February 23-28

The last six days of the month were predictably quiet, we are simply in a stretch where there is little going on. Jenny and her mother were invited to an afternoon bridal shower on Saturday, since we couldn't get together for lunch I elected to do my Monday usual at the mall two days early. I told Jenny that sometimes ballgames get postponed because of rain, our Saturday lunch date was called because of a shower (the fact that Saturday was a gloomy rainy day only added to the irony). On Monday we made up for the missed day and on Wednesday we got back onto the regular rotation. The Royals began their road trip with a pair of games over the weekend, they lost in overtime on Saturday and won via shootout on Sunday. The club plays six more on the road before they return home in the distant future (aka March 14). Take care, thanks for reading.

February 19-22

Daytime temperatures were unusually warmer during the early part of the week, the Wednesday high of 80 (!!!) set a new record for our area. On Thursday it was rainy and temperatures were back down into the 40s (a good way for people to get sick), we were at the Arena for the last home game of the month. The Worcester Railers were in town for the fifth of their eight appearances. As has been their wont in recent games the Royals got off to a strong start in the first period. Steven Swavely started the ball rolling four minutes in, goals by Nolan Zajac and Matt Willows two minutes apart upped the lead to 3-0. The Railers got on the board late in the first period, in the second each team scored once with the Royals marker coming from Chris McCarthy. The 4-2 Royals lead was extended early in the third on a goal from Brian Morgan but Worcester battled back to within one before Swavely's second of the game ended all controversy, Branden Komm was the goalie of record in the 6-4 victory. The win is the club's thirtieth of the season, the home record is 19-9 with the overall mark at 30-20-3. The club plays its next eight on the road, we're back home on March 14. The boys started the month on a six-game roadie, by the time the 14th rolls around they will have played fourteen of eighteen on the road (which can go a long way towards team bonding with playoffs on the horizon). Take care, thanks for reading.

February 17-18

The busy weekend continued at the Arena on Saturday with weather circumstances adding a layer of intrigue. They were calling for a dusting to an inch arriving in late afternoon, our drive north from Lancaster was without issue except for a few flurries. The snow started in earnest around 6:00 or so, I looked outside between periods and had some legit concerns about the trip home. The snow was gone by game's end, the worst part of the drive home was just getting out of the city itself. Once we hit the highway there were no issues of any kind, I wasn't home any later than I may have been otherwise. The Saturday night game was our annual "Pink In The Rink" game for breast-cancer awareness, the Bramptom Beast was the opponent. An early score from Tyler Brown and a late marker by Nolan Zajac gave the Royals a 2-0 lead after one period. In the middle stanza the Beast potted three in a row before Matt Willows replied to make it 3-3 after two. Zajac's second goal of the night gave the Royals a 4-3 advantage in the third but Brampton rallied to take the lead, an empty-netter brought the final to 6-4. Mark Dekanich took the loss in net and deserved a better fate. On Sunday there was brilliant sunshine in the morning, we were back at it early for the annual Battle Of The Badges game at 12:30. The game began in 2006 as a matchup between the Reading Fire and Police, in 2017 it became a game between first responders from Reading/Berks County and their brethren from Allentown/Lehigh Valley. On this day the group from the Valley avenged their loss in '17 with a 3-2 win. At 4:00 the Wheeling Nailers took the ice for the last of their six regular-season visits. The Royals once again led 2-0 after one thanks to goals by Alex Krushelnyski and Matt Willows, in the second Brian Morgan, Steven Swavely and Nolan Zajac lit the lamp to make it 5-0. Krushelnyski finished the scoring with his second of the game midway through the third, the 6-0 whitewash was the second in as many appearances for winning goalie Branden Komm. He is the fifth goaltender in club history to post consecutive shutouts and the first to turn the trick in his first two appearances in a Royals uniform. The club improves to 29-20-3, 18-9-0 at home. The boys finish the February home schedule on Thursday the 22nd against Worcester. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 12-16

The early part of the week had little going to recommend it, typical for the time of year where high school winter activities are over and the spring season hasn't started. On Friday the Royals played a home game for the first time in twenty-three days, the Cincinnati Cyclones were the opponent making their lone regular-season appearance at the Arena. Earlier in the week the Flyers lost a goaltender to injury, as a result of the "domino effect" the Royals went outside the organization to acquire goaltender Branden Komm via trade from the Manchester Monarchs. Komm is a four-year pro from Bentley University (Waltham, Massachusetts), as a Monarch back in December he defeated the Royals in a game at the Arena. He joins Mark Dekanich on the roster with John Muse on recall to the Phantoms. On this night Komm made his Royals debut a memorable one by recording a shutout but that was only half the story, at the other end the Royals' offense was on fire. Michal Huntebrinker scored in the first period, a five-goal salvo in the second put the game to bed. Goals by Steven Swavely, Matt Willows and Jimmy Devito put the Royals up by four, Huntebrinker's second of the night was followed by a marker from Nolan Zajac to make it 6-0 after two. Adam Schmidt lit the lamp twice in the third to bring the final to 8-0 as Komm picked up his first zero of the season and the team's fifth (Dekanich and Muse have two each). The team record stands at 28-19-3, 17-8-0 at home. This was the start of a busy and unusual weekend, our last three-in-three of the season (featuring three different opponents). The boys are at home Saturday versus Brampton and Sunday versus Wheeling with the annual Battle Of The Badges game thrown in for good measure. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 5-11

