ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

Published on March 1, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


It's always a telling back-handed 'compliment' when you hear a coach say that a player is 'great...as long as the game is easy'. Conversely, to my mind, there's no greater compliment than to hear the guys who've been there say that a particular player only gets better when the game gets harder. And that's the word on Olivier Labelle, who's at his best when the sledding gets tough in the nasty, gritty areas on the ice. Since the day he arrived in Reading,

Olivier's been willing to pay what- ever price was necessary to help his teammates. To be sure, he's had to pay that price in games missed due to injury a couple of times; but as soon as he's returned, Olivier's shown he's willing to go right back and stick in nose in the middle of the muck, as he did this past weekend, when he came out smelling like a rose with 4 goals in 3 games played.

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals two wins this weekend came at the Sovereign Center in Reading, extending the team's home win streak to a season long four games-since a 6-5 win over the Trenton Devils on February 13, 2010. The longest home winning streak in team history is nine games in length (01/02/04 - 02/15/04).

2. Reading's 7-1 loss in Trenton on Saturday extended the team's road losing streak to a team record seven games. The Royals are currently 11-14-1-1 on the road with nine more games to be played away from the Sovereign Center in the regular season. The most road wins in a single season for Reading is twenty (20-12-4 in 2005-06). The fewest road wins for the team is eleven (11-23-2 in 2001-02; and 11-20-5 last season).

3. In Friday's 5-4 shootout victory over the Wheeling Nailers, the Royals entered the third period trailing 4-3. That game marked the third time this year that the team has entered the third period trailing the opposition and picked up the win (3-22-0-1).

4. The Royals' win on Friday over Wheeling marked the tenth time this year that Reading has played a game that went beyond regulation time for resolution. The Royals have compiled a record of 6-4 in those games (2-1 in overtime; and 4-3 in the shootout). Reading's shooters went three for four against Wheeling goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak on Friday. Overall, this season Reading is scoring 34.3% of the team's chances in the shootout (12-35) (11th best in the league); Josh Johnson stopped 3 of the four shots he faced in Friday's game. Overall, Reading's goalies have stopped 70.6% of the shots they've faced in the shootout (24-34, i.e. 10) (sixth best in the league).

5. Friday's game marked the twentieth time this season that Reading's goaltender has faced forty-or more shots in a single game. Reading averages giving up 36.69 shots per game, which is dead last in the league. Through the fifty-five games played the Royals have been outshoot 1699 - 2018 (-319), which is tied with the Alaska Aces for the greatest negative shot differential in the league.

6. Saturday's loss marked the fourth time this year that Reading has allowed seven or more goals against. The Royals are 0-4-0-0 in those games (and 0-9-0-1 when allow- ing six or more). The worst season for allowing seven or more for Reading came in 2002-03, when the team played ten games in which they allowed seven or more. Over- all, the Royals have allowed 207 goals against, which translates into a 3.76 team goals against average (18th in the league).

7. On Saturday, the Royals scored just one goal, marking the tenth time this year that Reading has been held to one goal or less. The Royals are 0-9-0-1 in those games (and 1-16-1-1 when scoring two or less). Overall, the Royals have scored 179 goals this season, an average of 3.25 goals per game (eleventh in the league).

8. Ryan Cruthers is currently riding an eight game point streak (4g-13a=17pts). (This marks Cruthers' second eight game point streak of the year, which is tied with Ben Gordon and Bryan Ewing for the team long this year). Cruthers has had at least one assist in his last eight games, and he had four assists in the 5-4 shootout win over Wheeling on Friday, which ties the team season high in that category. (Ben Gordon also had four assists in the team's 7-3 win over Florida on January 10). That marked Cruthers' fourth four-point game and fourteenth multi-point game of the year. Cruthers now leads the Royals with 40 assists in 46 games played. (Last season, he had 37 assists in 65 games with the Mississippi Sea Wolves.) Cruthers' 55 points (15g-40a) places him tied for fourteenth in the league in scoring.

