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Royals on the Road: @ Elmira Jackals (Friday, October 24 @ 7:05 pm)

Friday, October 24th
Royals on the Road: @ Elmira Jackals (Friday, October 24 @ 7:05 pm)

RADIO: CBS Sports Radio (WIOV – AM) 1240 am and 98.5 fm in Reading

TELEVISION: NO BCTV Coverage (Precluded by Annual Octoberfest Fund-Raising Acution--Royals Fans are Encouraged to Participate)

INTERNET: NeuLion via www.RoyalsHockey.com

STREAMING VIDEO: ECHL.TV powered by NeuLion

ROYALS PRE-GAME NOTES

  • Last Saturday, the Royals dropped the season opening game to the Wheeling Nailers at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia, 6-3.
  • The loss in Wheeling last Saturday dropped the Royals historical record in season opening games in the fourteen year history of the team to 6-7-1-0.
  • Saturday’s game marked the eleventh time in team history that the Royals have launched the regular season schedule on the road. Reading has compiled a record of 4-6-1-0 in those games.
  • This season marked the first time in team history that the Royals have started the year at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia. Reading did kick off the 2002-03 season against the Wheeling Nailers, but that game was played in Reading at what was then-known as Sovereign Center (October 11, 2003). The Royals won that game 7-3 with Brian McCullough scoring the game winner and goaltender Scott Fankhouser picked up the win.
  • Last Saturday’s loss to the Nailers was the first of what will be twelve games this season that Reading will play against Wheeling. The Nailers are now part of the ECHL’s North Division, while the Royals play in the East Division.
  • The Royals have played the Wheeling Nailers more than any other active team in the ECHL. Saturday’s game marked the 132nd regular season game in the respective team histories of the two teams. Reading has compiled a record of 75-44-13 against Wheeling. (The Royals played the Trenton Titans/Devils 147 times prior to Trenton ceasing operations in the spring of 2013. Reading went 75-57-14 against the teams from Trenton.)
  • This marks the first time in four seasons that the Royals and Nailers have been based in different divisions (i.e., Reading and Wheeling were in the same division from 2011-12 through 2013-14.) In fact, of the fourteen seasons in Royals’ team history, Reading has played in the same division as Wheeling in nine of those seasons. The two teams played in different divisions in 2001-02, 2002-03, 2009-10, 2010-11 and again this year (2014-15).
  • This season, the Royals play thirty-eight games against teams in the North Division (17 at home and 21 on the road). Reading has twenty-nine games against teams from the East Division (17 at home and 12 on the road). Five of the Royals’ games will be against the Brampton Beast, who play in the Central Division of the Western Conference.
  • The Royals will host the team’s home opener this Saturday against the Elmira Jackals. In the thirteen prior home openers in Royals’ history, Reading has compiled a record of 5-6-0-2.
  • The Royals have had four sellouts in home openers over the course of the team’s history: (i) 2001-02; (ii) 2003-04; (iii) 2004-05; and (iv) 2006-07. Over the fourteen year history of the Royals, the team has hosted thirty (30) sell-outs. (Santander Arena in Reading has a current seating capacity of 7160.)
  • This week, the Royals play three consecutive games against the Elmira Jackals, starting with a match-up at First Arena in Elmira, New York, tonight (Friday, October 24 @ 7:05 pm). The two teams will face-off at Santander Arena in Reading on Saturday (7:05 pm) and Sunday (5:05 pm).
  • Reading plays more games (fifteen) against the Jackals this season than any other team in the league. Eight games in the Royals-Jackals regular season series will be played in Reading, and seven will be played in Elmira.
  • This season, the Royals and Jackals will play for the “Demet’s Candy Challenge Cup”. Demet’s Candy has facilities in the Reading and Elmira areas and has put a ‘Challenge Cup’ on the line for the two teams as they go at it in the regular season series this year.
  • In last Saturday’s season opener, the Royals held two separate leads at 1-0 and 2-1, but were defeated 6-3. This marked the third time in team history that Reading blew a lead and lost the season opening game. Those blown lead games include the very first game in team history: Reading was up 1-0 against the Trenton Titans on October 12, 2001 at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, but coughed up three goals in the third period to lose 3-1. The Royals also blew a lead in the season opener in 2011-12 to the South Carolina Stingrays. In that game, Reading held a 2-1 lead, but lost in OT to the Stingrays, 4-3.
  • Last season, Reading had eleven games in which the team held a lead at some point in the game but ended up losing. The team record for fewest blown leads in a single regular season is nine, which the team has accomplished three times (2003-04, 2004-05, and 2012-13).
  • The six goals given up by the Royals in the season opener is the most goals ever allowed by Reading in a season opener in team history. Last year, the Royals held the opposition to an average of 2.53 goals per game, which was fourth best in the league—and the second best GAA in team history.
  • In Saturday’s loss in Wheeling, the Royals took a 1-0 lead 11:23 into the first period on a short-handed goal scored by Pat Mullane. That marked the first time in team history that the Royals first goal of the season came while the team was playing a man short. However, Reading has scored a short-handed goal five other times in the season-opening game: (i) 2002-03 (Brad Rooney); (ii) 2005-06 (Mike Pandolfo); (iii) 2006-07 (Greg Hogeboom); (iv) 2008-09 (Jeff Corey); and (v) 2010-11 (Ryan Cruthers).
  • Last Saturday, Pat Mullane became the fifty-fourth player in team history to score a goal in his first game with the Royals. He is only the second player in team history to score a short-handed goal in his first game with the team. The other was Dan Welch, who also scored an SHG in his first game with the Royals on November 7, 2004 in a 5-0 win for Reading at WesBanco in Wheeling, West Virgina.
  • Zach Davies scored the Royals’ second goal last Saturday while the team was playing with the man advantage 19:04 into the first period to give the Royals a 2-1 lead. Davies also recorded an assist on Reading’s third goal (by Brett Flemming) 15:34 into the third period (to make it 4-3, Wheeling). Davies is the eighteenth player in team history to record a multi-point performance in his first game as a Royal.
  • Brett Flemming scored the Royals’ third goal on Saturday. For Flemming, that was his ninth regular season goal as a Royal (9g-25a=34pts) in his 103rd regular season game with Reading over the last three years. Flemming’s 34 points places him tied for fourteenth (with Adam Comrie, who also picked up an assist and his thirty-fourth point as a Royal on Saturday in Wheeling)  on the all-time career defenseman scoring list with the Royals behind: Simon Tremblay (86), Denny Urban (82), Reagan Rome (73), Eric Werner (67), Rob Lalonde (60), Rob Kwiet (58), Marvin Degon (45), P.J. Atherton (41), T.J. Kemp (40), Jared Ross (38), Dinos Stamoulis (37), and Michal Cajkovsky (36).
  • Flemming’s 103 regular season games played is tied (with Yannick Riendeau) for thirty-second most in team history.
  • Saturday’s game was the 400th career pro game for forward Ryan Cruthers, who is the all-time leading scorer for the Royals. His assist (on Brett Flemming’s goal) on Saturday gives Cruthers 224 (71g-153a) career points with Reading in 213 total regular season games with the team.
  • Saturday’s game was Olivier Labelle’s 157th regular season game as a Royal, which is sixth most in team history (five behind Malcolm MacMillan). Labelle’s assist on Zach Davies’ goal in Wheeling was his 131st point as a Royal (71g-60a), which is fifth most in team history.
  • Goaltender Connor Knapp, who made 21 saves in Saturday’s loss, became the twenty-seventh goaltender in team history to play both for the Royals and against the team. (Reading faced Knapp in 2012-13 regular season and playoffs when he was a member of the Greenville Road Warriors.).

