Reading Royals Weekly
Published on January 2, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release
Royals Notes:
- The Royals won all four games the team played last week. Reading's record is now 19-6-2=40, which places Reading in second place in the North Division of the American Conference and translates into a .741 win percentage-which is the third best win percentage in the league.
- All four of the Royals wins this week came on the road, extending Reading's road winning streak to seven games, which is the longest active ECHL streak in that category at this time.
- The longest road win streak in the ECHL this season belongs to the Las Vegas Wranglers, who won ten consecutive road games from November 22 through December 31, 2005.
- Reading's current seven game road winning streak ties a team record. (The Royals also won seven consecutive road games last season.)
- The Royals' next three games are all on the road.
- Last Tuesday, Reading won the team's first game in history against the Stockton Thunder by a score of 3-1. In that game, the Thunder scored the game's first goal (by Dave McCullough at 2:50 of the first period.)
- The Thunder also scored the game's first goal in the Royals' 4-3 shootout win over Stockton last Friday. (In that game, Aaron Foster scored 42 seconds into the hockey game, which is the quickest that any opponent has scored to start a game against the Royals this season.)
- In Reading's 6-4 win over Stockton last Wednesday and the Royals' 6-2 win over Long Beach on Saturday, Reading scored the game's first goal.
- The Royals have compiled a record of 12-0-2 when they score the game's first goal; and Reading's record is 7-6-0 when the opponent scores first.
- The Royals' first goal on Tuesday was scored by Doug Christiansen at the 8:24 mark of the first period to tie the score at one.
- In Reading's 6-4 win last Wednesday, Christiansen also scored the Royals' fourth goal (at 19:59 of the second period while the Royals were on the power play to make the score 4-2 Reading). He also assisted on the Royals' fifth goal in that game.
- Christiansen also assisted on two of the Royals' goals in the 4-3 shootout victory over Reading on Friday.
- Christiansen also scored two goals in Reading's 6-2 win over Long Beach last Saturday, including the game's first goal (at 1:24 of the first period on Reading's first shot on goal) and the Royals' sixth goal into an empty net with 29 seconds remaining in the game. (This was the third two-goal game of the season for Christiansen.)
- Christiansen has now had three consecutive multi-point games in a row-and seven multi-point games over the course of the season.
- Christiansen is currently riding a seven game point streak, during which he has scored six goals and assisted on four others (ten points).
- In Tuesday's 3-1 win, Mike Pandolfo scored the Royals' second goal at the 15:21 mark of the second period. This goal proved to be the game winner, marking Pandolfo's team leading 3rd gwg of the season.
- Pandolfo also scored Reading's third goal on Tuesday night at the 5:51 mark of the third period, making this his fourth two-goal game-and sixth multi-point game-of the season for Reading.
- Pandolfo also scored the game's first goal in the Royal's 6-4 win on Wednesday-an unassisted short-handed goal at the 14:42 mark of the first period. This was Pandolfo's second short-handed goal of the season-and his team leading fourteenth goal of the season.
- After Wednesday's game, Pandolfo announced that he was leaving the Royals to play for EHC Munich in the German 2.Bundesliga.
- In Tuesday's game, Nathan Martz of the Stockton Thunder was awarded a penalty shot at the 16:41 mark of the first period of play. (The score was 1-1 at the time of the penalty shot.) This was the first penalty shot of the season against the Royals. Martz did not score in his attempt.
- In Wednesday's game, Joel Irwin of the Stockton Thunder was awarded a penalty shot at the 12:50 mark of the second period. (The score was 3-1 Reading at the time of the penalty shot.) Irwin did not score in his attempt.
- The Royals' goaltender in both penalty shots against this week was Yutaka Fukufuji.
- Yutaka Fukufuji picked up the win for the Royals in Tuesday's 3-1 victory over Stockton.
- This was the first game that Fukufuji played for the Royals since his re-assignment to Reading (from the Manchester Monarchs) on Monday, December 26.
