Sports stats

ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Sign Defensemen Patrick Wellar and Tyson Marsh

August 28, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with defensemen Patrick Wellar and Tyson Marsh. Last season, both Wellar and Marsh split their season between the ECHL with the Columbia Inferno and the AHL-Wellar with the Marlies and Marsh with the Rockford IceHogs.

Wellar (6'4/220) (24), who is entering his fifth pro season, put up career numbers last season with the Inferno, scoring eight goals and assisting on twenty others (twenty-eight points), while racking up seventy-seven penalty minutes in fifty-two ECHL regular season games. Wellar, who hails from Carrot River, Saskatchewan, also played eighteen regular season AHL games with the Marlies, scoring a goal and registering two assists with Toronto. Similarly, Wellar logged substantial playoff time with both the Inferno and Marlies, playing all thirteen ECHL playoff games for Columbia before rejoining the Marlies in early May for the latter portion of their playoff run.

A third round pick of the Washington Capitals in 2002, Wellar played 247 games of major junior hockey in the Western Hockey League with the Portland Winter Hawks and Calgary Hitmen, serving as the team captain for Calgary in his overage year. After completing his junior career, Wellar signed with the St. Louis Blues' organization and split his time between the Blues' ECHL and AHL affiliates. In his rookie season, Wellar played sixty-two games with the Peoria Rivermen (then of the ECHL), earning a selection to the 2005 ECHL All-Star Game held in Reading. During the 2005-06 season, Wellar played 53 regular season games and all twenty-two playoff games for the Alaska Aces on their run to capture the 2006 ECHL Kelly Cup Championship.

After a productive season split between Alaska and the Peoria Rivermen (by then the Blues' AHL affiliate) in 2006-07, Wellar joined Columbia last season, where he led the team's defensemen in scoring and also earned a couple of call-ups to Toronto, including a late season fourteen game stint with the Marlies. Wellar was returned to the Inferno for their ECHL playoff run, which took them all the way to the South Division Finals where they were knocked out in five games by the South Carolina Stingrays. Wellar then returned to the Marlies for their on-going playoff run, where he earned ice-time as an energy line forward, helping the Marlies defeat the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division Finals before losing to the Chicago Wolves in the Western Conference Championship. In that series with the Wolves, Wellar racked up his first AHL playoff goal, scoring the lone marker for the Marlies in the 4-1 loss in Game One.

Marsh (6'1/215) (24), who is also entering his fifth season as a pro, played his first 61 games last season with the Inferno, registering career highs in goals (three) and points (seventeen) and penalty minutes (126). Late in the season, Marsh was called up to Rockford where he played the final eleven games of the regular season, scoring two goals and assisting on another pair. Marsh made Rockford's playoff roster as well, playing a total of twelve post-season AHL games, including all seven in the IceHogs' epic playoff battle with the eventual Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves.

Marsh, who hails from Quesnel, British Columbia and was a teammate of Royals' forward Brock Hooton with the Quesnel Millionaires of the British Columbia Hockey League in 2000-01, played 204 major junior hockey games with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League. Marsh, who picked up an assist on the first goal ever scored in Giants' history, served as team captain in his final year of junior hockey. After the completion of his junior career, Marsh was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs' organization and split his rookie season, 2004-05, between the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL and the St. John's Maple Leafs of the AHL. In the summer of 2005, Marsh sustained an injury that kept out of action until March of 2006, when he returned to the Toronto Marlies' line-up. The following season, 2006-07, Marsh played forty-eight games in Columbia and served as an alternate captain for the Inferno.

The Royals open the 2008-09 regular season against the Elmira Jackals on Friday, October 17, 2008 at First Arena in Elmira, New York. The Royals' home opener is set for Saturday, October 25, 2008, when the Johnstown Chiefs visit the Sovereign Center. Royals' full Season Tickets and Total Choice Flex Plans are now on sale. To obtain more information on becoming a part Royals' hockey, call 610-898-PUCK to speak with Royals' ticket representative or visit the Royals website, www.royalshockey.com.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics



ECHL Stories from August 28, 2008


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.

Other Recent Reading Royals Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central