Royals Agree to Terms with Forward Yannick Tifu

Captain, Leading Scorer, Team MVP and Fan Favorite Returns to Reading After Championship Season

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Washington Capitals of the NHL and Hershey Bears of the AHL, today announced that the organization has agreed to terms with forward Yannick Tifu . Tifu (5’11/203) (28), who will be entering his ninth season of pro, is the first player announced as signed by the Royals for the 2013-14 season, the team’s thirteenth year in Reading. Tifu returns to Reading after the leading the organization to the 2013 ECHL Kelly Cup championship in what is considered by many to be the best single season ever put together by a Royals’ player. This will mark the third year with the Royals for Tifu, who has served as the team’s captain from March of 2012. Since Tifu was acquired from the Chicago Express in a trade for forward Chad Painchaud on November 28, 2011, the Royals have compiled an overall record forty-eight games over .500 (93-45-13) (regular season: 75-37-5-7; playoffs: 18-8-1). Tifu has only missed one game in the last 152 (regular season and playoffs) played by the team. He is currently stands fourth in the Royals’ all-time career scoring list, recording 131 total points (47g-84a) in 124 regular season games. He is second all-time in career playoff points with twenty-eight (14g-14a) in twenty-seven post season games. The only Royal to play in all 94 games it took last season to capture the Kelly Cup (72 regular season – 22 playoff), Tifu led the team in scoring during both the regular season and playoffs. His thirty-nine total goals (27 in regular season and a league-leading and team record 12 in playoffs) is as many as any player has ever scored in a single season of Royals’ hockey. (Brian McCullough also scored 39 in 2002-03). Tifu recorded a team record 97 total points (72 in regular season and 25 in playoffs) and played to a collective plus-27 (+27) through the championship season. In the regular season, Yannick Tifu led the Royals in goals (27), assists (45) and points (72), which placed him seventh in league scoring. That marked only the third time in team history that a single player has led the team in goals, assists and points, joining Greg Hogeboom (2006-07) and Andrew Sarauer (2010-11). It marked the second consecutive year that Tifu has led the Royals in scoring. He joins Graig Mischler (2003-05) as the only player to lead the team in scoring in two consecutive seasons. Tifu also led the Royals in power play assists (18), multi-point performances (22) and shots on goal (186). His 84 penalty minutes, which included two fighting majors, placed fifth most on the team. Tifu’s season hit high gear in December of 2012 when he racked up sixteen points (8g-8a) and played to a plus-7 (+7) with three game winning goals in eleven played. At the conclusion of the month, he became only the second player in team history to be selected as the league’s Player of the Month, joining Ben Gordon, who won that award in December, 2009. Tifu closed strong, as well. In his last twenty-five games of the regular season, he recorded 29 points (11g-18a)—seventeen of which came in the thirteen games of March (8g-9a=17pts). The month of March has been particularly productive for Tifu. In his last twenty-five games played over the past two seasons in March (12 in March of 2012 and 13 in March of 2013), he has racked up thirty-one points (15g-16a). Tifu, who became only the eighth player in team history to dress for all 72 games of the regular season for Reading this past year, received the team’s 2012-13 Ironman Award at the Fan’s Choice Awards Banquet. He was also selected as the team’s Most Valuable Player, and he received the Fans Choice Award for the second consecutive season. Of course, Tifu may have saved his best for last. He led the ECHL post-season with twenty-five points (12g-13a) in twenty-two playoff games. His twelve playoff goals led the league and his thirteen assists placed him fourth. Tifu, who racked up a team-leading 63 shots in the post-season (fourth most in the league), scored a league-leading five game winners in the playoff season, including the late-game tie-breaking power play GWG in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cincinnati Cyclones—perhaps the most pivotal moment of that series, if not the entire championship run of the Royals. Tifu, who played to a plus-10 (+10) in the playoff season, led the Royals with six power play points in the post-season (3g-3a). Tifu also led the Royals with seven post-season multi-point performances. This past post-season marked the second time that Tifu had played in a Kelly Cup Final. He was a member of the 2007 Dayton Bombers, who were defeated by the Idaho Steelheads in the Finals. In 67 career playoff games in the ECHL (in six separate appearances in the league’s playoffs), Tifu has recorded 60 points (26g-34a). Tifu, who has led his team in scoring five times has a pro, has 553 career points (174g-379a) and 683 penalty minutes in 557 regular season pro games. In 400 career ECHL regular season games, Tifu has record 450 points (142g-308a). Last season, he scored his 500th professional point (152g-348a) in his 508th pro game (a 7-4 win over the Elmira Jackals on December 7, 2012); and his 400th ECHL point (122g-278a) in his 352nd ECHL game (a 6-4 win over the Fort Wayne Komets on December 14, 2012). 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 2013-14 Reading Royals ECHL season are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.