Royals Ready to Discuss 'A New Beginning' at Annual Town Hall Meeting

Question & Answer Open Forum on Tuesday, August 28, to Feature Reps from Capitals and Bears

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 organization will host the team’s annual Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, August 28, 2012, from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm inside the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. This season’s Town Hall Meeting will feature the assistant general manager and director of legal affairs for the Washington Capitals, Don Fishman, and the head coach of the Hershey Bears, Mark French. The Royals will be represented by SMG’s regional general manager, Zane Collings, the team’s general manager Mark Wallace and head coach Larry Courville, who will address the Town Hall crowd and open the floor to questions from fans. The Royals also anticipate the attendance of at least one player currently on the team’s roster. A number of pertinent topics will be addressed during this season’s Town Hall Meeting, including the expansion of the ECHL, the status Royals’ current roster, pending player personnel decisions, the organization’s broadcast plans, and several new and interesting elements in the promotional schedule. The organization also expects to have Capitals, Bears and Royals merchandise available for purchase. Don Fishman is entering his eighth season with the Capitals and sixth as the team’s assistant general manager and director of legal affairs, where he assists vice president and general manager George McPhee in all aspects of hockey operations. Fishman, who handles loans and recalls to and from the Capitals’ minor league affiliates, administers player contract negotiations and is responsible for managing the team’s salary cap. He handles player contract research and analysis, negotiation with player agents, the salary arbitration process, salary cap analyses of other NHL teams, and interpretation of NHL/NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement. The former radio voice for Harvard Crimson hockey, Fishman also assists with other aspects of the Capitals’ hockey operations department, including the NHL scheduling process and departmental budgeting. Washington’s hockey operations department has experienced considerable success in recent times including five consecutive playoff appearances, four divisional titles, and a President’s Trophy awarded for the best regular season record in the 2009-10 season. The Capitals have also shown a strong commitment to developing players and winning at the minor professional level. Washington has been affiliated with the Bears since 2005, a seven year span during which Hershey won three Calder Cup Championships. Similarly, the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL won the 2009 Kelly Cup Championship as an affiliate of the Capitals and Bears. Mark French is preparing for his fourth year as Hershey's head coach. His first season behind the Bears’ bench, 2009-10, is considered among the best in the 75-year history of the franchise, as Hershey won an AHL record 60 games and the organization’s eleventh Calder Cup Championship. French actually joined the Bears as an assistant under then-head coach Bob Woods mid-way into the 2007-08 season, after serving a short stint as a volunteer assistant with the Royals under then-head coach Karl Taylor. French, who played and coached Canadian university hockey, was the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League from 2005 to 2007 and was an assistant in 2004-05 with the ECHL’s Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies. Please note that fans attending the Town Hall Meeting should enter the Sovereign Center through the Loading Dock Security Entrance (western end of Sovereign Center). 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.