Royals Sign Forward Robbie Czarnik

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with forward Robbie Czarnik.

The Royals have announced thirteen players as signed to ECHL Standard Players Contracts for the 2016-17 season. In addition to Czarnik, Reading has announced the signing of forwards Justin Crandall, Olivier Labelle, Mike Pelech, Mike Pereira, Joe Rehkamp, Ian Watters and Matt Wilkins and defensemen Miles Liberati, Nick Luukko, Derik Johnson, Todd Perry and Mike Marcou.

Last year, Czarnik (6’0/191) (26), a sixth year pro who hails from Detroit, Michigan, scored a team-leading twenty-three goals and assisted on twenty-three others (forty-six points) in fifty-one games with the Royals before being traded (along with defenseman Sam Windle) on March 9, 2016, to the Norfolk Admirals, where he added two goals and four assists and fourteen games with the Admirals. While with the Royals, Czarnik earned two separate stints in the AHL, playing two games with the Providence Bruins (0g-0a) and three games with the San Diego Gulls (0g-0a). Despite being traded from the Royals in early March, Czarnik ended up also leading the team in power play goals (9), first goals (6), and shots on goal (174). His four game winners for Reading were second most on the club.

Last year marked Czarnik’s second stint in the ECHL. In 2014-15, he racked up forty points (23g-17a) and thirty-penalty minutes in fifty-two games with two teams in the ECHL (the Indy Fuel and Ontario Reign) before joining the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL late in the season with whom he added four points (1g-3a) in ten games. Czarnik has racked up ninety-two career points (48g-44a) and seventy penalty minutes in 117 total ECHL games. A third round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2008 NHL Entry draft, Czarnik spent the first three seasons of his pro career in the AHL, primarily with the Manchester Monarchs, after signing an NHL entry-level contract with LA. In 150 total AHL games, he has recorded 38 points (14g-24a) and 95 penalty minutes.

Prior to turning pro, Czarnik had a breakout season in 2010-11 with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, where he tied for the team lead with seventy-seven points (33g-44a) in 61 games of major junior. Czarnik joined the Whalers mid-way through the 2009-10 season after leaving the University of Michigan, where he played fifty-one total games (8g-14a) over a season and a half. During his freshman year with the Wolverines, Czarnik earned the CCHA Rookie of the Week Award on March 2, 2009, for a Michigan team that would advance to the NCAA Tournament. Prior to matriculating to Michigan, Czarnik tied for the team lead in scoring for the bronze medalist Team USA in the 2008 Under-18 World Junior Championships.

Season Sixteen of “Hometown Hockey” kicks off for the Royals on Saturday, October 15, (7:00 pm) when the Elmira Jackals visit Santander Arena. Season Tickets and individual game tickets for the Royals’ 2016-17 ECHL season are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.