
Royals Battle Admirals in First Face off of 2023
January 4, 2023 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release
Norfolk, VA - The Reading Royals, proud affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, open the new year against the Norfolk Admirals on the road at 7:05 p.m. at Norfolk Scope Arena.
The road game opens a three-game series against divisional opponents for Reading. The Royals travel to Worcester to take on the Railers on Friday, January 6th before returning home on Saturday, January 7th for their first home game of 2023. The game features the Star Wars and Pediatric Cancer promotional game which includes appearances by Star Wars characters, youth padawan training classes, Chewbacca voice and costume contests as well as the debut of specialty Star Wars themed jerseys worn by the Royals in the game.
Star Wars replica jerseys are available for purchase in the Lions Den team store as well as on the Royals team store site here! Specialty game worn jerseys by Royals players are available in a live auction post-game auction following the conclusion of the game.
Five dollars from each ticket ordered through one of the links below will go towards that selected local organization which supports families affected by pediatric cancer.
LANEY'S LEGACY - http://fevo.me/laney-royals23
LAUREN'S FOUNDATION - http://fevo.me/lauren-royals23
ELLE'S ANGELS - http://fevo.me/eaf-royals23
See the full promotional game schedule at royalshockey.com/promotions.
Reading hoists a 17-9-1 record after falling to Wheeling in their previous game, 6-5, on Saturday, December 31st. Trey Bradley and Will MacKinnon led the Royals in the effort with two points each. The Royals suffered the series loss to the Nailers with their lone win in the series earned on Friday, December 30th at Wheeling.
The Royals boast an all-time record of 31-8-3-1 against Norfolk and won the first two of three meetings with the Admirals this season. The Royals previously fell to Norfolk, 3-2, on Friday, December 23rd. Prior to the stand alone game, the Royals swept the Admirals in a two-game series played out at Santander Arena on December 2nd (6-3 W) and December 3rd (4-1 W).
Norfolk joined the North Division ahead of this season after having previously played four seasons in the South Division. The Admirals transitioned from the AHL to ECHL in 2015 where they played their inaugural ECHL season in the East Division with the Royals. As divisional opponents, Reading leads the head-to-head series with a record of 10-1-0-1.
Reading stands in third place in the North Division with a .648 win percentage. The Royals have two games fewer played than Newfoundland and six games fewer played compared to Worcester. The Growlers (20-8-1-0) and Railers (19-12-1-0) sit atop the North Division and hold first and third place in the Eastern Conference standings respectively. Newfoundland surpassed Worcester for the divisional lead following their overtime victory over Kalamazoo on Friday, Decemeber 30th while Worcester fell to Adirondack and suffered their fourth consecutive loss the same day. Newfoundland and Worcester each earned victories in their previous games. The Growlers have won two-straight after sweeping Kalamazoo. Behind Reading, Maine (15-11-1-1) stands in fourth and Trois-Rivières (13-14-1-1) holds fifth place in the standings. Adirondack lands in sixth with a .393 win percentage while Norfolk ranks at the bottom of both the North Division and Eastern Conference with five wins in 30 games (.200 win percentage).
Norfolk fell to 5-23-1-1 on the season after being swept by the Atlanta Gladiators on Friday, December 30th (4-3 L) and Saturday, December 31st (3-2 L). The Admirals are 1-6 in their last seven games. The lone victory came against the Royals in the clubs' previous meeting on Friday, December 23rd. The Admirals have dropped three of their last four games at home where they have been outscored by their opponents 14-8. Forward Tag Bertuzzi leads the team in goals (8) and points (19) while defenseman Eric Williams ties for the team lead in assists with forwards Cody Milan and Ryan Foss with 13 assists each.
A few Royals are on streaks and captured milestones in the series finale in Wheeling:
Streaks:
Forward Jacob Gaucher is on a seven-game point streak (6 G, 5 A)
Forward Jordan Timmons is on a four-game point streak (1 G, 4 A)
Forward Charlie Gerard is on a two-game point streak (1 G, 1 A)
Captain Garrett McFadden is on a two-game point streak (2 A)
Milestones:
Forward Jacob Gaucher set a new career high point streak at seven games after earning an assist.
Player Rankings:
Forward Max Newton is among the top 25 skaters in the league in points (26)
Among rookies, Newton is third in goals (14) and tied for third in points.
Defenseman Colin Felix is second among rookies in penalty minutes (65), tied for first in fighting majors (5).
Defenseman Mason Millman is tied for second among defensemen in game-winning goals (2).
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Today's game will be streamed on the Royals Broadcast Network available on the following platforms:
FloSports: flosports.link/3yarTg4
Mixlr: mixlr.com/readingroyals
ECHL Stories from January 4, 2023
- Steelheads Win Twelve Straight Game Starting Off Series In Wichita With 5-3 Victory - Idaho Steelheads
- Admirals Have Strong Second Period, Fall to Reading - Norfolk Admirals
- Everblades Start 2023 with Close Loss to Greenville - Florida Everblades
- Stingrays Fall in Overtime to Open 2023 - South Carolina Stingrays
- Mariners Win Tight One in Trois-Rivieres - Maine Mariners
- Rhett Rhinehart Recalled by AHL Calgary - Rapid City Rush
- ECHL Transactions - January 4 - ECHL
- K-Wings Add Forwards Brennan Blaszczak & Logan Nelson - Kalamazoo Wings
- Wichita's Stinil Named Warrior Hockey/ECHL Player of the Month - ECHL
- Komet Legend Bobby Rivard Passes - Fort Wayne Komets
- Wichita Hosts League-Leading Idaho Tonight - Wichita Thunder
- Time Change Announced for Saturday's Swamp Rabbits Game against Jacksonville - Greenville Swamp Rabbits
- Icemen Announce Time Change for this Saturday's Game - Jacksonville Icemen
- Tyler Inamoto Re-Assigned by Reign to Swamp Rabbits - Greenville Swamp Rabbits
- Idaho's Poirier Named Warrior Hockey/ECHL Goaltender of the Month - ECHL
- Rémi Poirier Named Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Month - Idaho Steelheads
- Game Preview: Stingrays vs. Solar Bears, January 4 at 7:05 PM - South Carolina Stingrays
- Solar Bears Acquire Defenseman Clark Hiebert from Norfolk - Orlando Solar Bears
- Lions Launch 2023 against the Mariners - Trois-Rivieres Lions
- Florida Faces Greenville in First Game of 2023 - Florida Everblades
- Hyde Joins Commentary Team on January 7 - Newfoundland Growlers
- Icemen Acquire Forward Nick Isaacson from Maine - Jacksonville Icemen
- Royals Battle Admirals in First Face off of 2023 - Reading Royals
- Americans Beat KC in OT - Allen Americans
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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