Royals Agree to Terms with Yannick Tifu

Last Season’s Captain, Leading Scorer, Team MVP and Fan Favorite Returns to Reading

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL today announced that the organization has agreed to terms with forward Yannick Tifu . A seventh year pro from Brossard, Quebec, Tifu (5’11/193) is the first player announced as signed by the Royals for the 2012-13 season. Last season, Tifu scored twenty-three goals, assisted on forty-seven others (seventy points), and was assessed with sixty-five penalty minutes in sixty-nine regular season games. His seventy points placed him sixth in the ECHL’s scoring race. It marked the fourth time in his six pro seasons that Tifu registered seventy or more points. Tifu, who was acquired by the Royals in a trade with the Chicago Express of the ECHL (for forward Chad Painchaud) in late November, led Reading with fifty-nine points (20g-39a) in fifty-two games with the Royals, for a team leading 1.13 points per game average. During his stint with Reading, Tifu rang off a team-long eleven game point streak (5g-13a=18pts; 02/04 – 02/25/12) and racked up a team-leading seventeen multi-point performances. From the date of Tifu’s acquisition, the Royals (who were two games under .500 at the time) played ten games over .500 (29-19-2-3) to earn the final available playoff spot in the ECHL’s Eastern Conference. In five playoff games with Reading, Tifu recorded three points (2g-1a). Tifu, who was vested with the Royals’ captainship late in the regular season, played to a plus-fourteen in his time with Reading (and a plus-eighteen overall). In early February, Tifu became the first Royal in team history to score back-to-back overtime game winners, when he bagged OT GWGs against the eventual Kelly Cup Champion Florida Everblades (on February 4) and the Elmira Jackals on February 10. For his efforts with the Royals, Tifu was chosen as the team’s Most Valuable Player, while Royals’ fans bestowed the Fan’s Choice Award upon him, as well. Tifu has led his team in scoring four times in his pro career, including 2006-07 when he was instrumental in leading the Dayton Bombers to the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Finals. In 485 total pro games (eighty-one in the American Hockey League), Tifu has recorded 481 points (147g-334a) and 599 penalty minutes. Prior to turning pro, Tifu played four seasons with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he registered 248 points (99g-149a) and 129 penalty minutes in 279 total major junior games. Season Tickets for the 2012-13 Reading Royals ECHL season are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.