Royals Sign Defenseman Denny Urban

Last Year’s Rookie of the Year and Ironman Returns to Reading

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Denny Urban. A second year pro from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Urban (5’10/177) (24), who was chosen as the Royals’ Rookie of the Year last season, is the eighth player announced as signed by the Royals for the 2012-13 season, joining forwards Ethan Cox, Chris Langkow, Trevor Lewis, Ian O’Connor, and Yannick Tifu and defensemen Derrick LaPoint and Bryant Molle. Log onto http://youtu.be/IvwqcbJQxZI for video of Head Coach Larry Courville’s comments regarding the signing of Urban. Last year, in his first full season of pro, Urban set a Royals’ team record for points by a defenseman, when he scored twelve goals and assisted on thirty-five others (forty-seven points) in seventy-two games with the Royals. He added two points (1g-1a) in the Royals’ five playoff games. Urban, who won the team’s Ironman Award as the only player on the Royals to play in all seventy-seven regular season and playoff games for the team last year, led the team by playing to a plus-fifteen (+15) in the regular season, which is the second highest plus-minus ratio in team history for a player who played in each of the team’s games. (Jon Francisco played to a plus-16 in 2004-05 when he played in all seventy-two regular season games for the Royals). In fact, Urban led the league—and earned the AMI Graphics ECHL Plus-Performer of the Month Award—by playing to a plus-16 (+16) in the month of March. Urban, who began his pro career with the Royals in March of 2011 after the conclusion of his senior season at Robert Morris University, scored three goals in his first sixteen pro games that season—two of which were game winners, including the GWG that clinched the 2010-11 Atlantic Division Title for the Royals. In this most recent season, Urban continued that proclivity for scoring big goals as he bagged four game winners, including three in the last five games of the season. Urban’s playoff goal for Reading last year in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal match-up against the Elmira Jackals snapped a stretch of seven straight periods without a goal by the Royals, tying the decisive Game Five in that series at one (albeit for only a short period of time) in the third period. Prior to turning pro, Urban had a stellar four year career at Robert Morris. He earned a selection to the College Hockey America All-Rookie team in his freshman season and was chosen to the All-CHA First Team in his sophomore year. Urban, who served as an Alternate Captain for the Colonials in his senior year, established the all-time career scoring record for defensemen (28g-84a=112pts in 136 total games) during his time at RMU. 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.