Forwards Kevin Sundher, Steven Swavely, and Chris McCarthy Loaned to Reading

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL, today announced that forwards Kevin Sundher, Steven Swavely, and Chris McCarthy have been loaned to the Royals by the Flyers from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League. In separate transactions, the Royals released the following players from their Tryout Agreements with the team: (i) Jeremy Akeson (f); (ii) Brandon Anderson (g); (iii) Tyler Gjurich (f); (iv) Al Graves (f); (v) Alex Gogolev (f); (vi) Mark Petaccio (f); and (vii) Zach Sarig (d).

Kevin Sundher

Last season, Sundher (6’0/186) (24), who hails from Surrey, British Columbia, started things off in Reading with a bang, scoring three goals (and registering four points, 3g-1a) in his first game with the team, a 5-1 win for Reading over the Elmira Jackals on October 28, 2015. In doing so, he joined Brian McCullough (10/11/02) and Jonathan Zion (10/17/03) as the only players in team history to register a hattrick in their first game with the team. From there, Sundher kept the production up, running off a point in four consecutive games prior to being loaned to Lehigh Valley on November 1. He then played ten games with the Phantoms, racking up five points (3g-2a), which included a two-goal outburst (one of which proved to be the game winner) in a 4-1 win over the Providence Bruins on November 20. Unfortunately in late November, Sundher sustained an injury that kept him out of action until early March when he was signed to an AHL contract by the Flyers and loaned to Reading where he finished the season. He ended up with a total of ten points (5g-5a) in just nine regular season games with the Royals. Sundher also played six post-season games for the Royals (1g-2a), which included scoring a goal and picking up an assist in Reading’s 4-3 win in Game One of the first round series against the Toledo Walleye.

A third round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2010, Sundher will be entering his fifth season of pro. Of his 157 total career pro regular season games, 139 of them have been played in the AHL, where he has recorded a total of forty-three points (14g-29a) and seventy-one penalty minutes. In eighteen career ECHL games, Sundher has racked up a total of fourteen points (6g-8a).

Prior to turning pro, Sundher racked up 252 points (94g-158a) in 273 total games over four-plus seasons in the Western Hockey League. In his final year of major junior, Sundher stormed out of the gates to rack up sixty-four points (22g-42a) in forty games for the Victoria Royals, earning a three-year the entry level contract with the Sabres, which he signed in December of 2011.

Steven Swavely

Swavely (6’1/193) (24), who hails from Reading, will be entering his first full season of pro. Last year, after completing his senior season at the University of Maine, he joined the Phantoms and scored three goals (3g-0a) and picked up four penalty minutes in fifteen AHL games. In his final year at Maine, Swavely, who served as the team captain in his senior season, racked up nineteen points (9g-10a) with the Black Bears. A four-time selection to the Hockey East All-Academic Team, Swavely was bestowed with Maine’s Scholar Athlete Award in his junior year. Swavely, whose brother Jon played a game with the Royals in the 2013-14 season, registered 81 career points (33g-48a) and fifty penalty minutes in 146 total collegiate games.

Chris McCarthy

As with Swavely, McCarthy (6’1/207) (25), who will be entering his third full season of pro, also hails from southeastern Pennsylvania—Collegeville, PA, in his case. Last year, he registered twenty-two points (6g-16a) and nineteen penalty minutes with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. McCarthy, who has played a total of 67 AHL games, played 63 games in the ECHL with the then-Greenville Road Warriors in 2014-15, where his thirty-nine points (15g-24a) in sixty-three games placed him fourth in scoring in the team.

Prior to turning pro, McCarthy had an exceptional collegiate career at the University of Vermont. In his senior season, he led the Catamounts with forty-two points (18g-24a) in 38 games, which earned him a selection as a Hockey East Second Team All-Star. A two-time selection as Vermont’s Most Valuable Player, McCarthy was named a semi-finalist for the Walter C. Brown Award, which is bestowed upon the Best College Hockey Player in New England. McCarthy, who served as an alternate- or co-captain for the Catamounts in three of his four seasons at the school, registered 114 total points (46g-68a) and 69 penalty minutes in 150 total college games.