ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Drop Three in Northeast, Win in Wheeling

December 2, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


The Royals roller coaster ride continued this week. After winning three games last week, the Royals posted three consecutive losses before finishing off the week with a win. Reading dropped a pair of games to the Roanoke Express at home and on the road. The Royals then were stopped by Atlantic City in the Sovereign Center last Friday. Reading ended their three game losing skid in Wheeling in overtime. The Royals overcame a two-goal deficit with only five minutes to play before defeating the Nailers in the overtime session.

The Royals open up a three game set at home tomorrow night against the Greensboro Generals. Friday the Roanoke Express visit the Sovereign Center. The game marks the third meeting between Roanoke and Reading in eleven days. Finally, the Royals finish off their homestand against Richmond on Saturday night.

THIS WEEK
(All times Eastern)

Tuesday, December 3 vs. Greensboro Sovereign Center 7:05PM

GAME NOTES: The Royals and Generals have not met for over a month. Reading won at home back on October 16, 5-3. Greensboro evened the series in Greensboro Coliseum just over a week later 3-2. The Royals and Generals will meet three more times beginning in 2003.

Friday, December 6 vs. Roanoke Sovereign Center 7:05PM

GAME NOTES: This is the third meeting in eleven days between the Royals and Express. Roanoke has taken the first two games in this season series. Overall, the Royals are 1-6-0 against the Express in their history.

Saturday, November 7 vs. Richmond Sovereign Center 7:05PM

GAME NOTES: The Richmond Renegades have had the Royals number this season posting a 2-0-0 mark. Richmond won in Reading on November 3 and then beat the Royals in Richmond on November 16. The Renegades lead the overall series against the Royals...Reading is 3-4-1 all-time versus Richmond.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Tuesday, November 26 vs. Roanoke Sovereign Center 7:05PM

GAME NOTES: Tuesday wasn't the Royals night as they dropped their fifth game at home in 13 gates. Despite firing 40 shots, the Royals managed just three goals losing to Roanoke 6-3 at home. The Royals are now 0-3-0 all-time versus the Express in the Sovereign Center. ECHL leading scoring rookie Jason Jaffray posted a hat trick and four points against Reading.

Thursday, November 28 @ Roanoke Roanoke Civic Center 7:35PM

GAME NOTES: The Reading Royals dropped their second straight game to the Roanoke Express 5-4. Trailing 4-1 after two periods, the Royals mounted a comeback but fell short. Tom Rouleau posted two goals while Brandon Dietrich tallied a goal and an assist to pace the Royals.

Friday, November 29 vs. Atlantic City Sovereign Center 7:05PM

GAME NOTES: Three first period goals by the Bullies was enough for a 3-2 win in the Jungle in Reading. The Bully victory kept the streak alive - the road team has won each game in this season series. The Royals posted both their goals in the third period. Reading is now 2-3-0 against Atlantic City this season.

Saturday, November 30 vs. Wheeling Wheeling Civic Center 7:35PM

GAME NOTES: In dramatic fashion the Reading Royals ended their three game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime victory in Wheeling. The Royals improved to a perfect 4-0-0 against Wheeling this season. Reading fired in two goals in the last five minutes and got a Colin Pepperall overtime winner to seal the deal. Reading and Wheeling will meet two more times this season.

ROYALS PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE:
#10 Forward – Brandon Dietrich 4GP – 2g, 4a 6pts/ -2 7-game point scoring streak, 11/19-present

Brandon Dietrich continued his torrid scoring pace. Dietrich posted two goals and four assists this week to help the Royals go 1-3-0 this week and remain .500 for the season. Dietrich now ranks third on the team in scoring.
BRANDON DIETRICH 6'0" 185 3-22-78 WATERLOO, ON
2001-02: CHARLOTTE (ECHL) AMATEUR CLUB: ST LAWRENCE (NCAA) – DRAFT: NA

ROYALS GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE:
#30 – Scott Fankhouser 4GP – 1-2-0 record 3.47GAA .895% Team Record: 1-3-0

Royals goaltender Scott Fankhouser picked up his 11th win of the season with a 36-save performance in Wheeling last Saturday. Fankhouser started three games this week but appeared in all four games. Friday night against Atlantic City, Fankhouser played 45-minutes and stopped 29 of 29 shots. He ranks in the top five in several categories of ECHL goaltenders including: wins (11-T2), minutes played (1153-2nd) and saves (569-4th).
SCOTT FANKHOUSER 6'2" 225 7-1-75 LITTLETON, CO
2001-02: HERSHEY AMATEUR CLUB: UNIV. OF LOWELL (NCAA) – 1994 St. Louis – 11th round (276th pick)

IN THE COMMUNITY: The Royals face off at Casa Grande tonight with Royals Weekly. Royals Weekly can be heard live on ESPN Radio, 1240AM and new affiliate WPAZ, 1370AM from Casa Grande from 6-7 p.m. This week Royals defenseman Chris Bogas will be our special guest along with ECHL expansion franchise Las Vegas GM John Tull. Your calls are welcome at 866-379-1240. The taping of Royals Roundtable will follow from 7-8 p.m. Head Coach David Lohrei will be on Royals Roundtable along with Royals defenseman Chris Bogas.

Visit http://www.royalshockey.com/communitycommitment/index.asp to see new photographs of the Royals in the community.

PLAYER APPEARANCES:

12/4 WED - ALL STAR DISTRIBUTING at Crystal Springs in Sinking Spring 8-10PM (Kris Waltze and Jeff Giuliano)
12/7 SAT - CTCE CHRISTMAS PARTY WITH SLAPSHOT 11AM-1PM POST-GAME SILENT AUCTION, CEI NETWORKS VIP LOUNGE AFTER GAME
12/8 SUN - KIDS ACADEMY MEMBERS ONLY – BOWLING AT BOWL-O-RAMA 1-3PM (Simon Tremblay-Colin Pepperall, Jim Dube and Jeff Sanger)
12/8 SUN - Reading Royals Booster Club Christmas Party at Outside In 4-7PM – Royals Team

TRANSACTIONS:

11/23/02 ADD: Forward Keegan McAvoy placed on the 30-day IR
11/22/02 ADD: Defenseman Jimmy Verdule suspension completed
ADD: Jim Dube activated from 7-day IR
11/20/02 DEL: Forward Duilio Grande transferred from 7-day to 30-day IR
11/18/02 DEL: Forward Geoff Peters loaned to Milwaukee (AHL)
DEL: Defenseman Chris Bogas placed on 7-day IR

TICKETS AND INFORMATION: The Reading Royals Box Office is open from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Sovereign Center. Individual tickets can be purchased at the Sovereign Center Box Office or at any TicketMaster location. To order tickets by phone, call 215-336-2000. To book a group to a Royals game call 610-898-7825.

ROYALS ON THE AIRWAVES: All Reading Royals games, home and away, are broadcast on ESPN Radio, 1240AM. Join the Voice of the Royals, John Curtis for all the play-by-play action. The Buy-Rite Liquidators pre-game show comes your way 25 minutes before the drop of the puck.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 2, 2002


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