March 29-31

Back at the Arena on Friday evening for the first of back-to-back home dates, the Maine Mariners were the opponent for the last of their four regular-season visits. On this night Maine scored the first goal and the last goal, in-between the Royals put together a six-goal blitz. In the first period newcomers played a big role, goals from Corey Mackin (recently added after completing his collegiate career at Ferris State University) and Jacob Graves (acquired by the Flyers from the Arizona Coyotes in January, back in the lineup from an extended injury absence) gave the Royals a 2-1 lead. Frank Hora and Michael Huntebrinker lit the lamp in the second, Tyler Brown and Matt Pohlkamp closed it out in the third as the Royals prevailed 6-2. On Saturday Jenny and Helen made another visit to The Hotel, in the evening the Wheeling Nailers visited Penn Street for their fourth and final appearance. For a second consecutive night the Royals fell behind early, the Nailers led 2-0 after one. Josh MacDonald put the Royals on the board in the second period, early in the third Frank DiChiara found the back of the net to tie the game. The matter was not settled until the dreaded overtime shootout, the Royals outscored Wheeling two-to-zero and claimed the victory 3-2. It is the first time the club has won past regulation on home ice in exactly one year (shootout win over Manchester on 3-30-18). Thus far in '18-19 the club has played fourteen games beyond regulation, the mark is 4-10 with all four wins coming in the SO (and the first three of those were on the road), at home the OT/SO record is just 1-5. Jamie Phillips was in goal both nights as the Royals improve to 31-28-10, 15-15-5 at home. The boys play in Portland on April 3 and in Glens Falls on the 5th before hosting Adirondack on the 6th in the regular-season finale. What happens between now and then will tell the story. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 25-28

Rain was in the forecast for Monday, it arrived in the afternoon and forced postponement of the baseball game at McCaskey. The boys were also rained out of their season opener on the road the previous Friday, that gives the club two makeup games (both against non-league opponents) right out of the box. Went to The Hotel on Monday and Tuesday but missed out on Wednesday, Jenny and I had our midweek lunch date and later in the afternoon I was at McCaskey. The boys hosted Penn Manor at 4:15, at game time it was 48 degrees with a sharp wind blowing in from left field. JPM head coach Tyler Horst has a fair number of returnees on the roster, on this day the ballclub started its season about as well as you could ask for. In the bottom of the first Dylan Esh reached on an error and scored on Alex Dominguez's RBI double. Evan Proulx and Alex Polito drew back-to-back walks to load the bases, a two-run single by Zach Liss scored Dominguez and Proulx to put the Red Tornado up 3-0. In the third Proulx reached on an error, Liss walked and Hunter Lloyd was hit by the pitch to load the bases. Nate Santiago's RBI hit plated Proulx, Alex Ruiz followed with a base hit scoring Liss and a two-run single by Mason Lee chased home both Lloyd and Santiago. Ruiz came home on a wild pitch with the fifth run of the inning to make 8-0. The game ended via the mercy rule in the sixth, Dominguez and Proulx drew back-to back walks and Polito's infield hit loaded the bases. Noah Raymond was hit by the pitch to force Dominguez home, Joe Anavitate drew a walk scoring Proulx with run #10. That was more than enough for starting pitcher Dylan Esh who worked five innings allowing three hits and striking out six, Seth Winters took over in the sixth and finished it with a spotless inning. For me it felt good to be back on the ballfield again especially where THE GAME is what matters and the BS plays almost no role whatsoever. JPM plays its next three on the road, the next home game is on April 5. My mother had a throat doctor followup on Thursday, they ordered a "swallowing test" for her which we booked for April 4 at the health campus. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 22-24

Friday night at the Arena for the start of a busy weekend, the Royals were at home for three games in three days. We had one of these back in December, this was the second and last for the season (and for me it's two too many). The Newfoundland Growlers got things started on Friday for the opener of a back-to-back, on this night the Royals built a 3-0 first-period lead on goals from Adam Schmidt, Alex Roos and Josh MacDonald. In the second period Schmidt scored his second of the night between two Growler tallies, at the intermission the Royals led 4-2. Brayden Low's third-period strike was the only score in the third as the boys wrapped up a 5-2 win. On Saturday Jenny and her mother made their first visit to The Hotel, in the evening we were back downtown for the rematch. The Royals again took an early lead on a score from newcomer Matt Pohlkamp (third-year man from Bowling Green State University). The second period followed the same pattern as Friday, the Growlers scored twice around a goal by once-and-current Royal Kevin Goumas (a member of the '15-16 club, back in North America after stints in Sweden and Austria). The 2-2 tie held through the third period and overtime, in the OT shootout Newfoundland prevailed two goals to one and took the game 3-2. The long weekend finished on a high note on Sunday, the Worcester Railers were in town for the first time since opening weekend back in October. On this day the visitors scored first but from there on it was all Royals. Michael Huntebrinker tied the game in the first, Brayden Low's score in the second gave the Royals a 2-1 lead after two. In the third Adam Schmidt gave the club some breathing room, Kevin Goumas' empty-netter salted away a 4-1 win. Jamie Phillips was the goalie of record for all three games as the club picked up five of six points in the standings and kept playoff hopes alive. The overall mark is 29-28-10 (13-15-5 at home) and if playoffs started right now the club would be on the outside looking in. There are five games left on the schedule and a lot of work to be done if the club is to avoid missing the postseason for the first time since 2009. Time will tell. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 18-21

