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ECHL Reading Royals

This itch is dead

December 18, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


I think it's pretty safe to say that most of us at some point in our lives have had that monkey clinging firmly to our spinal column for some reason or other. And that guy can get pretty heavy-and he's got a pretty decent grip, too. For about a season and a third, the Royals have been taking that primate for a ride every time they've stepped inside the Toledo Sports Arena. Over the course of nine consecutive games, dating to a series clinching victory in the North Division Semi-Finals on April 19, 2005 (a game won by one Barry Brust, currently with the LA Kings), Reading simply has not been able to take two points out of Toledo. Oh, there have been chances-a couple more than we'd like to remember, actually-but that distant genetic relative always seemed to pile on at the worst possible moment, dragging the team down. Not this time. On Saturday night, Reading got another stellar performance from goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak- who's probably just too new with the team to know any better-and defeated the Storm. Of course, no one really believes that this win is more than it is-two points in the standings-although it did keep the Royals in first place in the North Division. But, at the same time, it's never a terrible thing to shake that hairy beast and let him walk on his own for a while....

TOP TEN NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals' 5-3 loss to the Wheeling Nailers last Wednesday night snapped a season high three game winning streak for Reading. The Royals bounced back with wins in Wheeling (6-3) on Friday and Toledo (3-1) on Saturday and are 7 - 2 - 1 in the team's last ten games.

2. The Royals are currently riding a season high three game road winning streak-and a four game road unbeaten streak (3 - 0 - 1). Reading continues a five game road trip with the first trip in team history to Charlotte Bobcats Arena to take on the Charlotte Checkers on Thursday, as well as the team's first trip to Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, South Carolina to play the Columbia Inferno on Friday. This road trip concludes in Trenton a week from Wednesday.

3. The 3-1 win in Toledo on Saturday night snapped a nine game winless streak (0 - 6 - 3) at the Toledo Sports Arena for the Royals dating back to the North Division Semi-Final series clinching victory on April 19, 2005.

4. In Saturday's 3-1 win in Toledo, Arpad Mihaly scored the game's first goal 1:24 after the opening face-off, marking the quickest goal to start a game this season for Reading. Mihaly also scored the first goal of the game in the 6-3 win over Wheeling on Friday night. Mihaly has now scored the game's first goal four times this season for Reading, placing him tied for second in that category in the ECHL. (The Royals are currently 6 - 1 - 2 when scoring the game's first goal.) Mihaly leads the Royals with 16 goals this year, which is tied for third in the league in that category.

5. Greg Hogeboom's short-handed goal proved to be the game winner in Wheeling on Friday night, marking his league leading fifth short-handed goal of the year (which also ties a team record for SHG in a single season set by Chris Bala last year)-and his third short-handed game winner of the season. Hogeboom, who leads the Royals with 36 points, is currently riding a team season high eight game point streak (5g - 10a = 15pts).

6. Roman Teslyuk scored a pair of goals in the Royals' 6-3 win in Wheeling on Friday, marking his first pro multi-goal (and multi-point) performance.

7. Dany Roussin had back-to-back two-assist games on Wednesday and Friday of last week, which were his first multi-point games for the Royals this season (he had 12 multi-point games in 41 played for Reading last year). Roussin is currently riding a four game point streak (0g - 6a = 6pts).

8. John Snowden scored the game winner for Reading in Toledo on Saturday at the 9:41 mark of the third period. That was Snowden's first GWG of the year for Reading. Last Season, Snowden had seven game winning goals during the regular season for the Greenville Grrrowl and also scored the overtime game winner to clinch the first round playoff series against the Augusta Lynx.

9. Goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak has played six consecutive games for the Royals, going 5 - 1 - 0 with a 2.84 gaa and .904 save percentage in those games.

10. The Royals did not score on the power play in Toledo on Saturday (0 - 6), snapping a string of 18 consecutive games in which Reading has scored at least one power play goal. The Royals' power play has only been held off the board in four of the twenty-six games the team has played this year. Reading's penalty killers also kept the Storm power play off the board that night (0 - 5), snapping a streak of eight consecutive games in which the Royals had given up at least one power play goal against. The Royals have held the opposition's PP off the board seven times this year.

UNSUNG HERO OF WEEK: James Hiebert

It's probably not very often that a guy who only plays one game in a particular week because he had to miss three in a row due to league suspension would be considered the team's unsung hero. But by responding to the league's disciplinary action this week with quiet patience and class, James Hiebert sent a subtle signal to his teammates that there are 'bigger fish to fry' and perhaps other-more effective-ways to channel one's angst. So by reluctantly biding his time, James continued a leadership role that began when he arrived in Reading earlier this year. When the light finally did turn green in Toledo, his eyes saw red and went toe-to-toe with the challenge of a clean and square tilt with one of the known tough guys in the North Division-twice. And then he turned his attention to a more effective weapon-the scoreboard. So with time ticking down in a 1- 1 tie in Toledo, James and his linemates kept a puck alive with a relentless forecheck and created a scoring chance that resulted in a game winner in a building where his team hadn't won in two years. And this time he was allowed to enjoy the celebration with the only guys who mattered...

CLOSING NOTES

1. The Royals are currently averaging 3.77 goals per game which is fifth in the league in that category.

2. Reading's team goals against average of 3.35/game ranks thirteenth in the league.

3. Defenseman Jason Becker has had at least a point in ten of his last twelve games for the Royals (2g - 11a= 13pts).

4. Defenseman Shawn Germain played to a personal season high +3 on Saturday and currently leads the Royals in that category, playing to a +13.

5. Former Royals' goaltender, Barry Brust, got his first two starts in the NHL this week for the Los Angeles Kings. On Thursday night, Brust stopped 34 of 36 shots to pick up his first NHL win by defeating the San Jose Sharks 4-2. Brust also took the shootout loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday. In that game, Royals' goaltender, Yutaka Fukufuji, became the first Japanese born hockey player ever to dress for an NHL game.

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