- This was the first game that Fukufuji had played at all since December 4, 2005, when he was the goaltender of record in Manchester's 3-2 loss to the Portland Pirates. This was also Fukufuji's first game for the Royals since a 7-4 win on November 11 against the Dayton Bombers.
- Fukufuji stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced from the Thunder on Tuesday night.
- Fukufuji was also the goaltender of record in the Royals' 6-4 win over Stockton on Wednesday night, stopping 33 of the 37 shots that he faced.
- Fukufuji was also the Royals' goaltender in the team's 6-2 win over the Long Beach Ice Dogs on Saturday night, when he stopped 40 of the 42 shots he faced.
- Fukufuji is currently on a four game personal win streak for the Royals-and three of those games were on the road. Fukufuji's three game personal road win streak is the longest for a Royals' goaltender this season.
- The Royals held the Stockton Thunder to just one goal in Tuesday's win. That marked the first time in eleven games (since Reading's 5-0 win over the Trenton Titans on November 22), that Reading held the opponent to one goal or less.
- In the five games prior to Tuesday's win, the Royals had allowed 22 goals against-a team goals against average of 4.40.
- The Royals defense allowed four goals against in Wednesday's 6-4 win over Stockton. This marked the seventh time this season that Reading has allowed the opposition to score four or more goals against the team in a single game-and four of those games happened to be in the last nine games played, i.e. only 3 times in the first 18 games the Royals played did the opposition score four or more goals.
- In Saturday's win, the Royals' defense held the Long Beach Ice Dogs to just two goals. This marked the thirteenth time this season (in 27 games) that Reading has held the opposition to two goals or less.
- The Royals have allowed a total of 76 goals against for a 2.81 overall team goals against average, which is eighth out of the 25 teams in the league.
- In Tuesday's win, Reading held the Stockton Thunder power play scoreless in the five chances that they had with the man advantage.
- The Royals also kept the Thunder power play off the board in Friday's 4-3 shootout win.
- Over the course of the season, the Royals' penalty killing unit has held the opposition's power play unit scoreless nine times.
- In Wednesday's game, the Thunder power play unit scored two goals in four chances with the man advantage. This marked the seventh time this season that Reading's pk has allowed two or more power play goals against in a single game.
- In Saturday's 6-2 win over Long Beach, the Ice Dogs scored once in ten power play chances. This marked the second time this season that Reading has allowed the opposition as many as ten power play chances in a single game.
- Over the course of the season, Reading's penalty killing unit has allowed 26 power play goals against in 169 chances for the opposition-an 84.6% kill ratio which is seventh in the league. (This represents a drop for the Royals in this category-as of December 13, eight games ago for Reading, the team had the top ranked penalty killing unit in the league with a kill ratio at 85.9%).
- John Morlang scored the second goal for the Royals (at the 16:49 mark of the first period of play to make the score 2-0, Reading) in the 6-4 win over the Stockton Thunder on Wednesday.
- Morlang also assisted on two of the Royals other goals on Wednesday night, marking his first three point performance of the season.
- Morlang also scored the Royals' third goal-an unassisted short-handed goal at 10:28 of the second period (to make the score 3-1, Reading)-in Reading's 6-2 win over Long Beach on Saturday. This marked Morlang's first short-handed goal-and second game winner-of the season.
- Morlang also assisted on the Royals' sixth goal (by Doug Christiansen) on Saturday, marking Morlang's fourth multi-point game of the season for Reading.
- The Royals' third goal in Wednesday's 6-4 win over Stockton was scored by Grant Jacobsen at the 2:55 mark of the second period to make the score 3-0 reading.
- Jacobsen also scored the Royals' fifth goal at the 2:57 mark of the third period to make the score 5-2, Reading. This goal proved to be Jacobsen's second game winning goal of the season.
- Wednesday's game proved to be the second two-goal performance by Jacobsen in five games-and as of Wednesday's game, Jacobsen had five goals in five games.
- Jacobsen also assisted on another one of the Royals goals on Wednesday, marking Jacobsen's fourth three-point performance of the season-and fifth multi-point game of the year.
