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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Sign Forward Ryan Cruthers

August 24, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, today announced that the team has signed forward Ryan Cruthers. Last season, Cruthers (6'0/191) (26), who hails from Farmingdale, New York, led the Royals in scoring with seventy-one points (22g-49a71pts) and seventy-one penalty minutes in sixty regular season games. Cruthers also played four games at the beginning of last year with the Texas Brahmas of the Central Hockey League and eight games during two call-ups with Norfolk Admirals of the AHL during the regular season. Cruthers, who was selected as the Royals' Offensive Player of the Year, led the ECHL in playoff scoring with twenty-four points (8g-16a24pts) in sixteen post-season games.

After starting last season with the Texas Brahmas of the CHL, Cruthers joined the Royals, who had acquired his rights from the (now-dormant) Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL as part of a future considerations deal completed late in the 2008-09 season, on October 31, 2009. Shortly thereafter, Cruthers took off on his first of several scoring tears, running off thirty-one points (7g-24a) in a span of twenty-two games from early November through late December. That scoring spree culminated with Cruthers being selected as the ECHL's Player of the Week for December 22 - 29, 2009, when he picked up seven points (1g-6a) in three games, which included factoring in all four goals (1g-3a) in Reading's 4-3 overtime victory against the Trenton Devils on December 27. Cruthers, who led the Royals with twenty-nine power play points last season (9g-20a), matched that four point performance on January 10, 2010, when he racked up his second career pro hattrick (and picked up an assist) in Reading's 7-3 thrashing of the Florida Everblades at the Sovereign Center. Cruthers re-ignited his scoring jets from mid-February through late March, when he ran off back-to-back eight game point streaks, a span during which he racked up thirty-one points (10g-21a31pts) over seventeen games, nine of which featured multi-point performances.

However, Cruthers truly saved his best for last, as he recorded a season-long fourteen game point streak (8g-17a25pts) stretching from the final game of the regular season through the first thirteen playoff games for the Royals. Cruthers, who tied for the Royals' team lead with four regular season game winning goals, may have scored his biggest goal of the year in Game Three of the American Conference Semi-Finals against the Florida Everblades. In that one, with the Royals up two-games-to-none in the best-of-seven series and playing for the first time in the series on Florida's home ice, Cruthers broke a 1-1 tie with what proved to be the game winning goal with just 2:53 remaining in regulation, propelling the Royals to the team's first playoff sweep in the nine year history of the club.

Cruthers, who will be entering his third season of pro this year, led the Sea Wolves in goals (29), assists (37) and points (66) in his rookie season, when he was selected to represent Mississippi at the 2009 ECHL All-Star game, which was held in Reading. Prior to turning pro, Cruthers played two seasons of college hockey for the U.S. Military Academy, where he won the Outstanding Freshman Award before transferring to Robert Morris University. While at RMU, Cruthers had two spectacular seasons, which culminated with being selected as College Hockey America's Player of the Year in 2008.

The Royals host the team's tenth anniversary home opener on Saturday, October 23, 2010 (7:05 pm), when the Elmira Jackals visit the Sovereign Center. Also, be sure to catch the Royals' season opener live from Trenton, New Jersey, (@ Trenton Devils Saturday, October 16, 2010 @ 7:00 pm)-and all of the team's away games this year-on Royals TV exclusively on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Season tickets for the Royals' 2010-11 season are currently available. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com .

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