November 25-30

The Monday weather was dry and temperatures reached into the low 50s, in the evening dek hockey season ended at Reservoir Park. Nice Truth Solution (NTS) defeated the Killbots to claim the championship three games to one. As noted previously the season was virtually the same length as the Fall '18 session but starting a week earlier and having Thanksgiving a week later made a big difference. Had my annual checkup with the heart doctor on Tuesday morning, all appears to be in order and they don't need to see me for another year. I had that episode in September of 2014 and there has never been any hint of a recurrence, hopefully it continues that way for good. The middle part of the week was quiet except for my usual lunch visit with Jenny, Thursday was (as we used to call it in school) Turkey Day which for me was a day of normal diet and football on TV from 12:30 in the afternoon to almost 11:00 (holidays aren't a big deal to me anymore and they haven't been for years). On Friday we were back in Berks County, the Royals finished their six-game homestand with a two-game visit from the Toledo Walleye. Toledo (much like Wheeling) was at one time a more frequent opponent but these days they are in the ECHL's Western Conference, this was their first time at the arena since January of 2018. In the Friday opener the Royals took a 2-0 lead in the second period on markers by scorching-hot Ralph Cuddemi and Eric Knodel, in the third the Walleye got on the board before Frank DiChiara lit the lamp to make it 3-1. Toledo again pulled to within one but Brayden Low hit the empty net in the final minute to clinch the 4-2 win for Kirill Ustemenko. Saturday was Paw Patrol Night, the Royals wore special sweaters modeled on the popular children's television series. On-ice events on this night were very different from Friday which for the Royals was not a good thing. Toledo took a quick two-goal lead in the first, Frank DiChiara's goal late in the period made it 2-1 at the break. In the second the Walleye reestablished their two-goal advantage, Thomas Ebbing replied to bring the Royals within 3-2. Late in the period the game disintegrated as the Walleye scored four times in five minutes, at the intermission the Royals were down 7-2. Emotions boiled over in the third period as the teams combined for fifty-eight penalty minutes including six fighting majors and two game misconducts. The only scoring came from newcomer Luke Stork (two-year pro recently added from the SPHL), his first two goals as a Royal brought the final score to 7-4. Felix Sandstrom started in goal and suffered the loss. The Royals stand at 13-5-3 overall and 9-2-1 at home, in November the club played nine of its thirteen games at home but in December the script is reversed. Eight of the eleven December games are on the road, the next date at the Arena is on Friday the 13th. Take care, thanks for reading.