
Larry Courville Named Royals' Head Coach
April 4, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release
Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL today announced that the Larry Courville has been named the team's head coach and director of hockey operations. The announcement was made at the Sovereign Center after the Royals final game of the 2008-09 season, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Dayton Bombers, during the "Shirts Off Their Backs" Promotion in front of the Royals season ticket holders. Terms of the contract for Courville, who is the sixth head coach in team history, were not disclosed. Courville, who joined the Royals this season as an assistant coach on December 5, 2008, took over as team's interim head coach when Jason Nobili was relieved of his duties on January 6, 2009. The team was 9-23-2 when the coaching change was made; and, in the remaining thirty-eight games of the regular season, the Royals compiled a record of 15-19-4.
"We're excited to name Larry as the team's head coach and director of hockey operations," said Gordon Kaye, the Royals' General Manager. "He took over the team this year under extremely difficult circumstances; and the club immediately responded to his leadership with a renewed energy, effort and enthusiasm. Larry understands as well as anyone that anything short of championship quality hockey is not acceptable in Reading, and we look forward to a season where he has an opportunity to build a team that will perform at that level."
"I look forward to the challenge of re-building the Royals into a playoff contender," said Courville. "There is no question that this season has been difficult for our organization and fans, but my goal is to immediately turn that around and develop a team that not only is deep in high quality talent, but also is comprised of a high quality character, and is fueled by the sense of pride and passion that it will take to bring a championship to Reading."
Courville (33), who hails from Timmins, Ontario, but resides in the Reading area, played 630 regular season games over twelve pro seasons, the last four of which (2005-08) were spent with the Royals. In 152 games with Reading, Courville scored twenty-four goals, picked up forty assists (sixty-four points) and registered 197 penalty minutes. A third round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 1995, Courville played thirty-three National Hockey League games with the Canucks over three seasons in the late 1990's. Courville, who served as the Royals' team captain in 2005-06 and was honored with the organization's "Heart Award" at the conclusion of that season, became the first person inducted into the Royals' Reading Eagle Wall of Honor at the Sovereign Center on October 22, 2006, for his contributions to the Royals. Courville's biography is set out below.
Season Tickets for the 2009-10 season are now available. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com.
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