November 27-30

The last four days of the month were quiet save for Monday lunch at the mall, Wednesday lunch with Jenny and two nights of dek hockey at Reservoir Park. The best-of-five West Finals began on Tuesday and continued on Thursday, the week ended with the Owls up 2-0 over the Kings. Thursday night was interesting in that there was rain forecast for later in the evening but it arrived while we were playing. It was a nuisance but nothing that was stopping us, within a half hour of the game ending the rain was gone as well. We started this season two weeks later than expected and as it stands we're only one day behind where we'd be had we started on time. If the league would have started on September 19 as planned we would have played two nights a week for seven weeks with no weather interruptions ending on November 2. Playoffs would have been scheduled to start on the 7th, the rainout that night would have pushed it back to the 9th. The East Finals and West Semifinals would have all ended on the 16th, the West Finals would have started on the 21st and continued after the holiday break with game #2 on the 28th instead of the 30th. The series plays again on Monday the 4th, games beyond that if needed are on the 5th and 7th. It's been some time since the season extended into December which is why it feels like we're way behind but the fact remains we're only one date off the pace, having only that one postponement for weather was definitely a plus. Take care, thanks for reading.

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.

November 22

Found out what happened on Tuesday night at Reservoir Park in my absence: the Steamers wrapped up the East Finals with a win over the UniLords, in the West semifinals the Kings and Owls advanced to the championship round which begins on Tuesday the 28th. Had lunch with Jenny on Wednesday morning, in the evening I was back at the Arena for a special non-hockey event. In March of 2017 the Reading High School basketball team won the state title, graduating senior Lonnie Walker was the on-court leader of that squad. Lonnie is in his freshman year at the University Of Miami, on this night he and his teammates played a "home" game at the Arena. Lasalle University (from Philadelphia) was the opponent, they had a reasonable following in attendance but for the most part the crowd was very partisan in favor of Miami. The Royals management asked me to handle the PA since Miami's regular guy didn't make the trip, I coordinated with the school's athletic director of marketing and there were no issues at all. The game started at 6:00 before a near-sellout crowd, later in the night it was announced that better than 6700 were in the house. Walker was not in the starting lineup but when he entered early in the game he received the Hero's Welcome, he played twenty-seven of the game's forty minutes and scored five points. The game wound down around 7:45 or so, Miami won it 57-46 (a low-scoring game for college but it's still early in the season). The game rightfully received a great deal of media attention, the game was broadcast on each school's radio network and the local station in Reading did its own broadcast as well. There are projections that Lonnie Walker could be a one-year college player, many so-called draft experts see him as a possible first-round professional pick in 2018. Nobody can know for sure (least of all me) but it's safe to say that all of Berks County is rooting for him. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 20-21

Stopped by the rink on Monday afternoon and did the requisite prelim work after the long weekend. The winds were mostly out of the west/northwest over the weekend but that didn't keep the rink clear at all, there were pockets of leaves in the corners. We had playoff games at the rink on Tuesday evening but I was absent. Jenny was in town on Tuesday, when her appointment was finished in the afternoon we went to her place for her mother and then north to Reading for a rare Tuesday night hockey game. The Royals went 1-2 on the most recent road trip, on this night the Adirondack Thunder was the opponent for the third of seven visits. Mark Naclerio's goal put the Royals up 1-0 seven minutes in, less than two minutes later the Thunder evened the score but Ryan Penny's tally with five minutes left made it 2-1 Royals at the intermission. In the second period ADK struck early to tie it 2-2 but from there it was all Royals. Midway through the period Matt Wilkins put the club back ahead, third-period scores from Nolan Zajac and rookie Michael Huntebrinker put the wrap on a 5-2 win (Huntebrinker played college hockey at Minnesota State, he had a "cup of coffee" with the Royals at the tail-end of '16-17). John Muse was the goaltender of decision as the club improves to 8-5-1 and stays unbeaten at home at 6-0. We're back at the Arena on the weekend, on "Purple Friday versus Adirondack (again) and a Sunday date with Wheeling. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 13-19

Monday morning lunch at the mall, in the evening we finished the dek hockey league's regular season. These were the games postponed from the 7th, as the night began each game had some bearing on the final standings. Winners included the Steamers over the Hammerheads. the Unilords over the Riot, the Misfits over the Kings and the Owls over the Pub Dawgs via shootout. We had planned to start playoffs on Tuesday had the league ended on time as scheduled, Monday's makeups did not change that (everybody who played Monday was playing again on Tuesday so no one could claim unfair advantage). The East Division Championship featured the Steamers versus the UniLords, the West Division semifinal matchups were the Kings vs the Misfits and the Owls vs the Riot. Game #2 of each series was played on Thursday night, by week's end the Steamers were up 2-0 in the best-of-five East Finals and both of the best-of-three West semis were tied at 1-1. The week otherwise was relatively quiet except for my lunch visits with Jenny on Wednesday and Saturday. The Royals were on a three-game road swing during the week, the boys are back home on Tuesday the 21st. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 12

