ECHL Reading Royals

Firsts of Fury

October 29, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Even though this was the second week of the season, it had all the makings of a week of firsts. Goaltender Jon Quick was one man 'first-machine' on Wednesday night- the first in a five-game road swing through the South Division-when he registered his first pro win, first pro shutout, first pro penalty, and, yes, first pro goal all in one game. Never mind that he never touched the puck, no one else did either-and when you're hot, you're hot. In that same game, Ned Lukacevic scored his first game winner as a pro, when he scored the first 'first goal' for the Royals this season. Reading also picked up the team's first power play goal of the year (after starting the season with thirteen consecutive blanks) in that same game.. And then just that quick, the Royals went from getting their first shutout of the season to suffering a complete reversal of fortune in the 2-0 shutout loss on Friday night. The 'first-fest' continued on Saturday, as the Mississippi Sea Wolves and their jubilant fans celebrated their first taste of pro hockey on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in some thirty months. That night, the Royals didn't score first, but they did score four unanswered goals-one of which was the first pro goal for defenseman Drew Bagnall (who was playing in his second professional game)-and won by a final of 5-2.. After that game, the Royals hopped in the bus for an overnighter to Gwinnett, Georgia to play the first game in team history in the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Alright, so this part really isn't a first. I mean, the part about playing four road games in five days with seven hours of overnight bus travel (where you lose another hour to the Eastern Time Zone) to the fifth game that's scheduled for a midafternoon start. To be fair, the Gwinnett Gladiators have all the makings of a very good hockey team, and they earned their 5-1 win that day. But just as clearly, the cumulative wear and tear and tension of a time-pinched travel schedule factored into the frustration that boiled over late in that game. So as the Royals prepare for their second game in team history in Gwinnett (on Tuesday) and anticipate their first game of the year on home ice on Saturday, the team is put in a position of waiting for a decision from the league that could result in another first for this season-a short bench.......

TOP TEN NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. This week the Royals continued their seven game season opening road trip with four consecutive games against Southern Division teams. The Royals went 2-2-0 in those games. Over the course of Reading's seven year history, the team has compiled a record of 22-13-3 against teams from the South and 30-14-3 against teams outside of the North Division..

2. Jon Quick registered his first win as a pro in the 3-0 victory over the Pensacola Ice Pilots last Wednesday. Quick stopped all 32 shots he faced to pick up his first pro shutout. He was also assessed his first penalty as a professional player at the 1:26 mark of the first period for delay of game. With 35 seconds left in the game, Quick was also credited with scoring a goal, when an errant Ice Pilot pass went into their own empty net. In doing so, Quick became just the second goaltender in ECHL history to score a goal and register a shutout in the same game. Quick's shutout was the 26th for a Royals' goaltender in the team's seven year history.

3. Last Wednesday's game is the only one out of the Royals' first six games this season that the team has scored first. In each of the other five contests, Reading's opponent registered the first goal-and, in four of those games, Reading trailed by at least two goals before getting on the board (or getting shut out.).

4. .Ned Lukacevic scored the first goal-which also proved to be the game winner-for Reading in Wednesday's 3-0 win in Pensacola. For Lukacevic, who also scored an important goal (the Royals' fourth in Saturday's 5-2 win over Mississippi), Wednesday's goal marked the first GWG in his pro career.

5. Reading's Chris Blight scored the team's first power play goal of the season in Wednesday's 3-0 win in Pensacola. The Royals had failed to score in the team's first 13 chances with the man advantage in two-plus games to start the season. Reading also scored a power play goal (by Charlie Kronschnabel) in the 5-2 win in Mississippi on Saturday night. On the season, the Royals' power play has gone 2 for 33-a 6.1% scoring ratio which is twenty-third in the league.

6. Both of the goals scored by the Pensacola in the 2-0 win over Reading on Friday night were scored while Reading was playing short-handed. This marked the second game this season that every goal scored by the opposition was scored on their power play. In 3 of the 6 games played by Reading this year, the team has given up more than one power play goal. The penalty kill has allowed 9 goals in 44 chances for the opponents with the man advantage, a 79.5% kill ratio (20th in the league).

7. Defenseman Drew Bagnall scored his first goal as a professional at the 15:06 mark of the first period of the Royals' 5-2 win over Mississippi. .Bagnall also engaged in his first fight as a pro in that game.

8. Malcolm MacMillan scored what proved to be the game winning goal in the 5-2 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Friday. That was MacMillan's third goal of the season-tied for the team lead-and his first GWG of the season and his fourth game winner as a member of the Royals over the past three seasons.

9. Eleven different members of the Royals registered at least a point in the 5-2 win in Mississippi on Saturday. Matt Herneisen led the way for the team with three assists. That is the second three point performance for a Royal this season. (Brock Hooton had a goal and two assists against Johnstown on October 20.).

10. Sunday's 5-1 loss to Gwinnett Gladiators marked the first time in team history that the Royals have been to the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The Royals will play the Gladiators twice more this season-once on Tuesday night in Gwinnett and then again on February 17 at the Sovereign Center in Reading..

CLOSING NOTES

1. Matt Herneisen engaged in his third fight of the season in Friday's 2-0 loss to Pensacola. .Herneisen is tied for second in the ECHL in that category (Tommy Maxwell of South Carolina has been involved in four fights so far this season.)

2. Friday's shutout by Pensacola against Reading marked the twenty-fourth time that the Royals have been shutout in the seven year history of the team. Last year the Royals were shutout three times.

3. Patrick Jarrett registered his third two-assist performance of the season in Reading's 5-2 win in Mississippi. Jarrett leads the team in points (with six) and in multi-point games (with three).

4. P.J. Atherton, who scored the only goal for the Royals in the 5-1 loss on Sunday in Gwinnett, is tied for third in ECHL defensemen scoring with five points (3g -2a = 5pts). Atherton is also tied for the league lead in plus/'minus, playing to a plus-7 in the first six games of the season.

5. Kevin Saurette, who was involved in his first fight as a pro (against Adam Hobson) last Wednesday night in Pensacola, is currently tied for third in the league in shots on goal with 24 through the first six games this season..

6. Malcolm MacMillan was assessed with 30 penalty minutes- which included two fighting majors-in Sunday's 5-1 loss to Gwinnett. Last January 27 (in a game against the Toledo Storm), Mac- Millan received 32 penalty minutes, which tied the team record set by David Masse on December 26, 2003..

7. Rob LaLonde was assessed with 29 penalty minutes in Sunday's game. That marks a career high for PIMs in a single game for LaLonde..

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