October 7-8

Saturday lunch in Quarryville with Jenny and her mother, on Sunday we headed north on 222 into Berks County for the first time since April 24. The ECHL is starting its 30th season, the Royals are beginning their 17th as a league member. The franchise played its first home game in October of 2001, I made my debut as the club's PA voice and the rest (as they say) is history. The Royals won the ECHL championship in 2013, two members of that club now comprise the coaching staff. Kirk MacDonald (who was an assistant under former head coach Larry Courville) is the new head coach, championship teammate Patrick Wellar has rejoined the organization as K-Mac's assistant. Returning players include defensemen Nick Luukko and Chase Golightly, forwards Chris McCarthy, Ryan Penny, Matt Wilkins, Michael Huntebrinker, Matt Salhany and Matt Willows plus goaltender Mark Dekanich. Training camp began earlier in the week, on Friday the boys traveled to Glens Falls, NY and defeated the Adirondack Thunder in exhibition play 6-2. On this day the clubs met at the Arena in downtown Reading, the Royals took the lead 1-0 midway through the first period on a score by newcomer Adam Schmidt (a fourth-year pro who has played chiefly in Sweden). In the second period rookie K.J. Tiefenwerth (from Quinnipiac University) lit the lamp to extend the lead. Late in the period the Thunder got on the board, the score stayed 2-1 until the final three minutes when Matt Wilkins scored an insurance goal to bring the final to 3-1. Mark Dekanich got the start in net and picked up the win as the club finishes exhibition play at 2-0. The Royals' regular season schedule is typically unusual: the club's first four games are at home, they do not play on the road until November 3. We host ten different opponents at the Arena, within the division we see Manchester, Brampton, Wheeling and Adirondack plus the new club in Worcester, Massachusetts. Non-divisional opposition includes Norfolk, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne and Toledo plus another new team in Jacksonville, Florida. The league starts on the 13th but for some strange unexplained reason the Royals do not play until the 21st when they host ADK for the home opener. Take care, thanks for reading.