The only noteworthy event of this week came on Tuesday evening at McCaskey, the 2017-2018 high school basketball season ended with a resounding thud. The JV squad finished their season at 6-13, the varsity clocked in at 3-19. The boys started out 0-3, won two straight then lost nine in a row before pulling off that big win over Cedar Crest. It looked like that might be a sign that the corner was being turned but it proved to be the last win, the year ended with seven straight in the loss column. It is the worst record the program has had since a 6-15 mark in '93-'94 (Coach Powell's second year on the job) and the win total is the fewest since the '70-'71 team went 2-20 (that was the last year of a three-year stretch where the club went a combined 5-61). Despite the poor record and the adversity I will maintain that this team was much better than the wins and losses would indicate. Twelve of the nineteen losses were by ten points or fewer, the team only had three losses by twenty or more and two of those were within the first three games of the season. The eight nonleague losses were by an average of 13.1 points, no embarrassment considering the level of competition the team faced. Within the division the club lost eleven times by an average of 9.3. In most every game the club was right there until the inevitable key mistake at the wrong time, had they been able to eliminate the bulk of those (and maybe received a break or two from the officiating) the record could easily been much better. It may not have been enough to earn a postseason berth but I'm not sure that was ever a consideration to begin with. The club averaged 60.8 points per game and allowed 68.9 per outing. The three seniors were the team's leading scorers, Tallian Lehr led the squad in total points (215) and averaged 9.8 a game, Isiah Speller averaged 9.6 and Eddie Simmons averaged 8.4. Among the underclassmen leading scorers were Brian McKenzie and Makai Ortiz who each averaged 8.3. Coach Powell's 26-season mark stands at 468-245, a .656 winning percentage. There are some schools where a 3-19 record is the standard simply because there is not a lot of basketball talent, those teams routinely lose by 25-30 a night but that was not the case here. This season was one big learning experience, we'll see how much of it was retained when training camp starts in November. The rest of the week was uneventful save for lunch with Jenny on Wednesday and Saturday. On Thursday the city of Philadelphia had a parade and celebration of the Eagles championship, I was not there but the festivities were televised (no way I'd go anywhere near that town on that day because I knew it would be a ZOO). The Royals (remember them?) went 4-1-1 on their six-trip road trip, they are (finally) back home to host Cincinnati on Friday the 16th. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 1-4

The new month began on a Thursday, the next night saw the final bus ride of the basketball season. We made the short trip to Manheim Township for game #21 for the varsity and the eighteenth for the junior varsity squad. The JPM JV has struggled through a difficult season of their own with just five wins on the ledger but on this night they avenged an earlier defeat in satisfying fashion. MT won the first time around by 32 points, on this occasion JPM prevailed 54-53. The varsity game was another story altogether as JPM lost 81-60 to fall to 3-18. This is only the third time the club has lost by more than 20 and the first time since the third game of the season (that was a 27-point blitz in Harrisburg on December 16 from which I was somewhat thankfully absent). The boys wrap the season at home against Hempfield on the 6th. Jenny and I had our usual lunch date on Saturday, on Sunday night professional football's "Big Game" was played in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a youngster my sports allegiances developed around the teams I saw most often on television, here in southeastern Pennsylvania that meant Baltimore and Philadelphia. I have always followed the Baltimore Orioles as well as the city's football teams: the Colts (before they were relocated in 1984 by a greedy carpetbagging owner) and the Ravens (who came to town in 1996 under admittedly similar circumstances). In Philadephia it has always been the Phillies, the Flyers and the Eagles. The Eagles have been in existence since 1933, on this night they won the franchise's fourth world championship (and the first in the league's so-called "modern era") with a 41-33 win over the defending champions. The other championships came in 1948, 1949 and most recently way back in 1960 so to say it's been a long time coming is a severe understatement. I'm 61 years old, the last championship the club won was nine days before I turned four so I'd say that qualifies as a LONG TIME. Take care, thanks for reading.