Royals Receive Eleven from Hershey

Four Royals Released from Bears’ Training Camp and Seven Others Assigned 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 received eleven players from Hershey. Four players under ECHL contract with the Royals were released from Bears’ Training Camp and added to the Royals Training Camp Roster. Seven others were assigned from Hershey to the Reading and have also been added to the Royals Training Camp Roster. Players Under ECHL Contract With The Royals Released from Hershey Bears Training CampAdam Comrie - defensemanTyler Gron – forwardDavid Marshall – forwardJesse Todd – forward Players Assigned from the Hershey Bears (AHL) to the Reading Royals (ECHL)Brandon Anderson – goaltenderDavid Civitarese – forward Philipp Grubauer – goaltenderSergey Kostenko – goaltenderDustin Stevenson – defensemanDavid Vallorani – forwardScott Wietecha – defenseman In a separate transaction, the Royals released defenseman Brad Walch from his ECHL contract. In other transactions announced today, the Royals also released eight players from their Tryout Agreements with the team: (i) goaltender Alexandre Beaudry; (ii) forward Justin Kemmerer; (iii) forward Levi Lind; (iv) goaltender Ross MacKinnon; (v) forward Matt Moffat; (vi) forward Ryan Stouffer; (vii) defenseman Nick Wheeler; and (viii) forward Josh Wrobel. Anderson (6’1/193) (20), a first year pro from Langley, British Columbia, began last season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League, where he went 2-3-1 in six games. Anderson was then traded to the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL where he compiled a record of 13-14-2 with a 3.96 goals against average and a .889 save percentage in thirty-one games. Anderson, who signed an entry level contract with the Capitals in September of 2010, played a total of 107 games with Lethbridge over a span of two-plus seasons, making some 5300 saves for the Hurricanes. Last season, Civitarese (6’2/211) (23), a first year pro from Calgary, Alberta, registered ten points (8g-2a) and twelve penalty minutes for the Colorado College Tigers. After the conclusion of his senior season with the Tigers, Civitarese joined Hershey where he played ten regular season games and scored his first pro goal (1g-0a). A three-time selection to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic Team, Civitarese was twice honored with the Paul Markovich Award, which is bestowed on the Colorado College hockey team’s top student athlete. In 121 total collegiate games, Civitarese registered twenty-six points (14g-12a) and forty penalty minutes with the Tigers, who earned an NCAA Tournament bid in 2011. Last season in his first year of pro, Grubauer (6’1/189) (20), who hails from Rosenheim, Germany, went 23-15-5 with a 2.22 goals against average (third best in the league) and a .918 save percentage in forty-three games for the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. Despite undergoing season ending surgery in March, Grubauer was selected to the ECHL’s All-Rookie Team at the conclusion of the season. Grubauer came out of the gates quickly last season, running out to a 9-1-0-1 record in his first eleven games, which included his first pro shutout (on November 5, 2011 against the Toledo Walleye) and one of his two wins last year against the Royals. He was selected as the ECHL Player of the Week in the first week in November and was the league’s Goaltender of the Month for November. He followed that up by earning the ECHL’s Rookie of the Month selection in January of 2012. A fourth round pick of the Capitals in 2010, Grubauer has represented Team Germany in no fewer than five international competitions, including the Division 1-A Under-20 World Junior Championships in 2009, when he went 5-0 to lead the Germans to a Gold Medal. That same year (2009-10), Grubauer was traded from the Belleville Bulls to the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League and helped lead the Spitfires to their second consecutive OHL—and Memorial Cup—Championship. Kostenko (5’11/191) (20), a first year pro from Novokuznetsk, Russia, played forty games in the Russian junior league last season and compiled a 2.98 goals against average and a .897 save percentage. A seventh round pick of the Capitals in the most recent NHL Entry Draft, Kostenko was a member of the World Junior Championship silver medalist Russian National Team this past year, although he did not see any game action in the WJC tournament. In 2008, Kostenko played three games for the Russian Under-18 team in the WJC tournament, compiling a 2.05 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. Last season, Stevenson (6’5/229) (23), a third year pro who hails from Gull Lake, Saskatchewan, assisted on seven goals in seventy-two regular season games with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. Stevenson also racked up 113 penalty minutes—second most on the Stingrays—which included five fighting majors. Stevenson added a goal, two assists and six penalty minutes in nine playoff games with South Carolina. Prior to turning pro, Stevenson played three seasons in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League with the La Ronge Ice Wolves, earning the selection as the league’s Player of the Year, as well as a three year entry level contract with the Capitals, after his final season of junior. In 163 total games with La Ronge, Stevenson registered ninety-nine points (28g-71a) and 321 penalty minutes for the Ice Wolves, who won back-to-back SJHL championships in 2009 and 2010. Last season, Vallorani (5’8/187) (23), a first year pro from Hamilton, Ontario, scored ten goals and assisted on nineteen others (twenty-nine points) in thirty-eight games during his senior season for the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Vallorani, who tied for the team lead with four game winning goals for the Riverhawks, helped UMass-Lowell earn the school’s first slot in the NCAA tournament since 1996. Vallorani, who was selected to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team in his first year at UMass-Lowell, led the team with nineteen assists in his junior season. Vallorani played in all 149 games for the Riverhawks during his four year tenure at the school—fourth most in team history—and ended his collegiate career with 114 total points (40g-74a), which places him tied for twenty-ninth in career scoring for the school. Wietecha (6’1/211) (24), a second year pro from Wolverine Lake, Michigan, led defensemen on the Chicago Express of the ECHL with fourteen goals and added thirteen assists (twenty-seven points) and sixty-nine penalty minutes in fifty-four games with the Express. Prior to turning pro, Wietecha had a stellar four-year stint at Ferris State University, where he recorded fifty-one points (12g-39a) and 165 penalty minutes in 126 total collegiate games. The Royals open the 2012-13 regular season in Elmira, New York, on Friday, October 12, 2012, when the team will take on the Elmira Jackals at 7:05 pm. The next night, Saturday, October 13, 2012, the Royals open the home season when the Titans visit the Sovereign Center at 7:05 pm. Season Tickets for the 2012-13 Reading Royals are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 or visit www.royalshockey.com for more information.