Royals Agree to Terms with Defenseman Miles Liberati

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Miles Liberati.

The Royals have announced eleven players as signed to ECHL Standard Players Contracts for the 2016-17 season. In addition to Liberati, Reading has announced the signing of forwards Justin Crandall, Olivier Labelle, Mike Pelech, Mike Pereira, Joe Rehkamp, Ian Watters and Matt Wilkins and defensemen Nick Luukko, Derik Johnson and Mike Marcou.

Liberati (6’0/206) (21), who hails from Cheswick, Pennsylvania, will be entering his first season of pro. Last year, he split the season between the North Bay Battalion and Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League, where he registered a total of fifteen goals and thirty-one assists (forty-six points) and thirty-eight penalty minutes in sixty-six games. Despite playing only forty-two games with Kitchener after being traded from North Bay in late November, Liberati still led the Rangers’ defensemen with thirty-points (7g-23a). In nine post-season games with Kitchener, Liberati added four points (1g-3a) and six penalty minutes.

A seventh round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2013, Liberati began his major junior career in 2012-13 with the London Knights, who won the OHL championship and advanced to the Memorial Cup tournament that season. The next year, Liberati was traded mid-season by the Knights to North Bay, where he promptly scored eight goals (which led all defensemen on the team) in forty-three games. He also played in the twenty-two post-season games that it took for the Battalion to claim the OHL Eastern Conference Title before getting knocked off in the league finals. The next year, 2014-15, Liberati was second amongst defensemen on North Bay with thirty-eight points (11g-27a) in sixty-seven regular season games. In 240 career regular season games in major junior, Liberati racked up 106 points (38g-68a) and 141 penalty minutes.

Season Sixteen of “Hometown Hockey” kicks off for the Royals on Saturday, October 15, (7:00 pm) when the Elmira Jackals visit Santander Arena. Season Tickets for the Royals’ 2016-17 ECHL season are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.