy gave the Royals the lead for good, Crandall's insurance marker in the final minutes put away the 4-2 win. The Royals finish 2016 with a home ice mark of 9-4-0,the club's next home date is on January 6. On Saturday I was with Jenny for our usual lunch date, from there the calendar year expired quietly at home. New Years Eve is no big thing to me, unless you go out and get blasted (and I don't do that anymore although I had my moments in my younger years) it is a largely meaningless thing. The Royals were on the road for a 5:30 holiday game in Glens Falls and won it 5-2, the overall record entering 2017 stands at 18-11-2. Thanks for reading, see you in the New Year.

December 28-29

Wednesday morning lunch with Jenny and her mother, in late afternoon we were on the road north to downtown Reading. The Elmira Jackals were making the second of their five regular-season appearances and the first since the home opener back in October. On this night the result was never really in doubt, the Royals took command and never surrendered control for a minute. Olivier Labelle's score late in the first period gave the Royals a 1-0 lead, in the second period Ryan Penny and Florian Iberer lit the lamp forty-five seconds apart to up the advantage to three. In the final period Robbie Czarnik removed any doubt with two goals (one early, one late) putting the lid on a resounding 5-0 victory. Drew Fielding got the start in net and recorded the club's first shutout of the season, he was named the game's #1 star for his effort (Czarnik was #2, Justin Crandall was #3). The Royals improve to 16-11-2, 8-4 at the Arena. The club wraps up the 2016 portion of the home schedule on Friday the 30th against Wheeling. There was some rain in the area on Thursday morning, by all accounts the heaviest had fallen overnight (I must admit that never hurts me, it could rain every night between 2:00 and 5:00 and I'd probably never know it happened). The morning errand run was the extent of Thursday's activities but there were three college football bowls plus an evening hockey game on TV. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 26-27

The world slowly began to return to normal on Monday, I was at the mall for lunch and things were livelier than usual largely because of schools being out on holiday break. On Tuesday Jenny was in town on business, we were together over the lunch hour. In the evening I was at McCaskey for the opening round of our annual holiday tournament. York High was entered (as they are every year), the other squads were Largo from Upper Marlboro, MD and Delaware Valley Charter from Philadelphia. It seems like every few years something happens to screw things up (be it a team mistaking what nights the games are scheduled for or a team dropping out at the last minute), this occasion was unfortunately one of those. Del-Val was unable to commit to playing in the second round on Wednesday, as a result the opening night schedule was reshuffled. York was originally matched against Largo and JPM versus Del-Val but we swapped opponents. On Wednesday York and Largo meet in the lone game of the night, since Del-Val can only play on Tuesday JPM (as the host team) will sit it out on Wednesday as well. In the opener on Tuesday Del-Val defeated York, in the nightcap the Red Tornado won over Largo 66-56. We knew little about Largo coming in but they are a good club and the game was competitive just about all the way through. We were up by four at the quarter, at the half the score was tied. The game was still dead even entering the final quarter before we were able to pull away down the stretch. Ricky Cruz had the big night with 27 points including 11 in the decisive fourth quarter, Jathan Gonzalez was the only other player in double figures with 12. The win improves the club's mark to 2-3, the boys next play in the new year on January 2. Funny how it worked out that the York-Largo game on Wednesday is what the consolation game would have been anyway, the prospective championship game ends up being canceled completely. If I were available I would work the York-Largo game but I am absent for hockey in Reading so at least from a McCaskey standpoint I'm not missing anything. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 23-25

Friday night hockey at Santander Arena as the Adirondack Thunder visited from upstate New York for the first of six appearances in Reading. On this night the Royals ended their losing skid in emphatic fashion leaving no questions unanswered. Chris McCarthy broke the ice late in the first period but the Thunder replied quickly, at the horn it was 1-1. In the second period Justin Crandall scored twice, Tyrell Goulbourne's marker early in the third put the Royals up 4-1. ADK made it close with a late score but in the final minute Crandall hit the empty net to finish off his hat-trick and a 5-2 Royals win. It is the first hatty by a Royal at home since Cam Reid turned the trick against Wheeling in March of 2016 and nobody realized it at the time because it occurred thanks to a scoring change after the game, the last one before that was Sean Wiles in January of 2014 (the fans actually got the pleasure of throwing their hats to the ice on that occasion). Drew Fielding got the start in net for the Royals and picked up the win improving the club's record to 15-11-2, 7-4 at home. On this night veteran Frederic Cassivi served as emergency backup goaltender, he is a longtime friend and former teammate of Royals coach Larry Courville. Freddy retired in 2010 from a successful AHL career but has helped the Royals out when called upon, he appeared in a game for the Royals in 2013 (at the age of 37) and played in the Flyers Alumni game at the Arena in February of '16. On Saturday I was with Jenny and her mother for lunch and we exchanged gifts for the "holiday" (quotation marks intended because it's nothing special anymore and hasn't been for ages). Sunday was The Big Day itself but for me it was the big steaming pile of nothing it always is. My feelings on the subject are well-documented and I wish it could be different but it just isn't in me anymore. If Jenny wasn't in my life it would be a million times worse, I always make sure she isn't disappointed but that's the extent of my concern. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 21-22