Had a phone call on Monday morning from the care facility, they had a place ready for my mother. We got some last-minute organizing done in the afternoon, on Tuesday morning we made the trip. When we arrived the receptionist said "welcome to our grand hotel" so that will be my euphemistic name for it as well. The "hotel" is not terribly far from our neighborhood, it's about four miles away on the opposite side of the city. It's actually a very nice place, it doesn't have a "hospital" feel to it at all. My mother's "apartment" is hers alone, it has a front room with a kitchenette and a bedroom with a bathing area. The plan is for her to be there for about a month to get healthy and back to the point of being somewhat self-sufficient. There are some things that nothing can be done about (she's 84, has arthritis and can be forgetful) but there are other things that can be cured and that is why she is there. Once we got her apartment organized we noted some things we left at home that she can use there, on Wednesday and Thursday I took a lamp from the living room end table and some chairs from the dining room to help make it more like home. On Tuesday the director asked me if I wanted to stay for lunch, since she extended the invite I felt obliged to accept. They put my mother at a table with two other residents (John and Janet, unrelated) and by Thursday the director told me she seems to be acclimating well already. It's a very different thing for her because she's always been fiercely independent but recent events have shown that special attention was needed that simply could not happen at home. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 15-17

Friday night at the Arena in downtown Reading, the Royals were back home for the first time in nineteen days. The club went 3-3 on its season-high six-game road trip, on this night the Indy Fuel was in town for the opener of a two-game set. As a non-divisional opponent the Fuel is an infrequent visitor, this was their first appearance in Reading since December of 2016. It was an emotional night for many Royals fans as longtime fan favorite Olivier Labelle returned to Reading as a member of the Fuel. Labby played five seasons with the Royals (most recently in 2016-17), he still holds the club records for goals scored and games played. He spent '17-18 playing in France, when his wife's job took her to Indiana he elected to follow suit. In the Friday opener the Royals jumped to a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from Tyler Brown and Charlie Vasaturo. Indy got on the board early in the second but scores by Nick Luukko and Michael Huntebrinker made it 4-1 Royals at the second intermission. The Fuel came within two in the third but a Tyler Brown empty-netter in the final moments capped a 5-2 Royals victory. On Saturday the clubs met again and a completely different result played out. On this night the Fuel took a 2-0 lead in the first, another score early in the third put the Royals in a three-goal hole. Adam Schmidt broke the shutout bid with three minutes left but two Indy empty-netters put away a 5-1 win for the visitors. New goaltender Jamie Phillips was in net for both games, he is on loan to the Royals from the Carolina Hurricanes organization. He becomes the eight goaltender to appear for the Royals in '18-19 largely thanks to the goaltending issues within the Flyers organization (someday somebody will write a book about it but that's another story for another time). The weekend split puts the record at 27-27-9 (11-15-4 at home), the club starts a five-game homestand on Friday the 22nd. Sunday was a busy day not because of hockey but because my mother was accepted into a care facility. The admissions director and the head of their wellness department visited on Friday morning and met her, in the afternoon they called and said they had a spot available. She is going in for what they call respite care, it's not intended to be permanent but to get her healed up and back on her feet (so to speak). We spent most of the day getting personal items together, she goes in either on Tuesday or Wednesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 25-March 14

This is normally a time of year where there is little to blog about (basketball season at McCaskey is over, baseball hasn't started and the Royals have been on an extended road trip) but things have not been normal around here recently. In mid-February my mother (who is 84) visited her doctor complaining of back pain, X-rays were negative but she was given medication and precautionary procedures to follow. After a week's time the pain was not getting any better, we contacted a physical therapy facility in our neighborhood about getting in for treatments. On March 5 she awakened in the morning complaining of CHEST PAINS, I got her to the ER as quickly as we could move. They ran a battery of tests and discovered that the pains were not heart-related, they were as a result of rib fractures. She said she had been caught by a fast-closing door at home a few days earlier (I must have been absent when that happened) and the ER staff told her to see her doctor immediately. We were there the next day, she was given strong medication for the pain and arrangements were made for twice-weekly home visits for therapy. On Monday the 11th she said her throat was bothering her to the point she couldn't swallow, we went to the ER and were referred to an ear. nose and throat specialist. All of this has contributed to her becoming increasingly weaker, since this began I've found myself helping her more and more with the simplest of tasks. I told her she needs to go someplace where she can be supervised by professionals around the clock as opposed to being at home cared for by me simply because I'm not there 24-7 (and I'm not qualified to give her the help she really needs) but she has refused to consider it (for what it's worth her doctor told her the same thing). We were at the throat doctor on the 13th, at the end of the examination she rose from the chair, took three steps forward and would have fallen to the floor had I not been standing right there. This finally convinced her that she needs outside help, when the therapist visited the next morning we got the wheels in motion. The idea is not to put her in a facility permanently but just to get her healed and strong enough to be functional when she's able to come home. We have a lead that sounds encouraging and she is scheduled for an evaluation by their staff nurse so we'll see what happens. Take care, thanks for reading.