November 23-26

Thursday was the annual Turkey Day holiday, for me it was a quiet day with little going on except pro football on TV. On Friday I had my weekend lunch visit with Jenny a day early, in the evening we were back at the Arena for "Purple Friday". The Adirondack Thunder was the opponent, their radio announcer is a young man named Evan Pivnick. Evan is in his first year in the ECHL, on this night his father was in town to see him and for me it was a renewal of an old acquaintance. During my baseball days in Berks County the team from Albany, New York was a frequent opponent, Evan's father Phil was a broadcaster for that club from 1983-1985. When Evan introduced his father to me Phil said "Frenchy! Yeah, I know Frenchy", Evan was surprised because he had no idea his father and I had ever met before. The game itself was all Royals from the get-go. Matt Willows gave the club a 1-0 lead five minutes in, early in the second Adam Schmidt extended the advantage to two. From there John Muse and the defense corps slammed the door on the 2-0 win, the shutout was the club's first of the season. Saturday was uneventful since it was a non-gameday, on Sunday we were back in downtown Reading for the final home game of the month. The Wheeling Nailers were in for the second of six visits (and the first of four straight in Reading), on this day the Royals' undefeated streak on home ice ended in emphatic fashion. The Nailers scored twice in the first and once in the second, early in the third they were up 4-0. Midway through the period Ryan Penny broke up the shutout bid but Wheeling got that one back and won it without question 5-1. The Royals' mark stands at 10-6-1 overall, the club's next three are on the road before Wheeling returns on December 6. Take care, thank for reading.