January 28-29

Saturday lunch in Quarryville with Jenny and her mother, Helen is still hurting but slowly getting better. In the afternoon we headed north on 222 for the start of a great weekend of hockey at the Arena. The Royals played two road games during the week and went 1-0-1, on this night the Fort Wayne Komets visited Reading for the first time since November of 2014. The Ks are one of minor pro hockey's more storied franchises, they have existed under the same name since 1952. Earlier this season the Fort Wayne community (and the entire hockey world) suffered a horrible loss when legendary Komet broadcaster Bob Chase passed away. Bob was 90 years of age, he became the voice of the Ks in 1953 and worked until his health no longer allowed it. I became familiar with his work in my childhood, I finally had the chance to meet him when Fort Wayne joined the ECHL in 2012. It can truly be said that they don't come any better, he was a classy gentleman and he'll be missed. In the game itself the Royals broke the ice late in the period on a Justin Crandall score, Matt Willows made it 2-0 midway through the second. Late in the period Steven Swavely and Maxim Lamarche scored fourteen seconds apart to expand the advantage to 4-0 at the intermission. The Ks broke the shutout midway through the final period, in the closing moments Ryan Penny scored an empty-netter and Justin Crandall added another with ten seconds left to wrap up a surprisingly one-sided 6-1 Royals victory. On Sunday the Manchester Monarchs came to town for the fourth of their seven regular-season visits, it was Mascot Mania day as the organization celebrated Slapshot's 16th birthday. The region's two Atlantic League baseball clubs were represented, Cylo was there from the Lancaster Barnstormers and the York Revolution sent Downtown and Cannonball Charlie to the festivities. The Royals once again jumped out to a early lead, goals by Robbie Czarnik, Chris McCarthy and newcomer Johnny McInnis (third-year pro from Minnesota State-Mankato) made it 3-0 after one period (the goals by McCarthy and McInnis were just fifteen seconds apart marking the second straight game the club scored in rapid-fire fashion). In the second period the Royals doubled their advantage on scores from Matt Willows, Olivier Labelle and Steven Swavely to lead 6-0. The Monarchs posted a three-spot of their own in the third but the Royals held on for the 6-3 verdict, Martin Ouellette was the winning goaltender for the second straight night. The Royals' record stands at 25-14-3, 14-6-0 at the Arena. The boys are on the road for their next three games, the next home date is February 9. Take care, thanks for reading.