Wednesday morning lunch in Quarryville, in the afternoon we made our way north to the Arena in Reading. The Royals' eight-game winning streak ended with an 0-2 road trip over the weekend, on this night the club hosted the Manchester Monarchs in the third of their seven regular-season visits. Manchester scored early in the first and again in the second to go up 2-0, midway through the period Matt Wilkins lit the lamp to pull the Royals within one. The Monarchs retook a two-goal advantage late in the period, in the late going of the third Florian Iberer's goal made it 3-2 but a Manchester empty-netter in the closing seconds put the lid on the 4-2 decision. The loss is a third straight for the Royals and drops the club's mark to 14-11-2, 6-4 at the Arena. The most disturbing news of the night may involve goaltender Mark Dekanich who left the game due to injury in the second period. With Martin Ouellette on recall to the AHL Phantoms the Royals recently added second-year pro Drew Fielding (from the University Of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota) to the roster, he finished the game and acquitted himself well. Should Dekanich miss any significant time Fielding may be counted on to carry the load, time will tell. The Royals stay at home to host the Adirondack Thunder on Friday the 23rd. Saw on the Internet where the McCaskey boys earned their first win with a 64-27 blowout of Penn Manor in Millersville, hopefully this signals a turnaround of the team's fortunes. On Thursday night I was at JPM in a non-working capacity, the girls basketball team was playing a rare home game on an off-night for the boys. Wilson HS was the opponent, anytime we play a Berks County school I invariably see someone I know and this night was no different. A member of the Royals management team lives in the Wilson school district, his daughter is a senior on the basketball team and one of their top players. He was there with his wife (who I have also known for many years) and their other daughter, we were kidding about how he saw me at hockey in Reading on Wednesday, basketball in Lancaster on Thursday and hockey upcoming on Friday (we just can't get away from one another). It was a good night for the McCaskey girls with both the JV and varsity squads recording victories. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 19-20

Monday morning lunch at the mall (as usual), in the evening it was a basketball night at McCaskey. The Red Tornado hosted Lebanon in the second game of the league season and the third overall. The JV squad stayed unbeaten with a 64-53 win, the varsity dropped to 0-3 with a 68-58 loss. In the varsity game Lebanon led by ten at the half, after the break JPM made a few runs but never seriously threatened. William Joseph led with 14 points and Ricky Cruz added 12 but individual numbers don't mean a lot when you don't win. It's been a while since a McCaskey team started 0-3, in a way it's a surprise but in other ways it isn't. We graduated two thousand-point scorers from the '15-16 club and that's a lot of offense that needs to be replaced, this team hasn't found it yet but the potential exists and it just needs time to come together. The boys are back on floor at Penn Manor on Wednesday the 21st, I am absent for hockey in Reading. On Tuesday Jenny was in town on business, we got together over the lunch hour and ran a few errands. After school dismissed I went over to basketball practice and gave Coach Powell the scorebooks since I'm absent on Wednesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 17-18

Snow was in the forecast for Saturday, it arrived during the overnight hours as rain before it changed over. There were early reports of traffic accidents in the morning, by the time I was up and about the precipitation was all but out of the area. Walking to the car was a minor adventure, there was ice under the snow which is actually safer than the other way around. I made my usual Saturday trip to Quarryville for lunch with Jenny, the driving was not a big problem since I stuck to the main roads and away from my favorite shortcuts. In late afternoon we reconvened at McCaskey for the bus trip to Chester. Coach Powell is a Chester alum, we have played them every year since he became head coach in 1993. They are one of the best programs in the state and you can count our victories over them on one hand but we play them because they are a quality opponent. The night began with the JV game, JPM won to go 2-0 (they had also won at Cedar Crest on Friday). The varsity game was another story altogether, Chester ran out to an eighteen-point lead at halftime and coasted to an 82-47 win. Jathan Gonzalez led the Red Tornado with 15, he was the only JPM player in double figures. A loss to Chester is no surprise, playing them serves as a test to find out where you stand in comparison. Year in and year out our non-league schedule is one of the toughest around, remaining on the slate in '16-17 are games against Harrisburg, Reading High, Central Dauphin East and Williamsport plus that makeup game against Coatesville and there isn't a soft touch in the group. The club's record stands at 0-2 overall, league play continues on Monday the 19th at home. The LL league realigned during the off-season, instead of four divisions of six teams each the new setup is three divisions of eight. It's actually a return to the old system which had been abandoned in 2004, we play our seven division opponents twice each with no crossover games of any kind. Our division is exactly as it was in '15-16 with the addition of Lebanon and Conestoga Valley, Lebanon is the opponent for the home game on the 19th. Temperatures on Sunday reached in the 50s, most of the snow and ice from Saturday disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 12-16

