ECHL Reading Royals

Defenseman Louis Liotti Returns to Royals

Published on September 8, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


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 agreed to terms with defenseman Louis Liotti ["lee AH tee"]. The Royals have now announced seventeen players as signed for the 2011-12 season - ten forwards (Phil Aucoin, Bryan Brutlag, Ryan Cruthers, Joe Cucci, Casey Haines, Olivier Labelle, Chad Painchaud, Richard Purslow, John Scrymgeour, and Everett Sheen) and seven defensemen (Dave Cowan, Rob Kwiet, Derrick LaPoint, Chris Nutini, David Strathman, Denny Urban, and Liotti).

Last season, Liotti (6'1/197) (26), who hails from Westbury, New York, registered thirteen assists (0g-13a) and twenty-two penalty minutes in fifty-seven regular season games with the Royals. Liotti also played four regular season games in the AHL last season with the Lake Erie Monsters and Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In eight playoff games with the Royals, he had two assists and six penalty minutes. Liotti, who will be entering his third year of pro, played to a plus-15 (+15) for the Royals during the regular season, which was second best amongst defensemen on the team. Offensively, his hottest streak came in mid-February when he registered at least a point in three consecutive games, including a 4-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers when he assisted on the game's first and last goals for one of his two multi-point games on the year. Shortly after that streak, Liotti, who has played fourteen career AHL games, earned a three game call-up to Lake Erie. In playoffs last season, Liotti registered his first pro post-season point when he assisted on the Royals' fourth goal in Reading's 5-4 double overtime win in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Final matchup against the Cincinnati Cyclones. Liotti, who has been a member of two consecutive regular season divisional championship teams, registered thirteen points (1g-12a) and forty-three penalty minutes in fifty-two games with the Kalamazoo Wings in his rookie season, helping the K-Wings win the North Division that year.

Prior to turning pro, Liotti put together a stellar four-year career at Northeastern University, which culminated in his senior season when the Huskies ran off twenty-five wins and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994. At the conclusion of that season, Liotti was selected as Hockey East's Best Defensive Defenseman and was also honored as a semi-finalist for the annual Walter Brown Award which is bestowed upon the best American-born Division I hockey player in New England. In March of 2010, Liotti, who played to a collective plus-26 (+26) in his last three seasons at Northeastern, was selected to the school's All-Decade Team.

The Royals face the Cincinnati Cyclones in the team's 2011-12 ECHL home opener on Saturday, October 22, 2011 (7:05 pm). Royals' season tickets are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com. Is your club, group, or organization looking for fun and entertaining speakers for an upcoming event' Contact the Royals' Speakers Bureau to book a team representative for your next outing. More information on the Royals Speakers Bureau is available by contacting Mark Thompson at 484-400-3565 or mthompson@royalshockey.com.

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