Royals Agree to Terms with Defenseman Jordan Heywood

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Jordan Heywood. He is the eighth player announced as signed by the Royals to an ECHL Standard Players Contract for the 2014-15 season, joining forwards Kyle Bodie, Ryan Cruthers, Adam Hughesman, Domenic Monardo, Kevin Walrod and Sean Wiles and defenseman Bryant Molle. Consistent with team policy, terms of the SPC were not released.

Video comments of Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Larry Courville on the signing of Heywood can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqoCidCFfL4.

Last season, Heywood (6’0/196) (25), who hails from Regina, Saskatchewan, registered nine assists and thirty-three penalty minutes in thirty-three games in his senior season at Merrimack College. He then joined the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL where he recorded three assists and two penalty minutes in five games.

Heywood kicked off his career at Merrimack in 2010-11 by leading all defensemen and first year players in Hockey East in plus-minus, playing to a plus-24 in thirty-nine games for the Warriors, who ended up qualifying for the NCAA tournament. During his sophomore season, Heywood was second on the team with fifteen assists, and his nineteen points (4g-15a) placed him second in scoring amongst defensemen on the team. His most prolific season as a Warrior came in his junior year, when he recorded twenty-one points (8g-13a) in thirty-eight games, which was good enough to get him selected to the All-Hockey East Second Teama and the All-New England Second Team. A three-time captain for the Warriors, Heywood received the Tim Burke ‘Warrior’ Award for perseverance, toughness, and dedication at the conclusion of his collegiate career, during which he established a school record for total games played (147). In his time with at Merrimack, Heywood recorded a total of sixty-five points (14g-51a) and 160 penalty minutes.

Season Tickets for the 2014-15 Reading Royals are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 or visit www.royalshockey.com for more information.