Learned on Monday morning that the postponed game in Coatesville was rescheduled for February 4, it will be a Saturday afternoon as originally planned. The early part of the week was quiet except for Wednesday lunch with Jenny. On Thursday after supper I went over to basketball practice to get the scorebooks from Coach Powell so I could get them prepared for the (new) season opener on Friday. The program has twenty-three players on the roster, twelve on the varsity and thirteen on the JV squad (two players are going both ways). The varsity features five returnees, four who played JV in '15-16 and three others who are new to the organization. On Friday we boarded the bus for the ride north on route 72, the destination was Cedar Crest HS in Cornwall. It was unusual for the first game of the season to be a league game but it was of course not scheduled that way. In recent years CC has been one of the league's top programs and we have certainly had our moments with them both good and bad. Every season we seem to lose at least one game within the league that simply should not happen, maybe on this night we got this year's dog out of the way early. We lost 72-66 in overtime, after the game the coaches chalked it up to bad shots and poor decisions. The effort was there but the end results were not. Nine players got into the scoring column for JPM: Ricky Cruz led with 17, Greg Nunez had 10, Isiah Speller (younger brother of Randolph) and William Joseph had nine apiece, Jathan Gonzalez added eight, Gary Smith (from the '16 JV team) had six, newcomer Tallian Lehr added three and Juanya Gonzalez and R.J. Godwin (another member of the '16 JV) had two points each. The boys get back on the horse on Saturday with a non-league game in Chester (another place that is never easy to play in), the first game at home is on Monday the 19th. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 9-11

Friday night hockey at the Arena as the Indy Fuel visited from the state capital of Indiana for the first time since April of 2015. Longtime broadcaster Terry Ficorelli is the Fuel's radio voice, I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago when he was working elsewhere in the ECHL. I became familiar with him from his work in Baltimore when the AHL had a club there in the 1980s, his play-by-play style is very colorful and instantly recognizable. The Royals won both games on their most recent road trip, they came into this weekend riding a six-game winning streak. The Friday game was the opener of a two-game set, on this night the Fuel took early leads of 1-0 and 2-1 and were caught both times. Ryan Penny's score drew the Royals even at 1-1, Chris McCarthy's marker squared matters at 2-2 and from there it was all Royals with an exclamation point added. Just thirty-five seconds after McCarthy's goal Florian Iberer lit the lamp to give the Royals the lead, fifty-seven seconds later Derik Johnson scored the club's third goal in 1:32 of play to make 4-2 at the first intermission. The second period was scoreless until the final second, newcomer Matt Willows (second-year pro from the University Of New Hampshire) beat the buzzer to put the Royals up by three. Third period goals by Tyrell Goulbourne and Mike Pereira plus McCarthy's second of the night put the lid on an 8-2 win, the eight-goal salvo marking the first time the Royals scored that many in a game since October of 2015. Saturday night at the Arena was the annual Teddy Bear Toss for the benefit of Toys For Tots, Jenny had three bags of stuffed animals to donate to the cause. The game on this night played out very differently than the Friday encounter, Indy once again scored first but Chris McCarthy's "teddy bear" goal tied the game 1-1 midway through the first period. The deadlock remained until midway through the second period when Michael Boivin found the net to give the Royals their first lead. The game was still 2-1 into the final moments, with the Indy net empty Steven Swavely scored the clincher to salt away the tough 3-1 verdict. Mark Dekanich was the winning goaltender both nights as the Royals extend the winning streak to eight games and run the record to 14-8-2, 6-3 at home. The club plays the next three on the road before finishing the month with four straight on home ice, the first of those is on Wednesday the 21st. McCaskey's basketball opener in Coatesville on Saturday was postponed due to a water main break near the high school, JPM won't start their season until Friday the 16th on the road at Cedar Crest (never a fun assignment). Take care, thanks for reading.

December 1-8

The first week of December had little to recommend it, we're at that time of year where autumn activities are over and winter events haven't started yet. Outside of lunch dates with Jenny on Saturday and Wednesday the only day with any noteworthy doings was Tuesday. In the morning I had an appointment with my heart doctor, he pronounced everything good and said he won't need to see me for another year. The initial incident was in September of 2014 and I've had absolutely no recurrences of any kind since then, let's keep it that way. In the afternoon it began to rain, later in the day it was coming down hard. After supper I went over to McCaskey, the boys were scheduled to host Wilson in the final preseason scrimmage. When I arrived I noticed the bleachers on the west side of the gym were not open for seating and the reason was readily apparent: the gym roof was leaking from the hard rain. The actual playing court itself was OK but the area where the bleachers would have been was affected, the custodial staff had a plastic covering laid down in a effort to protect it. Using the bleachers on the other side of the gym was not an option, they would have covered the auxiliary court where the JV scrimmage was happening so most of the spectators had no choice but to stand. Folding chairs were set up for the teams and a select few (like me) were able to procure one as well but for most of the audience it was like watching a game at the neighborhood schoolyard. JPM starts its season with a game in Coatesville on Saturday the 10th, I'll be absent because of hockey. The first three games are all on the road, the first home game is on Monday the 19th. Take care, thanks for reading.