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.