- Six of Jacobsen's seven goals-and twelve of his twenty-one points-have been scored on the road, where he is playing at a collective +12.
- Jacobsen and Stuart Kerr currently lead the Royals in +/-, playing at a collective +18, which is tied for second place in plus/minus amongst rookies in the ECHL.
- Chris Bala scored the Royals' sixth goal into an empty net at the 19:00 mark of the third period on Wednesdsay.
- Bala also scored two goals in Reading's 6-2 win over Long Beach on Saturday.
- Bala's first goal on Saturday (the Royals' second) at the 9:09 mark of the first period was scored while Reading was playing short-handed, marking Bala's second short-handed goal in four games and his team leading third shg of the season. (Bala's three short-handed goals is tied for third in the league in that category.)
- Saturday marked the second two-goal performance for Bala in his last six games with the Royals.
- Bala has scored six of his seven goals with Reading in his last six games.
- Bala is currently riding a three game point streak for the Royals (3g - 2a = 5pts).
- Royals' defenseman Stuart Kerr had two assists in Wednesday's 6-4 win over Stockton, marking his first multi-point performance as a pro.
- Kerr and Grant Jacobsen currently lead the Royals in plus/minus, playing to a +18.
- The Royals scored six goals in two of the four games played this week.
- Reading has scored six or more goals in seven of the twenty-seven games that the team has played so far.
- Over the course of this season, Reading has scored 113 goals in 27 games, a 4.19 goals per game average, which is ranked second overall in the ECHL.
- Dany Roussin scored the first goal for the Royals at the 7:05 mark of the first period to tie the score at one in Friday's 4-3 shootout win over the Stockton Thunder.
- Roussin also scored the Royals fifth goal at the 17:25 mark of the second period, while the Royals were on the power play in Saturday's 6-2 win over Long Beach.
- Roussin also picked up an assist in Saturday's 6-2 win over Long Beach, marking his first multi-point game of the season with the Royals.
- Roussin has had at least one point in eight of the ten games he has played with Reading this year.
- T.J. Kemp scored the Royals' second goal at the 12:47 mark of the first period while Reading was on the power play to make the score 2-1 Reading.
- Kemp's 26 points (8g - 18a) places him third amongst the Royals in scoring; first amongst Reading defensemen; tied for fourth amongst ECHL defensemen; and tied for seventh amongst rookies in league scoring.
- On Friday of this past week, Kemp was selected as one of three players to represent the Royals (the others being Greg Hogeboom and Cody Rudkowsky) in the 2005-06 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Bud Light on January 25, 2006 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
- Larry Courville scored the game tying goal (the third for Reading) at the 10:43 mark of the first period, marking his first goal of the season. With Courville's goal, the only member of the Royals' team who is yet to score a goal is defenseman, Jeff State.
- In Reading's 4-3 shootout win over Stockton on Friday, Mike Kompon had two assists.
- Friday's game marked Kompon's eleventh multi-point game of the season for the Royals.
- Kompon also scored on his shootout attempt on Friday night. He is now 2 for 2 in the shootout this season.
- Kompon had at least one assist in all three games he played this past week. (He did not play in Wednesday's 6-4 win for Reading over Stockton.)
- Kompon is currently riding a team high thirteen game point streak (2g - 18a = 20 pts), which is the second longest currently active point streak in the league.
- Kompon is the leading scorer for the Royals with 35 points (8g - 27a = 35pts), which places him ninth in the overall scoring race in the ECHL.
- The goaltender for the Royals in Friday's 4-3 shootout win over Stockton was Cody Rudkowsky, and he stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced during regulation and overtime.
- This marked Rudkowsky's first opportunity to defend the Royals' net in a shootout this season, and he stopped three of the four shoot out attempts taken by the Thunder.
- This marked Rudkowsky's eleventh win of the season for Reading (11 - 2 - 1).
- Rudkowksy has a goals against average of 2.48, which is tied for sixth in the league; and a save percentage of .917.
