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Reading Royals

Royals Sign Defensemen Mike Salekin and Dave Pszenyczny

September 4, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with defensemen Mike Salekin ["SAL uh kin"] and Dave Pszenyczny ["p-sha NITCH nee"]. Last season, Salekin (6'0/208) (23) scored four goals, assisted on nine others (thirteen points) and registered a team leading 183 penalty minutes in forty-nine regular season games with the Royals. Pszenyczny (6'0/190) (23), who was acquired in a mid-season trade by Reading, played twenty-two regular season games for the Royals and scored four goals, assisted on five others (nine points) and picked up thirty-five penalty minutes.

Although Salekin began last season on the thirty-day injured reserve, he made an immediate splash with the Royals when he dressed in his first pro game in Elmira, New York on November 24, 2007, registering seventeen penalty minutes which included his first pro fighting major (and instigating minor) when he took on the Jackals' Bruce Watson in the third period of a 4-1 Royals' loss. Salekin continued that theme throughout much of the season taking on all-comers and ultimately registering a total of nine fighting majors, which tied for the team lead in that category with Matt Herneisen and Rob LaLonde, and earned Salekin the Fans' Choice Award for "Scrapper of the Year".

Salekin had his moments at the offensive end, as well. His first goal as a pro proved to be the first goal of the game in the Royals' 4-1 win over the Wheeling Nailers at the Sovereign Center in Reading on December 5, 2007. But the points registered by Salekin in the regular season paled somewhat in comparison to the two points he picked up in eleven playoff games for the Royals last year. The first came in the form of an assist on Brock Hooton's overtime game winner in Game Five of the North Division Semi-Final showdown against the arch-rival Jackals, which gave the Royals a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven series. And the second came in the form of a game-tying (at four) goal 6:55 into the third period of the deciding Game Six in that series. Salekin's dramatic goal allowed the Royals to get to overtime, where Kevin Saurette bagged the double-overtime game winner to clinch the series.

Salekin, who hails from Castlegar, British Columbia, joined the Royals last year after a four year and three season career at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, where he scored seventeen goals, assisted on thirty-two others (forty-nine points) and picked up 205 penalty minutes in 99 career college games. In his senior season, Salekin led all defenseman in the College Hockey America conference with seven goals and twenty-three points in thirty-four games for UAH. At the conclusion of that senior year, Salekin was selected to the CHA All-Conference Second Team, as well as the All-Tournament Team, as he helped lead the UAH Chargers to the 2007 CHA Tournament Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to joining UAH, Salekin played two seasons with the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League, where he scored thirty-one goals, assisted on forty-eight others (seventy-nine points), and picked up 395 penalty minutes in 104 total games. During his first season with the Centennials, Salekin was selected as the team's Rookie of the Year and was the runner-up in voting for the league's best first year player, as he led all BCJHL defensemen with sixteen goals. In his second season with Merritt, Salekin, who served as a team alternate captain, racked up forty-seven points in forty-seven games to lead the league in points per game by a defenseman.

Salekin was required to sit out his freshman season at UAH because of the one game he had played for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League in 2000-01. In his first season of eligibility for the Chargers, things started well for Salekin who was selected as the CHA Rookie of the Week in early November of 2004. In his second season with the Chargers, Salekin, who was a four-time UAH Bronze Scholar and was selected to the CHA All-Academic Team in all three seasons of his eligibility, led conference defensemen in power play goals-with 8-and his team in penalty minutes-with 80-in thirty-four games. Salekin's senior year proved to be a magical season for the Chargers, who became the first fifth seed in CHA history to win the post-season conference tournament and advance to the NCAA round of sixteen, where they fell in double-overtime in the Midwest Regional to the University of Notre Dame. In the CHA tournament, Salekin proved to have a bit of magic of his own, as he bagged the game winning goal in the semi-finals against Niagara University to get to the finals, where the Chargers defeated Robert Morris University.

Pszenyczny, who will be entering his third season as a pro, split last season between three teams. He started the year with the Phoenix Roadrunners, where he scored a pair of goals and assisted on six others (eight points) in twenty-two games, before being dealt to the Alaska Aces for forward Gino Guyer on December 14, 2007. Pszenyczny picked up two assists for the Aces in twenty-two games prior to being traded to the Royals in return for forward Brett Hemingway on February 12, 2008.

Pszenyczny, who hails from Sterling Heights, Michigan, had an immediate impact in Reading scoring in his first game for the team 4:36 into the second period to give the Royals a 3-1 lead over the Dayton Bombers on February 15, a game the Royals ultimately won in a shootout, 4-3. Pszenyczny, who racked up a total of 132 penalty minutes in sixty-three games with his three teams last year, picked up a total of ten fighting majors last season, three of which came with the Royals. One of those came on March 8, 2008, when he fought Cincinnati's Avery Wilson, in a game in which Pszenyczny also picked up a pair of assists in the Royals' 4-3 shootout loss in Cincinnati.

During his five year junior career, Pszenyczny scored a total of fifty-seven goals, assisted on eighty-four others (141 points), and racked up 821 penalty minutes over 303 total games-261 of which were played in the Ontario Hockey League. Pszenyczny began his pro career in 2006-07 with a four game stint with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL prior to being sent to the Phoenix Roadrunners, where he was selected to represent the team in the 2007 ECHL All-Star Game in Boise, Idaho. In that rookie season with Phoenix, Pszenyczny scored five goals, assisted on sixteen others (twenty-one points), and picked up ninety-four penalty minutes in forty-one games before sustaining a season ending injury, when he suffered a severe cut to his arm in a game against the Alaska Aces on February 9, 2007.

The Royals open the 2008-09 regular season against the Elmira Jackals on Friday, October 17, 2008 at First Arena in Elmira, New York. The Royals' home opener is set for Saturday, October 25, 2008, when the Johnstown Chiefs visit the Sovereign Center. Royals' full Season Tickets and Total Choice Flex Plans are now on sale. To obtain more information on becoming a part Royals' hockey, call 610-898-PUCK to speak with Royals' ticket representative or visit the Royals website, www.royalshockey.com.

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