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ECHL Reading Royals

Our Own Little March Through Madness

March 12, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


With the possible exception of the Super Bowl (well, that and that August sales convention in Las Vegas-the stories about which will remain right where they belong), there is probably no other event capable of driving ordinary everyday law abiding citizens to the outer edges of gambling degeneracy like the tournament to determine college basketball's national champion. To be sure, there are a number of factors that combine to make 'March Madness' what it is: last second heroics, fanatical student and alumnae loyalties, and the harsh reality of 'one and done'; but perhaps more than any other element, this widespread hysteria rests on the fact that parity almost guarantees a couple of epic upsets (well, except maybe for that much awaited 16 over a 1). People believe, and sometimes with good reason, that any one of the 65 teams who get in could win. But therein lies the rub: the fine print in that clause about 'getting in'. And, this is precisely where a number of teams in the ECHL-including the Royals-currently find themselves: trying to earn the key that unlocks the door that lets you in to the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The good news in hockey (give or take a tiebreaker or two): whether you make it to the playoffs or not is all about the "W's"; the bad news, it's all about the "W's"-no amount of lobbying on behalf of your program by Dickie V. on ESPN is going to get you in. For the Royals, the team put itself in a position to earn a spot in the playoffs with a recent run of six consecutive wins and eight over the ten games prior to entering this past weekend's two game series in South Carolina. Unfortunately, Reading hit a pot-hole in the road to the 'final five' (in the North Division, at least) with a pair of losses to the Stingrays. But the madness hits high gear this week, as the Royals play five divisional games-the first three of which are on the road-over the next six days that may go a long way towards deciding whether the Royals get to put on their dancing shoes and allow their inner maniac to go wild....

TOP TEN NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals dropped both games they played last week to the South Carolina Stingrays and are 7 - 3 - 0 in the team's last ten games.

2. With the two losses in South Carolina last week, Reading's record on the road is 11 - 16 - 2 and have seven regular season road games remaining, including the next three in a row this week. Last season, the Royals set a team record with twenty road wins. In the inaugural year of the Royals, 2001- 02, the team won just eleven games on the road to establish the team low in this category.

3. Last Friday, the South Carolina Stingrays and (behind goaltender, Davis Parley) became the third team to shutout the Royals this season. Reading was blanked by the Cincinnati Cyclones (Cedrick Desjardins), 1-0, on January 5, as well as the Wheeling Nailers (Andy Franck) on January 12.

4. With the two games against the Stingrays last weekend, the Royals have now completed their regular season out-of-division schedule. This year, the Royals played eight games against teams outside the North-all South Division teams-and Reading compiled a record of 4 - 3 - 1 in those games.

5. One second into Friday night's game, Malcolm MacMillan and Cam McCaffrey of the Stingrays engaged in a solid hockey tilt. For MacMillan, the fighting major he received as a result of that brawl marked his eighteenth major penalty of the season. He is tied for the number one spot in that category in the league and currently leads the ECHL with 232 penalty minutes.

6. Malcolm MacMillan scored the game's first goal in Reading's 3-2 loss to South Carolina on Saturday. That marked MacMillan's ninth goal of the year, and his third 'first goal' of the season. The Royals have a record of 16 - 7 - 4 when scoring the game's first goal.

7. Joe Zappala scored the Royals' second goal at the 1:06 mark of the third period to make it 3-2, South Carolina. For Zappala, that was his seventeenth goal of the season. He is currently tied for fourteenth in rookie scoring (17g - 21a = 38pts).

8. Jon Francisco assisted on both Royals' goals in the 3-2 loss to South Carolina on Saturday. That marked Francisco's second multi-point game of the season for Reading.

9. With the 3-2 loss to South Carolina on Saturday, Reading's record in one goal games dropped to 8 - 12 - 6.

10. Goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji has played eight consecutive games for Reading. He has compiled a record of 5 - 3 - 0 in those games.

CLOSING NOTES

1. Michael Cohen picked up his first point as a pro by assisting on the Royals' second goal in the 3-2 loss to South Carolina on Saturday night.

2. The Royals power play was blanked in both games played this past weekend against the Stingrays, going 0 for 7 on Friday and 0 for 5 on Saturday. In fact, Reading's PP has been held off the board over the last four games and has not scored in the last twenty-one chances with the man advantage over the past five. Over the course of the season, the Royals' power play has been blanked in twenty-five of the sixty games played by the team. The Royals are scoring power play goals at a 14.7% ratio, which places the team twenty-third amongst the twenty-five teams in the league.

3. The Royals allowed a power play goal in each of the two games played this week. South Carolina's power play went 1 for 6 on Friday night; and the Stingrays bagged a five-on-three power play goal (by former Royal Cail MacLean) on Saturday. Over the course of the season, the Royals are killing penalties at an 83.0% ratio, which places the team fifteenth in the league in that category.

4. Goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak, who is currently on loan to the Hershey Bears, picked up the second win of his American Hockey League career on Friday night. Pietrasiak stopped twenty-four of the twenty-six shots he faced in defeating the Portland Pirates, 3-2.

5. Dany Roussin scored a goal in back-to-back games for the Manchester Monarchs last week. In Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack, Roussin scored what proved to be the game winner; and, in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Hershey Bears, Roussin scored the Monarch's first goal of the game. Roussin has now scored four AHL goals this season.

6. Bryan Schmidt racked up his second multi-point game of the season last Wednesday for the Monarchs in the 4-1 win over Hartford. Schmidt picked up two assists in that game, including one on the game winner by Dany Roussin. Former Royal Shay Stephenson also picked up a goal in that game, scoring the Monarchs fourth goal of the game.

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