ECHL Reading Royals

Play It Where It Lies

Published on November 13, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


One of the great equalizers in the equally great game of golf is the principle of playing the ball 'down'. Whether it rests in a someone else's divot, up next to tree, or in the middle of lush, bentgrass fairway, you simply can't move the ball from that spot without incurring a shot or a penalty. Regardless of where it rests, there are no guarantees- you can hit a great shot (or its converse) just as easily from a perfect lie or a pile of pine needles under a tree at Augusta (well, at least Tiger can). But must golfers I know would prefer having that fluffed-up lie in the fairway to having the ball buried on a downhill slope under the lip of a gaping bunker. But the point is, most of the time, you simply have no choice. You have to take what you're given. Which brings us to the opening weeks of the Royals' schedule. In fact, after the first 13 games, the Royals must have felt like their shot came to rest in the front of seat of a souped up four-wheel drive monster truck in the middle of some crazed version of the Baja 500 endurance desert race. Up and down (and up and down-over and over again) being tossed about at full tilt with no time to stop or even rest-and barely get re-fueled. With a stretch of eleven games over seventeen days, which included two sequences of four games in five nights (or afternoons-with a significant travel component in each) AND a season opening seven game road trip, the start to the Royals season has, in a word, been harried. But the result hasn't been all that bad. This week the Royals continued the frenetic pace with a win against the only team they'll see from the National Conference (during the regular season, at least), the Bakersfield Condors, behind 43 saves from goaltender Jon Quick. After that one, the team hopped back on the road only to be smacked down by a high flying Wheeling Nailers' offense on Friday Night. Just as quickly, Reading was back in the bus and headed to Johnstown, where hockey's magic genie put a spell on Chris Blight's stick and four (consecutive) goals later he was in the Royals' record book. On Sunday, with the gas gauge firmly pointed to 'E', Reading was able use the remaining fumes in the tank to battle the Dayton Bombers to a shootout, where Blight and Quick went to work again to pull out the two points. With the team's record at 8-5-0 after this first segment of the season, it's hard to complain. The one significant downside of this frenetic start has been the inordinate number of (seemingly) stress-related injuries experienced by the team; and, quite honestly, it's hard to separate those injuries from the jam-packed start to the schedule. But, in my limited experience, I've never seen complaining get the ball on the green. You simply have to play 'er down, take your swing, and go find it again.....

TOP TEN NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals extended the team's home winning streak to three games this week with a 4-2 win over Bakersfield on Wednesday and a 3-2 shootout win over Dayton on Sunday. Last season, the longest home winning streak for the Royals went five games (02/21 - 03/02/07). The longest home winning streak in team history extended for nine games (0 1/02 - 02/15/04).

2. Chris Blight tied a team record when he scored four goals against the Johnstown Chiefs on Saturday. Shay Stephenson scored four goals against the South Carolina Stingrays at the Sovereign Center on November 19, 2005. Blight, however, is the first player in team history to score four consecutive goals in a single game. He is also the fifteenth player in team history to score three or more goals in a single game. Blight also scored two goals in Wednesday night's win over Bakersfield, and he currently leads the Royals-and is tied for third in the league-with eight goals.

3. In all three games the Royals played this week, Reading scored the first goal of the game. Reading is 6-0-0 when scoring the first goal this season.

4. Ned Lukacevic is currently riding a three game goal scoring streak. In fact, Lukacevic has scored the Royals' first goal in each of the last three games-and the game's first goal in the last two. Lukacevic also scored the game's first goal (and the game winner) in Reading's 3-0 win in Pensacola on October 24. Lukacevic, who scored seven goals in fifty-three games with the Royals last year, is currently the second leading goal scorer on the Royals with six goals.

5. In Wednesday's 4-2 win over Bakersfield, Matt Stefanishion scored his first goal of the season (which proved to be the game winner), as did Patrick Jarrett. Sixteen different players-including goaltender Jon Quick-have scored a goal for the Royals this season.

6. Goaltender Jon Quick has played eleven consecutive games for the Royals. With his three wins this past week, Quick currently leads the ECHL with seven wins. Quick currently leads the ECHL in minutes played (693) and is second in the league in saves (286). He also is tied for third in the league with five losses. Quick set a personal career high with 43 saves in the Royals 4-2 win over Bakersfield last Wednesday. He also experienced his first pro shootout on Sunday, stopping all four shooters he faced to pick up the win over Dayton. It wasn't all good, however, for Quickie. He was also taken out of a game for the first time in his pro career on Friday night in Wheeling, when he started and played the first 30:55, allowing four goals on fifteen shots, before Jeff Pietrasiak came on in substitution.

7. In Saturday's 6-2 win in Johnstown, the Royals went three for seven with the power play, marking the first time this season that Reading has scored three power play goals in a single game-and only the second time this year that the Royals PP has scored multiple goals in a game. (The Royals bagged two PPGs against the Elmira Jackals on November 4). The Royals power play was held off the board on Friday night in Wheeling and on Sunday against Dayton. The team's PP has now been blanked in seven of the thirteen games played so far this season. The Royals are 9 for 77 on the PP this year-an 11.7% scoring percentage (21st in the league).

8. Two of the goals scored by Wheeling on Friday and both goals scored by Dayton on Sunday were scored on the power play. The Royals penalty killers have given up multiple goals against in five of the thirteen games played so far this season. The Royals PK has blanked the opposition twice this year and has gone eight consecutive games giving up at least one goal to the opponent. The opposition has gone 18 for 92, which is a 80.4% kill ratio for Reading (17th in the league).

9. Brock Hooton scored his second short-handed goal of the season on Sunday, tying him for the league lead in that category. That was the fifth short-handed goal of the season for Reading. The Royals are tied for the league lead in that category with the South Carolina Stingrays.

10. The Royals' game with Dayton on Sunday ended in a 2-2 tie, marking the first time this season that a Royals' game has ended regulation time in a tie. After a scoreless overtime, Reading went to the shootout for the first time this season. The Royals' shooters went two for four (Chris Blight and Brock Hooton scored), while Jon Quick blanked the Dayton shooters. Over the seven year history of the team, Reading has been involved in 54 shootouts, going 22-32 overall and 13-18 at home.

CLOSING NOTES

1. Bracken Kearns picked up two assists in Wednesday's 4-2 win over Bakersfield and had two assists in Saturday's win in Johnstown.

2. Forward Joe Zappala registered his second multi-point game of the season when he assisted on two goals against the Bakersfield Condors last Wednesday.

3. Goaltender Jon Quick picked up his first pro assist when he started the rush that resulted in the Royals fourth goal in the 4-2 win over Bakersfield on Wednesday.

4. Kevin Schaeffer registered his first multi-point game as a pro when he assisted on two both goals scored by the Royals in the 6-2 loss to Wheeling on Friday.

5. Rob LaLonde scored his third goal of the season in Friday's loss to Wheeling. Last season, LaLonde scored three goals in 62 games with the Royals.

6. P.J. Atherton registered his second multi-point game of the year when he assisted on two of the Royals' goals against the Johnstown Chiefs on Saturday. Both of Atherton's multi-point games have come at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, where he played for the Chiefs last season.

7. Jeff Likens registered his first point as a Royal when he assisted on the team's first goal in Sunday's 3-2 shootout win for the Royals over Dayton.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics

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