Saturday night at the Arena for the unofficial beginning of the 2024-25 hockey season, the Royals hosted the Adirondack Thunder in an exhibition (oh, I'm sorry, excuse me....PRESEASON) game. When we started in 2001 the late Trenton Titans were our usual preseason foe, in the latter part of the decade we played the also-defunct Elmira Jackals and still later we scheduled Wheeling and Norfolk but since 2017 the Thunder has been our exclusive preseason opponent. The Royals were in Glens Falls on Friday and won 4-2, on this night the Thunder came to town and left with a win by the exact same score. Tyler Gratton and former Newfoundland Growler Todd Skirving scored for the Royals, Parker Gahagen was goaltender of record. Skirving is a six-year veteran who played in St. John's for the last five, he's been named team captain and his presence should be huge in the locker room. The season starts for real on the 18th, the club opens at home with a Saturday date on the 26th. Sunday morning in Rothsville was warm and clear for week #5 of street hockey at Lions Park, thirty-four of the league's forty-seven players were on hand. Warwick defeated Township and Ephrata won over Hillside, we're back for week #6 on the 20th. Take care, thanks for reading.