9. Olivier Labelle is currently riding a three game goal scoring streak (4g). Labelle, who registered his second three point game of the season on Friday against the Wheeling Nailers, has thirteen goals and twenty points (13g-7a) in his last eighteen games with the Royals. Labelle also scored on his opportunity in the shootout on Friday, shooting first for the team (after Thomas Beauregard had put the Nailers up 1-0 in the first round). Labelle is now 4-6 in the shootout this season. Labelle also scored his third game winner of the year in Sunday's 4-3 win over Johnstown, which ties him for the team lead in that category (with Ryan Cruthers, Marc Cavosie and Charlie Kronschnabel).

10. Stefano Giliati registered his first multi-goal game of the season for the Royals on Friday against the Wheeling Nailers (2g-0a). One of his goals that night came forty- five seconds into the third period to tie the game at four. Giliati also scored on his shootout opportunity on Friday night, shooting second for the team. He is 2-5 in the shootout this season. Giliati is riding a three game point streak (2g-2a), and he has picked up at least one point in eight of the last eleven games he's played for Reading (4g-5a).

11. Andrew Sarauer, shooting fourth for the Royals, scored the deciding goal in Friday's shootout. That was the first shootout attempt of the season for Sarauer, who has scored twice on penalty shots this season (on 10/23/09 v Toledo; and 01/22/10 v South Carolina). Sarauer also scored the Royals' second goal in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Chiefs, for whom Sarauer played last season.

12. Scott Langdon scored a goal and picked up a pair of assists to register his first three point game as a pro on Sunday. In sixty games with the Royals last season, Langdon picked up six points (0g-6a). This season for Reading, he not only scored his first pro goal, he has doubled last year's point output in in 38 games (3g-9a). Langdon led the Royals last season with twelve fighting majors. He leads the team in that category this season, as well, with eleven fights.

13. Ben McLeod scored the Royals' first goal in Sunday's 4-3 win over Johnstown. That was McLeod's thirteenth goal of the year, which ties him for the total number of goals he had last season in sixty-seven total games with the Cincinnati Cyclones and Royals.

14. Goaltender Josh Johnson, who was acquired from the Bakersfield Condors last Thursday, played all three games for the Royals this past weekend. Friday's game (which snapped a team record streak of 21 consecutive games for Matt Dalton-who had been recalled to the Boston Bruins earlier in the week) was his first full game since a 3-2 win for Bakersfield over the Ontario Reign on December 27, 2009. He stopped 40 of the 44 shots he faced in 65 minutes of hockey and 3 of 4 in the shootout to pick up the win that night. Johnson registered his first regulation win as a Royal on Sunday against the Johnstown Chiefs.

15. Goaltender Jeff MacDougald, who was signed to an Amateur Tryout Agreement last Wednesday after completing his Canadian university career at Wilfrid Laurier University, got his first pro experience when he played the final 7:09 of Saturday's 7-1 loss in Trenton, allowing two goals on five shots.

13. The Royals power play was kept off the board on Saturday in Trenton (0-6) and Sunday by the Chiefs (0-7). Reading's PP has now been blanked twenty-four times this season. Prior to those two games, the Royals had scored at least one power play goal in five of the team's last six games. Overall, the Royals' PP is 44 for 299 on the season, which is a 15.7% scoring ratio (18th in the league).

13. After giving up a pair of power play goals to Wheeling on Friday, the Royals' PK kept the Devils' and Chiefs' PP off the board on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Royals PK has allowed 54 PPGA in 268 chances for the opposition on the PP, which is a 79.9% kill ratio (18th in the league).

CLOSING NOTES

1. So far this year, Sunday has been the best day of the week for the Royals, as the team has compiled an 8-3-0-0 record on Sundays this season with three more games to go on the final day of the weekend. The only other days of the week in which the Royals have a winning record are Monday (1-0-0-0) and Friday (6-5-0-0).

2. Both of Reading's wins this past week were decided by one goal. The Royals have played in 26 games this year that have been decided by one goal, and the team has compiled a record of 17-5-1-3 in one-goal games this season

3. John Murray, who started his pro career in Reading became the 19th goalie in team history to play both for and against the Royals in Sunday's game.

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