I was recently contacted by a gentleman I know from high school basketball, he officiates in the L-L League and he is also a regular attendee of Royals games at the Arena. He plays hockey in a local adult league that plays its games at the Regency Sportsrink, one of the ice facilities here in Lancaster. The Regency Rookie Hockey League was able to arrange a charity game with the Flyers Alumni and he asked me if I'd be available to do the PA. The game was played on Sunday afternoon before a standing-room-only crowd, the rink seating area is very small and there were standees all along the spectator side of the rink. This was only the second or third time I was ever in the facility, the penalty boxes and player benches are all together on the same side of the rink and as you might expect in a small building it was COLD (but since it's an ice arena one would hardly expect it to be any other way). This was not an "A-level" event for the Alumni so a lot of the "big names" were not there but there were many quite recognizable. Alumni president Brad Marsh was in uniform along with Joe Watson, Bob Kelly, Larry Goodenough, Todd Fedoruk, Riley Cote, Terry Carkner, Mitch Lamoureux and former Phantom Frank Bialowas. Ex-NHLer Bryan Helmer (now an executive with the AHL club in Hershey) was in the lineup as were one-time Royals Jeff Corey and Chase Watson (Joe's nephew). The squad was rounded out with some players not particularly well-known but with connections to the Alumni, among them were Chris Bialowas (Frank's son), Mike Cauley, Ted Russell, Len Ellis and goalie Matt Tendler. Retired NHL referee Paul Devorski was one of the game's on-ice officials. The game only took about an hour to play, there were two fifteen-minute stop-time periods and one twenty-minute running-time period with a one-minute break in-between. The Alumni won the game but the result didn't matter, what counted was the experience the Rookie Leaguers had playing the game and the money raised for the benefiting charity. There was a postgame get-together for food, I had a chance to meet and talk with Joe Watson and Len Ellis. Joe was a member of the Flyers' Stanley Cup championship clubs in 1974 and '75, he's in his early 70s and still plays regularly in Alumni events. Len Ellis (or maybe I should say Doctor Ellis) is a great story in his own right, he played pro hockey in Europe and is a practicing orthodontist in New Jersey. In the end everybody went home happy and that's what it was all about. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 11

Saturday night was a hockey night in downtown Reading, the Royals were at home for the first time since October 29. The club went 1-3-1 on the road trip, on this night the new Jacksonville Icemen made their lone scheduled appearance of the season. Jacksonville, Florida was in the ECHL previously from 1995-2000, in the 1970s the city hosted an AHL franchise for two seasons. The new team is the franchise that was in Evansville, Indiana from 2012 to 2016, over the summer it was reactivated in Florida after one year of dormancy. Before the game there was a ceremony observing Veterans Day, the teams participated with a local scout troop in displaying a large flag on-ice during the performance of the national anthem. The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first on a goal by Steven Swavely, early in the second Matt Wilkins lit the lamp to extend the advantage, The Icemen got on the board midway through the period but less than a minute later Adam Schmidt replied to make it 3-1. In the third Matt Willows padded the lead, Alex Krushelnyski's empty-netter with a minute to go put the lid on a 5-1 decision. John Muse got the start in net and picked up the win. Rookie defenseman Frank Hora (from Kitchener in the Ontario League) played to a +5 and was the game's #3 star, Schmidt earned #2 honors and James de Haas (back from his AHL stint with the Phantoms) was #1 with four assists and a +5 for the evening. The club improves to 6-3-1 (5-0 at the Arena), the next three are on the road before the boys return home on Tuesday the 21st to host Adirondack. The ECHL schedule is always a curiosity and here's a case in point: the Royals play sixteen home games during the 2017 portion of the schedule, eleven of them are against Adirondack and Wheeling. After the first of the year the Thunder and the Nailers visit just once each. Strange...but true. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 6-10

