Royals Receive Ten From Hershey--And Four From Other AHL Camps

Five Under ECHL Contract Released from Bears’ Training Camp and Five Others Loaned or Assigned to Reading

Four Others Under ECHL Contract with Reading Released from AHL Camps

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 ten players from Hershey. Five players under ECHL contract with the Royals have been released from Bears’ Training Camp. Five others have been either assigned or loaned from Hershey to the Reading.

In separate developments, the Royals announced that the following players under ECHL contract with the Royals have been released from AHL Training Camps: (i) forwards Louie Caporusso and Marc Zanette (Worcester Sharks); (ii) defenseman Matt Campanale (Manchester Monarchs); and (iii) defenseman Brad Walch (Utica Comets).

Players Under ECHL Contract With The Royals Released from Hershey Bears Training Camp

Mike Banwell - defenseman

Ryan Kavanagh – defenseman

David Marshall – forward

Bryant Molle – defenseman

Domenic Monardo – forward

Players Loaned from the Hershey Bears (AHL) to the Reading Royals (ECHL)

Brandon Anderson – goaltender (Assigned by Washington Capitals, NHL)

Brett Flemming – defenseman (Assigned by Washington Capitals, NHL)

Dustin Gazley – forward

Riley Gill – goaltender

T.J. Syner – forward

Players Under ECHL Contract With The Royals Released from AHL Training Camps

Matt Campanale – defenseman (Manchester Monarchs)

Louie Caporusso – forward (Worcester Sharks)

Brad Walch – defenseman (Utica Comets)

Marc Zanette – forward (Worcester Sharks)

Anderson (6’1/193) (21), a who hails from Langley, British Columbia, will be entering his second season of pro. Last year, in sixteen appearances with the Royals, he compiled a record of 8-6-1 with a 3.18 goals against average and a .876 save percentage. Anderson, who had two shutouts with the Royals last year (including his first win as a pro), attended NHL Prospects Camp, Rookie Camp and Training Camp with the Washington Capitals this past off-season.

Last season, Flemming (5’11/189) (22), who was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, was assigned to Reading on eight separate occasions. In fifty regular season games with the Royals, Flemming, who will be entering his third year of pro, had fifteen points (2g-13a) and seventy-seven penalty minutes. He also played eleven games with the Bears. Flemming’s last assignment to Reading came immediately prior to the start of playoffs, and he just as quickly became an integral part of the Royals’ championship run. Flemming played in all twenty-two post season games for the Royals and ended up leading the league in playoff goals for a defenseman (five), was tied for the lead in playoff scoring by a defenseman (5g-7a=12pts), and played to a third-best in the league plus-14 (+14) in the post-season.

Gazley (5’9/179), who will turn twenty-five years old later this week, will be entering his third year of pro. Last year, he split the season between the Elmira Jackals in the ECHL, where he racked up forty-nine points (14g-35a) in just thirty-seven games, and the Binghamton Senators of the AHL (4g-5a=9pts in twenty-nine games). Gazley, who hails from Novi, Michigan, started his pro career in spectacular fashion in 2011-12 with the Jackals, when he led the ECHL in scoring (25g-60a=85pts), was named the league’s Rookie of the Year, and was selected to the ECHL’s All-First Team. Prior to turning pro, Gazley had a stellar four-year collegiate career at Michigan State University, where he recorded seventy-three points (30g-43a) and 135 penalty minutes in 153 total college games.

Gill (6’1/211) (28), who will be entering his fourth year of pro, had nothing short of a magical season last year. He started the year with the Louisiana IceGators of the Southern Professional Hockey League, where he went 25-10-3 with a 2.43 goals against average and a .918 save percentage in thirty-eight SPHL games. Gill, who had five shutouts with the IceGators, ultimately earned the SPHL’s Goaltender of the Year Award, despite leaving Louisiana for Reading in late February. Once he joined the Royals, Gill took his play up yet another notch, going 10-3-1 in fourteen regular season games with the Royals, putting up a microscopic 1.28 GAA and an astronomical .952 save percentage. Gill, who earned back-to-back Goaltender of the Week Awards in March with the Royals, was also selected as the league’s Goaltender of the Month in the final month of the regular season. Gill, who would end up with a team record seven shutouts for Reading (three in the regular season and four in playoffs), took his game to even a higher level in playoffs, going 13-3-1 with a 1.91 GAA and .930 save percentage in the post-season—at the conclusion of which he was named the Most Valuable Player of the ECHL playoffs.

Last year, forward T.J. Syner (5’9/187) (24) had a post-season explosion of his own in his first year as a pro. Syner, who was loaned to the Royals by the Bears on six different occasions, played sixteen regular season games with Reading and racked up nineteen points (9g-10a). Syner, who also played thirty-six games in Hershey (3g-4a=7pts), kept that torrid pace in the post-season, bagging twenty-one points (9g-12a)—which tied for the league lead amongst first year pros—in twenty-two playoff games for Reading. Syner, who led the league by playing to a plus-22 (+22) in the post-season, scored several huge goals in playoffs for the Royals, including the team’s first (of what would prove to be five from five different players) overtime game winners—his coming in a critical Game Four of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Florida Everblades. Syner, who is entering his second year of pro, had a remarkable four-year collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he recorded ninety-seven points (37g-60a) and 113 penalty minutes in 135 college games.

The Royals kick off the defense of the team’s 2013 Kelly Cup Championship on Saturday, October 19, 2013, (7:35 pm), at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania, with the 2013-14 season opener against the South Carolina Stingrays. The Royals also face the Stingrays on Sunday, October 20 (4:05 pm) in Game Two of Opening Weekend. Season Tickets for the 2013-14 Reading Royals are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 or visit www.royalshockey.com for more information.