Head Coach Kirk MacDonald announces Royals awards at team's Booster Club Awards Banquet

Reading Royals Head Coach Kirk MacDonald announced five team awards at the end-of-season Booster Club Awards Banquet Wednesday.Team MVP: Chris McCarthy – The fifth-year professional has posted a career-best 50 assists and 68 points this season, tops on the club. He has ranked in the league’s top-five in both categories for much of the season’s second half. McCarthy requires two points to become the ninth Reading player to hit 70 in a single season. He is fourth in team history with 174 points (176 GP), trailing Ryan Cruthers, Olivier Labelle and Yannick Tifu.Best Defenseman: Nick Luukko – He is the first player in Royals history to win the team’s top-defenseman award three times and this is the third straight year Luukko has won the award. He’s posted a career-best eight goals and 29 points this season. Six of his points have come in the last six games. Third in team history with 269 games played, Luukko is two points back of Simon Tremblay for most points by a Royals defenseman ever (86).Rookie of the Year: Alex Roos – The 24-year-old’s turnaround is one of the more-remarkable recent Royals success stories. Roos played six games in October and November and did not record a point, leading to his release due to a roster numbers crunch. Kirk MacDonald asked Roos to “pack slowly” and re-signed him a couple of days later. Roos was reinserted to the lineup for a weekend series against the Allen Americans Dec. 14-16 and scored his first professional goal, plus two assists. Since Dec. 14, he has recorded 15 goals and 31 points in 44 games and leads all Royals rookies in goals and points.Unsung Hero: Brayden Low – The third-year professional from Steveston, B.C. has scored 14 goals and 29 points, approaching career bests established last campaign (18g, 24a). His energy, ability to pester opponents and willingness to stand up for his teammates has made him a leader and one of the most-important pieces of this season’s Royals. Against Newfoundland Dec. 8, Low stood up for his teammates and went blow-for-blow in a fight with Growlers pest James Melindy. He has registered two of his three career multi-goal games this season and his only career four-point game (Jan. 26 at WHL).Community Service: Andrew D’Agostini – The Royals netminder has helped establish his Saves4CF program in Berks County, raising $1 for every save a Royals goaltender makes with the help of Abacus Surveying. D’Agostini’s program also runs in Brampton, the OHL with Peterborough and USports with the Univ. of Guelph.