ECHL Reading Royals

Round and Round She Goes, And Where She Stops...

Published on January 3, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Understanding that the teams in the North Division have played a widely varying number of games, it still borders on the kooky that only two points separate first from sixth place. But to anyone who watches North Division hockey on a regular basis, it's probably not that much of a surprise. Simply put, the old adage that anyone can beat anyone on any given day is alive and well in the North. Well, except that the Royals have not yet beaten the Dayton Bombers, despite playing them to one-goal nail biters in both of the games that those teams have played so far. And, I suppose therein lies a bit of the rub for the Royals, who, if they're actually biting their nails, have probably reached skin right about now, as the team has compiled a record of 2-9-4 in games decided by one goal. It's certainly true that you'd rather be in those tight games than those of the runaway variety the Royals experienced in Columbia a couple of weeks ago. It says a considerable amount about the team when in thirteen of the eighteen games they haven't won, they had a legitimate chance right down to the final breath. But, at the same time, none of the tie breakers I've seen that could be invoked at the conclusion of this season refer to games that a team had a chance to win. And you do get the feeling deep of the pit of your stomach that tie breakers may play an unusually large role in ultimately separating the sticky mess that is the North Division right now......

TOP TEN NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. After going 8 - 2 - 1 in a span of eleven games from November 29 through December 21, the Royals have gone 1 - 4 - 0 in the team's last five games.

2. After going unbeaten in five consecutive road games (4 - 0 - 1) from December 2 through December 21, the Royals have lost their last two road games, and embark on a four game road swing starting this Friday in Cincinnati with the team's firs t trip to US Bank Arena this season.

3. Two of the games that Reading lost this week were decided by one goal (2-3 v. Wheeling and 3-4 v. Dayton). The Royals have compiled a record of 2 - 9 - 4 in games decided by one goal this season.

4. In three of the four games played this week, the Royals and their opponent were tied as they entered the third period. The Royals won one of those games (against Trenton on Saturday night, when they outscored the Titans 3-1 in the third period) and lost the other two-to the Titans on Wednesday and to Dayton on New Year's Day (collectively in those two games the Royals were outscored in the third, 4 - 1). Over the course of the season, Reading has compiled a record of 3 - 6 - 1 when they've entered the third period tied with the opposition. With respect to total goals scored in the third period, however, the Royals have still outscored the opposition 45 to 36 (+9)-and 33 to 18 (+15) at home.

5. Chris Bala scored at least one goal in three of the four games played this week for the Royals-and picked up two assists (including one on the game winner) in the other game. Bala's two goal game on Monday against the Bombers marked his ninth multi-point performance of the season.

6. Joe Zappala scored the Royals' lone game winning goal this week (the Royals' fifth goal in the 6-4 win over the Trenton Titans on Saturday night). For Zappala, that was his team leading fourth game winner of the season, tying him for second in the league in that category.

7. Greg Hogeboom scored his second penalty shot goal of the season at the 3:09 mark of the second period against the Dayton Bombers on Monday afternoon. Hogeboom became the first player in Royals' team history to score on a penalty shot against the Johnstown Chiefs on November 12. Hogeboom also racked up his third multi-goal game (and team leading twelfth multi-point performance) when he scored two goals in the Royals 6-4 win over Trenton on Saturday. Hogeboom is currently fourth in overall league scoring with 42 points (17g - 25a = 42pts).

8. Goaltender Ryan Munce picked up his fifth win of the season-his first since December 1-in the Royals' 6-4 win over Trenton on Saturday. Munce's 38 stops that night tied a season high for the Royals. (Munce also stopped 38 shots in a 3-2 shoot out loss in Toledo on October 27). Munce's start on Saturday snapped a string of ten consecutive games played by goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak, who picked up his first AHL win that same night, as he made 45 saves for the Hershey Bears in their 7-4 win over the Norfolk Admirals.

9. After going fourteen consecutive games without getting out-shot by the opponent, the Royals have had less shots than the opposition in three of the last five games. Overall this season, Reading has been out-shot eight times in the 32 games played, and the team has a 3 - 4 - 1 record in those games. The Royals average 34.00 shots on goal per game (seventh in the league), while they average giving up 28.81 shots per game (fourth in the league).

10. The Royals power play has only scored twice in the team's last 33 chances with the man advantage (6.1% scoring ratio). After going 18 consecutive games (from 11/05 - 12/15) in which the team scored at least one power play goal, Reading's power play has been blanked in five of the last seven games. Overall, the Royals are scoring power play goals at a 16.2% scoring ratio (eleventh in the league). The Royals penalty kill has given up at least one power play goal in five consecutive games, allowing a total of seven ppga in twenty eight chances in those games-a 75.0% kill ratio. Over the course of the season, Reading has killed power plays at a 82.4% ratio, which is seventeenth in the league.

UNSUNG HERO OF WEEK: Ryan Munce

From a distance, the greatest job in pro sports would appear to be the back-up goaltender-gel up the 'do, sit back, relax, check out the fans, not a worry in the world. Yet, you'll never hear a pro goalie say that. They want to play. That's what they do. And this week, Ryan Munce got a shot after sitting for ten consecutive games (except for a period long stint as a substitute in Columbia) to start for the Royals. After a first period where he battled a bit to find his sea legs, Munce found the form that one would expect from a goaltender who won 30 games in the ECHL last season. The end numbers were good-he tied a team season high with 38 stops on 42 shots. But as we've come to learn over time in this game, it's really not the number of shots that is significant-it's making THE stop at THAT moment that really matters. And that's exactly what Ryan did on Saturday. After the Royals battled back to take a 5-3 lead over the Titans in the third, Ryan helped fight off a late game Trenton charge, not only to secure the win but also to build a degree of the one thing that ultimately does make a difference in this game-the trust of your compatriots....

CLOSING NOTES

1. Shawn Germain got his first shot at playing in the AHL on Saturday night, playing for the Hershey Bears in their 7-4 win over the Norfolk Admirals. Not surprisingly to Royals' fans, Germain played to a plus-2 in that game. Germain currently leads the Royals, playing to a plus-17 over 29 games with Reading.

2. Yutaka Fukufuji picked up his first AHL win of the season on Saturday night, stopping 21 shots as he led the Manchester Monarchs to a 5-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack.

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ECHL Stories from January 3, 2007


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