Royals Sign Forward Ethan Cox

Late Season Acquisition Racked Up Hattrick for Reading in Critical Final Game of the Regular Season

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 forward Ethan Cox. A third year pro from Richmond, British Columbia, Cox (5’10/193) (25) is the seventh player announced as signed by the Royals for the 2012-13 season, joining forwards Chris Langkow, Trevor Lewis, Ian O’Connor and Yannick Tifu and defensemen Derrick LaPoint and Bryant Molle. Log onto http://youtu.be/4mcnj2Yjbog for video of Head Coach Larry Courville’s comments regarding the signing of Cox. Cox began last season with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL, where he scored thirteen goals and assisted on fifteen others (twenty-eight points) and picked up fifty-three penalty minutes in fifty-three games. In early March, Cox was traded from the Aces (along with future considerations, which proved to be the ECHL rights to current Royals’ forward Chris Langkow) to Reading in return for forward Ryan Cruthers. After playing two games with the Royals, Cox earned a call up to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. After three games with Bridgeport, Cox re-joined the Royals and in the final game of the regular season—on March 31, 2012—not only scored his first goal as a Royal (which was also the first goal of the game), but also scored two more to register the thirtieth hattrick in Reading Royals’ team history—and his second hattrick of the season. Cox added two assists in Reading’s five playoff games. Cox, who served as an alternate captain with Alaska, was a member of the 2010-11 Kelly Cup Champion Aces, registering thirty-two points (15g-17a) in fifty-six regular season games and adding four points (3g-1a) in the thirteen playoff games it took to capture the Cup. Cox, who played to a cumulative plus-15 (+15) during the 2011-12 season, was the ECHL’s Plus-Performer of the Month in March of 2011 when he played to a plus-19 (+19) in fifteen games for the eventual Kelly Cup Champions. Prior to turning pro, Cox had a stellar four-year career at Colgate University, where he was twice selected as the team’s Defensive Player of the Year. In his senior season, Cox was honored by the NCAA during the Frozen Four Tournament at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, when he was bestowed with the 2010 BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award, which recognizes extraordinarily conscientious NCAA hockey players. Cox, whose philanthropic efforts are legendary in the Madison County, New York area, was a three-time nominee for the Humanitarian Award. In 150 career games at Colgate, Cox recorded forty-one points (17g-24a) and seventy penalty minutes. 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.