- On Friday, Rudkowsky was selected as the starting goaltender for the American Conference in the 2005-06 ECHL All-Star Game Presented By Bud Light on January 25, 2006 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA.
- Friday's 4-3 shootout win for the Royals over the Stockton Thunder marked the first time this season that Reading has won in the shootout-in two attempts.
- Three of the four shooters for the Royals scored in Friday's shootout-Mike Kompon (who is 2 for 2 this year); Jon Francisco (who is 2 for 2 this year); and Chris Bala (who took his first attempt in the shootout for the Royals this year). The only shooter who did not score was Dany Roussin.
- In Saturday's 6-2 win over Long Beach, Royals' defenseman Tyler Hanchuck assisted on three of Reading's goals, marking the first three point performance of his three year pro career.
- In Saturday's 6-2 win over Long Beach, the Royals scored two short-handed goals (by Chris Bala and John Morlang) for the first time this season.
- Reading has scored four short-handed goals in the last five games.
- Over the course of the season, Reading has scored six short-handed goals, which is ranked tied for seventh in that league in that category.
- The Royals scored one power play goal in each of the four games played this week.
- Reading has had at least one power play goal in twenty consecutive games; and has had at least on power play goal in 24 of the 27 games played so far this season.
- Over the course of the year, Reading has scored 38 power play goals in 150 chances, which translates into a 25.3% scoring ration, which leads the league.
- Saturday's 6-2 win over Long Beach was the final regular season game for the Royals against a Pacific Division opponent.
- The Royals played eight regular season games against Pacific Division teams and went 5-2-1 in those games.
- The Royals have one more game against a National Conference opponent-the Las Vegas Wranglers on Tuesday of this week.
Royals Transactions (12/26/05 - 01/02/06)
December 26 Add Doug Christiansen Returned From Bridgeport (AHL)
December 26 Add Jeff State Returned From Bridgeport (AHL)
December 26 Add Yutaka Fukufuji Reassigned By Manchester (AHL)
December 28 Add Larry Courville Activated From 30-Day Injured Reserve
December 29 Delete Mike Pandolfo Suspended By Team
December 29 Delete Reagan Rome Re-Called To Manchester (AHL)
December 29 Delete Shay Stephenson Re-Called To Manchester (AHL)
Last Week Results (4-0-0)
Tuesday December 27, 2005 @ Stockton Thunder Win Royals 3 - Thunder 1
Wednesday December 28, 2005 @ Stockton Thunder Win Royals 6 - Thunder 4
Friday December 30, 2005 @ Stockton Thunder Win Royals 4 - Thunder 3 (so)
Saturday December 31, 2005 @ Long Beach Ice Dogs Win Royals 6 - Thunder 2
Overall Record (19 - 6 - 2 = 40)
Home Record: (9 - 4 - 1 = 19)
Away Record: (10 - 2 - 1 = 21)
This Week's Games
Tuesday January 3, 2006 @ Las Vegas Thunder Orleans Arena 10:00 pm (est)
Friday January 6, 2006 @ Johnstown Chiefs Cambria County War Mem. Arena 7:30 pm (est)
Saturday January 7, 2006 @ Trenton Titans Sovereign Bank Arena 7:00 pm (est)
ECHL Stories from January 2, 2006
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- Checkers Rawlyk named starter in ECHL All-Star Game - Charlotte Checkers
- Las Vegas First Place in West Division - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Condors End 2005 With Back-to-Back Wins - Bakersfield Condors
- Everblades Weekly - Florida Everblades
- Storm weekly - Toledo Walleye
- Future Mississippi Players Watch - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Frederic Cloutier Recalled to Bridgeport - Pensacola Ice Pilots
- 'Blades watch two get call to AHL - Florida Everblades
- Fresno Rings in 2006 By Ringing Up Phoenix 4-1 - OSC Original by Andrew Nordmeier
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Gulls split tough four-game road trip - San Diego Gulls
- Rays Finish Busy Week 2-1-1 - South Carolina Stingrays
- Utah Grizzlies Fall, Still Take Two of Three - Utah Grizzlies
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