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS – Home Opener

Reading Royals v Elmira Jackals

@ Santander Arena, Reading, PA

Saturday, October 25, 2014 (7:05 pm)

NOTES ON HOME OPENER (Saturday, October 25, 2014)

The home portion of the Royals’ schedule will kick off tomorrow night (Saturday, October 25, 2014 @ 7:05 pm) when the Elmira Jackals travel to Santander Arena. That night, the Royals invite everyone in the Greater Reading Region and beyond to join us as we set sail on the Royals’ Fourteenth Year of Fun with the A Simply Smashing Royal Experience Block Party on Penn Street. The excitement will kick off directly in front of Santander Arena (700 Penn Street, Reading, PA) at 4:00 pm, three hours before the opening face-off for the home opener.

This year’s Simply Smashing Block Party will provide a heaping helping of a grand Royal Experience for everyone in the family, offering a number of participatory games (including a 30 foot inflatable and corn-hole competitions), a performance by a magician, and—this is where you can flex those biceps—a season-opening ‘Smash-a-Car’ courtesy of V&M Towing for your sledge-hammer swinging pleasure. Penn Street will be rocking with music courtesy of the WIOV van, and to keep your energy at maximum output for the long-haul, there will be great food available for purchase from Muddy’s Smokehouse BBQ and Chapman’s Deli Sandwiches, as well as other refreshments, including non-alcoholic beverages.

The Simply Smashing Royal Experience Block Party on Penn Street will feature appearances by all of your Royal favorites including Slapshot and Tiara, as well as Philadelphia Flyer legend, Brian Propp. Fans will also have an opportunity to get a free smile from the brand new ice and promotional team, The Royal Ladies, who will be making their debut appearance for the 2014-15 season. The renovation and expansion project of the team’s merchandise outlet, the Lion’s Den, is also now complete, and everyone is welcome to come in and browse—and get properly geared up—and fired up—for the home opener against the Jackals.

Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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