The past few days were a classic example of why I operate the way I do where the dek hockey league is concerned. It rained overnight into Monday, I stopped by the rink after lunch and found it buried under leaves. Although we had no games that evening I cleared the rink anyway because (a) it had to be done and it wasn't happening by itself and (b) there was rain in the forecast for Tuesday. When I left the surface was as clear as I (and the Billy-Goat) could get it, on Tuesday afternoon it didn't look any different largely because the winds were out of the west-northwest. The forecasted rain arrived in mid-afternoon and continued well into the evening, the night's schedule was postponed and reset for Monday the 13th. On Wednesday Jenny and I had our usual midweek lunch, on the way back into town I checked out the rink. It was still in good shape since the rain had fallen on a bare surface, had those leaves still been there it would have been a soggier mess than Monday had been. On Thursday I gave the rink a final once-over after lunch, the evening's schedule went on as planned but it wasn't particularly enjoyable. The local TV weather forecast indicated small patches of light mist here and there, it was all supposed to clear out and be gone by 7:00. We played most the night in misty conditions, there were periods of rain that didn't stop us but it was just enough to be annoying. Winners on the night included the Riot over the Pub Dawgs, the Steamers over the Misfits, the UniLords over the Hammerheads and the Kings over the Owls via shootout. Overnight into Friday temperatures dropped into the 30s, during the day we had plenty of sunshine but the winds made it feel very cold. I had a haircut appointment in the afternoon and called it a day from there. High school football began its district playoffs but I am very provincial in that regard, "if we ain't there I don't care" (especially when the wind-chill factor is in single digits). Take care, thanks for reading.

November 4-5

Not much doing on Saturday which was more than acceptable since Sunday was busy. In the afternoon we made our way north of Reading for our annual hockey visit to Allentown. The Flyers' AHL club has played in the Lehigh Valley since 2014, in past years our visit there has been in the latter part of the season. When the schedule was released in August I noted that the Phantoms had only four Sunday dates at home, two were on occasions when the Royals were at home and one other at a time of the year when weather concerns could be an issue so I selected this game in November (in the '16-'17 season there were no workable Sundays, we ended up doing a Saturday night in April instead). The Phantoms have several players who have spent time with the Royals including former Royals captain Maxim Lamarche, Tyrell Goulbourne, Reece Willcox and Radel Fazleev (one game in Reading in '16-'17). The Phantoms also have Adam Comrie and rookie James de Haas on recall from the Royals, de Haas is a Clarkson Unversity product. The Toronto Marlies (the Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate) were the opponent, both clubs entered with excellent early-season records but this game was just about all Marlies. The Phantoms took a 1-0 lead three minutes in on a goal by red-hot Danick Martel, it was his thirteenth score in the team's thirteenth game. Toronto took control from there scoring five unanswered and winning it going away 5-1. Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski started for the Phantoms and suffered the loss. The Flyers' AHL team has played under the Phantoms name since 1996, for thirteen years the club played its home games in Philadelphia at the old Spectrum and I was able to visit several times a season. In 2009 the Spectrum was closed and eventually demolished, the club was moved to Glens Falls, NY and played there until 2014 when the arena in Allentown was ready to go. The trip is not unpleasant (about 75 miles one-way) but I figure if I can get Jenny and her mother there once a year and take care of the Royals as well that's good enough for me. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 1-3

The eleventh month of the year began on Wednesday, had my usual lunch visit with Jenny in Quarryville. On Thursday I stopped by the rink after lunch and did some prelim work for the evening. This is the time of year for it although for us falling leaves is not just an autumn phenomenon, it is a year-round thing. On this night we finished week #5 with each team playing its twelfth game, winners included the Hammerheads over the Pub Dawgs, the UniLords over the Owls, the Steamers over the Kings and the Misfits over the Riot. On Friday high school football's regular season ended, I was at brand-new Crusader Stadium for the second time in 2017. Lancaster Catholic hosted Northern Lebanon, before the game we did the usual Senior Night recognitions. The Crusaders started out with four non-league games and lost them all but in league play they rebounded with a 5-0 mark. NL entered the night also unbeaten in league play (8-1 overall) making this game a de facto division championship game. The first quarter was scoreless as both teams struggled offensively, in the second Northern Lebanon broke through with a TD to lead 7-0 at the half. NL got the kickoff to start the second half and wasted no time extending the lead to 14-0, at that point the alarm bell rang on the Crusader side of the field. A seven-run TD run by Malkam Lawrence and Conner Engle's PAT made it 14-7 after three, in the final quarter C.J. Zimmerman scored on a ten-yard run, Engle's XP kick tied the game at 14-up. It all set the stage for a fantastic finish but for LCHS it turned into a disaster. The Crusaders had possession deep in their own territory in the final two minutes when a lost fumble gave NL a first-and-goal at the ten-yard line, they cashed in to go up 21-14 with a minute left. On their next possession the Crusaders were able to advance to the NL 26-yard line with four seconds left, the would-be game-tying pass attempt fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired. For LCHS it is a heartbreaking loss made all the more so because it signals the end of head coach Bruce Harbach's career. Earlier in the fall he announced his retirement after sixteen year as the head man at LCHS (and forty-one years in the business), under his watch the Crusader program won seven division titles, four district championships and the state title twice (2009 and 2011). Saw on the Internet where McCaskey lost their finale to finish at 2-8. There are other schools in the area who will participate in district playoffs but for me the season is OVER. Take care, thanks for reading.