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Royals Extend Tryout Agreements to Four Players

September 23, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL) Reading Royals

Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, today announced that the team has extended tryout agreements to forwards Vladimir Nikiforov, Peter MacDougall, and Jason O'Bannon, and defenseman Artem Gumenyuk. O'Bannon and Gumenyuk earned invitations to the Royals' training camp after participating in Larry Courville's pro placement camp in August. The Royals have announced twenty-four players as signed this season to either an ECHL contract (20) or a tryout agreement (4).

Nikifiorov (5'8/173) (23), who hails from Hauppage, New York, picked up five assists and twelve penalty minutes in twenty-four games with the Royals last season. He started the year with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL and was traded to the Bakersfield Condors, where he scored two goals and assisted on another in eight games. After being released by Bakersfield, Reading signed Nikiforov in early December. Nikiforov, who was selected to represent the Utah Grizzlies in the 2009 ECHL All-Star game, has recorded ninety-seven points (32g-65a) in 160 total pro games (32g-65a97), including nineteen in the AHL.

MacDougall (6'0/195) (25), a second year pro from Lumsden, Saskatchewan, scored five goals, assisted thirteen others (eighteen points) and picked up 124 penalty minutes in fifty-one games with the Columbus Cottonmouths of the Southern Professional Hockey League last season. Prior to turning pro, MacDougall played four seasons at Canisius College, where he registered twenty-seven points (8g-19a) and 396 penalty minutes in 128 college games. MacDougall, who was a two-time captain of the Griffins and led the team in penalty minutes three times, set a school record with 131 penalty minutes in thirty-two games in his senior season.

O'Bannon (5'8/180) (26), who hails from North Royalton, Ohio, registered three assists in four games with the Chicago Blaze of the All-American Hockey League in 2009-10. O'Bannon played two seasons at Kent State University, and in his first year with the team, 2006-07, led the American Collegiate Hockey Association with eighty-four points (30g-54a) in forty-games. In his final year at Kent State, O'Bannon earned a spot on the Team USA squad that played in the 2009 World University Games in Harbin, China.

Gumenyuk (6'1/205) (24), who was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, is entering his first year of pro. Last season, he completed a four year career at Manhattanville College with personal bests in goals (4g) and points (6pts) in twenty-six college games. Gumenyuk, who was a member of three separate Ukrainian National Teams, twice led Manhattanville College in plus-minus and was a two-time member of the ECAC-West All-Academic team.

The Royals will face the Cincinnati Cyclones in the team's 2011-12 home opener on Saturday, October 22, 2011, at 7:05 pm at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The team kicks off the season on the road against the South Carolina Stingrays in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday, October 14 (7:05 pm). That game, as with all Royals' road games this year, will be televised live courtesy of Royals TV presented by Boscov's Travel and Royal Caribbean Cruise lines in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on BCTV.

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