ECHL Reading Royals

Filling the void

Published on November 20, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Well, with about six guys in the American League and about as many on the injured reserve-and Larry Courville in the line-up-it felt a lot like good 'ol Royals hockey this weekend. Something seems to happen in this town when the team has to play short-which is not all that rare of an event in this region-guys step up. Whether it's Shawn Collymore, who racked up the team's second hattrick of the season in the 6-3 win on Friday (which served to snap a four game winless streak) or Malcolm MacMillan, who scored the game winner on Saturday night (to give the Royals their first back-to-back wins all season long) or Joe Zappala who slipped a brilliant saucer to Chris Bala who in turn went to his 'sugary-sweet' five hole move for a critical goal on Saturday-or whether it's Larry Courville himself, who capped his weekend with a third period goal on Sunday (just in time to go back to his 'real job' on Monday morning), it really doesn't matter. What does matter is that the players seem to understand that when you play in Reading, there are certain times you may be called upon to fill a role that is a bit above and beyond what you are ordinarily asked to do. What is heartening is that the players on this team don't shy away from that responsibility. To the contrary, there are certain guys who seem to relish the opportunity to explore the nether regions beyond.....

TOP TEN NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The two wins by the Royals this week marked the first time this season that Reading has won consecutive games. The 6-3 win over Toledo on Friday snapped a four game winless (0 - 3 - 1) winless streak for the team and was also the first victory of the season in four tries against the Storm.

2. Shawn Collymore's natural hattrick in Reading's 6-3 win on Friday against the Storm night marked the second three goal performance of the season for the Royals. Arpad Mihaly had the first for the team back on November 10-and that, too, was against the Storm. Collymore scored all three of his goals within a 6:14 span in the second period on Friday. Collymore's hattrick was the tenth in team history for the Royals and came one year-almost to the day-after Shay Stephenson scored a team record four goals against the South Carolina Stingrays at the Sovereign Center (November 19, 2005).

3. In Saturday's 5-2 win over Toledo, Shawn Collymore scored a goal and racked up a couple of assists for his second consecutive three point performance and his third straight multi-point game. In the twelve games he's played for the Royals, Collymore has had five multi-point performances. One of Collymore's three goals on Friday proved to be the game winner-and he leads the Royals in that category with two.

4. By racking up at least a point in both games this weekend, Arpad Mihaly extended his personal point streak to six games (6g - 5a = 11pts), which ties the team high established by Shawn Collymore earlier this year. Mihaly's three point performance on Saturday (1g - 2a = 3pts) was his team leading seventh multi-point game of the year. Mihaly has had at least one point in eleven of the twelve games he's played for Reading.

5. Chris Bala is currently riding a five game point streak for Reading (1g - 8a = 9pts). Bala's three point game on Saturday (1g - 2a = 3pts) marked his fourth multi-point performance in the seven games he's played for the Royals this year.

6. Malcolm MacMillan scored a goal in both games this weekend. His goal at the 3:01 mark of the third period on Saturday proved to be the game winner. MacMillan was just an assist short in both games this weekend of bagging back-to-back 'Gordie Howe Hattricks', as MacMIllan was also involved in tilts in both games this weekend (with Jon Sitko on Friday and Matt Zultek on Saturday). The Royals have had one GHH this year and James Hiebert got that against the Pensacola Ice Pilots on October 22.

7. Joe Zappala scored his first goal as a pro in Friday's 6-3 win over the Storm. Zappala also assisted on Malcolm MacMillan's goal at the 17:25 mark of the third period (which gave the Royals a three goal cushion), marking his first multi-point game as a pro. Zappala also assisted on Chris Bala's goal at the 9:01 mark of the second period on Saturday (which gave the Royals a 2-1 lead over Toledo). Zappala's former Yale teammate, Vin Hellemeyer, who joined the Royals last Thursday, also picked up his first point as a member of Reading in Saturday's game, when he assisted on Arpad Mihaly's goal at the 9:26 mark of the third period, to make the score 4-2 Royals.

8. Defenseman Rob LaLonde picked up the first multi-point game of his pro career by racking up a couple of assists Friday night. LaLonde assisted on the first goal of the game-Roman Teslyuk's power play goal at the 5:51 mark of the first-and the last goal of the game, Malcolm MacMillan's score at the 17:25 mark of the third.

9. The Royals' penalty killing unit blanked the Storm in five chances with the man advantage on Friday night, marking the first time in six games that Reading's PK had held the opposition off the board-and the fourth time this season that they've done that. On Saturday, Toledo scored once in their four power play opportunities. Reading is currently killing penalties at a 84.78% ratio, which is tied for tenth in the league.

10. Reading scored a pair of power play goals in each of the two games played this week. The Royals power play has scored at least one goal in nine of the twelve games played thus far, and has capitalized for more than one PPG in five of those games. Reading power play unit is currently scoring at a ratio of 15.1%, which ranks 17th out of the 25 teams in the league.

UNSUNG HERO OF THE WEEK: Shawn Germain

In my opinion, one of the great elements of the game of hockey is that you really can't measure the importance of a player's contribution to his team from a score sheet. You actually have to watch the game to assess the quality of a player's performance. And I would gather that those who have been watching the Royals closely this year would not overlook the importance of defenseman Shawn Germain. Although he certainly has put up some points for the team-he assisted on Shawn Collymore's game winner on Friday- it has been those little things that don't show up on a score sheet-like simple and smart clears from the defensive zone and some self-sacrificing blocked shots-that have made Shawn's performance shine. Although we anticipate that Shawn will show up the score sheet from time to time this year, he's one of those guys you just may just have to keep a close eye on if you really want to see what he brings to the table.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics

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ECHL Stories from November 20, 2006


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