Reading, PA – The Royals announced their 2024-25 opening night roster ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Royals’ Season-Opening Roster

Forwards

5 Lou-Felix Denis

7 Nolan Welsh

14 Nick Capone

16 Shane Sellar

17 Todd Skirving

19 Brock Caufield

20 Matt Miller

21 Noah Prokop

27 Jacques Bouquot

28 Travis Broughman

39 Connor McMenamin

59 Tyler Gratton

71 Dominiks Marcinkevics

Defensemen

3 Tony Malinowski

6 Logan Britt

8 Powell Connor

9 Sam Sedley

15 Emile Chouinard

23 Gianfranco Cassaro

57 Kenny Johnson

Goaltenders

29 Vinnie Purpura

31 Parker Gahagen

80 Keith Petruzzelli

Upcoming Schedule:

10/18 – at Trois-Rivières Lions | 7:00 PM

10/19 – at Worcester Railers | 6:05 PM

10/20 – at Worcester Railers | 3:05 PM

10/26 – vs Wheeling Nailers | 7:00 PM

10/27 – vs Wheeling Nailers | 3:00 PM

Reading, PA – The Royals and Thunder wrapped up their 2 game preseason set in downtown Reading on Saturday night. 

1ST PERIOD – Reading controlled most of the frame, despite that Adirondack led 3-0 after 1 Tag Bertuzzi, a name Royals fans grew to love last season, had turned into a name they didn’t want to hear, as Tag opened up the scoring for the Thunder at 8:05. Keenan Stewart extended the lead as an odd bounce went his way at the 10:42 mark. Alex Young put Adirondack ahead by 3, firing a one-timer under the arm of Gahagen at 13:13. 

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2ND PERIOD – A lone goal was scored in the second period by the Royals to pull the game within two. Tyler Gratton slapped a one-timer past the pad of the Thunder netminder to put Reading on the board at 17:15. 

3RD PERIOD – A garbage time goal for Reading and a dagger for Adirondack is all that happened in the final frame. Tag Bertuzzi found twine, and the boo birds rained as he held his hand to his ear. Bertuzzi’s 2nd of the night came at 9:21. Todd Skirving redirected Malinowski’s wrister from the point to cap off the night at 19:50.

ADK – Tyler Brennan 14 – SH | 14 – SV | 0 – GA  (W)

ADK – David Fessenden 19 – SH | 17 – SV | 2 – GA 

REA – Parker Gahagen 20 – SH | 16 – SV | 4 – GA (L)

Three Stars

1. Tag Bertuzzi – ADK

2. Kevin O’Neil – ADK

3. Alex Young – ADK

Game Length: 2:18  7:00 PM EST – 9:18 PM EST  

Attendance: 1,416

Santander Arena | Reading, Pennsylvania

Glens Falls, NY – Adirondack hosted Reading for the first of two preseason match-ups between the clubs. The Royals held off the Thunder on Friday night for a 4-2 victory in Glens Falls. 

1ST PERIOD – Reading led Adirondack after a period from Cool Insuring Arena. Matt Miller opened the scoring on the man advantage, a redirection in front the puck popped in the air and landed behind Broduer at 5:48. Tyler Gratton was called for a hooking minor and the Thunder took advantage, Brendan Less knotted the game with the power play tally at 15:42. A third power play goal in the frame, Brock Caufield sniped home a wrister over the right shoulder of the Adirondack netminder at 17:58. 

2ND PERIOD – A goal for each team in the frame to keep Reading ahead by a goal. Sam Sedley wristed home a shot to put the Royals ahead by two at 12:40. Ryan Smith brought the game within one shot past the blocker of Petruzelli at 16:17. 

3RD PERIOD – Not much action except a Shaw Boomhower ejection and Reading putting the game on ice. Boomhower’s ejection seemed to be related to him not being compliant in going to the Adirondack bench after continuous persuasion. Tyler Gratton capped off the Royals win with an empty netter at 18:33.

REA – Keith Petruzelli 18 – SH | 16 – SV | 2 – GA (W)

REA – Vinnie Purpura 9 – SH | 9 – SV | 0 – GA

ADK – Jeremy Broduer 14 – SH | 12 – SV | 2 – GA 

ADK – Tyler Brennan 14 – SH | 13 – SV | 1 – GA  (L)

Three Stars

1. Brock Caufield – REA

2. Ryan Smith – ADK

3. Matt Miller – REA

Game Length: 2:16  7:01 PM EST – 9:17 PM EST  

Attendance: 2,291

Cool Insuring Arena | Glens Falls, New York

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The Lehigh Valley Phantoms kicked off the 2024-25 preseason on Tuesday night, playing host to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

It was a game where it felt like the Phantoms were getting their legs going and meshing together, the ‘Baby Pens’ dominated on both ends of the ice. The Wheeling Nailers contracted forward Matthew Quercia opened up the scoring and fellow Nailers contracted forward Jordan Martel added on with a power play tally in the opening frame. Shots in the first were 15-4 in favor of Wilkes-Barre, they led 2-0 after a period from PPL

In a similar second period to the first, Wilkes-Barre found twine twice and outshot Lehigh Valley 13-4. Logan Pietilla picked up back in April by the club, picked up a loose rebound and fired it past a diving Makiniemi to extend the lead. Matt Koopman fired a one-timer under the Phantoms’ netminder to go ahead by four.

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Lehigh Valley found the back of the net in the final 20 but just as they did in the first two periods the ‘Baby Pens’ scored twice. Zayde Wisdom the lone Phantoms goal scorer, had a nifty toe drag to go inside on the Wilkes-Barre defender and backhanded it past the Penguins goaltender. Justin Lee would score the next two for the Penguins to cap off their 6-1 preseason win in Allentown.

WBS GOALTENDING: Sergei Murashov 12 Saves on 13 Shots

LHV GOALTENDING: Eetu Makiniemi 32 Saves on 38 Shots

1st Star: Justin Lee (2G) – WBS

2nd Star: Logan Pietilla (1G, 1 A) – WBS

3rd Star: Jordan Martel (1G, 1 A) – WBS

GAME TIME: 7:14 P.M. – 9:24 P.M. – 2:10

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A Jam Packed Weekend in Downtown Reading, 3 Games in less than 72 Hours!

Reading, PA : 03 . 22 . 24 – A football score on Friday night to open the three-game set. Keeghan Howdeshell and Zach White each picked up a pair of goals for Worcester. Anson Thornton faced 46 Railers’ shots, he stopped 39 of them in the loss. Worcester set the tone for the weekend with a 7-3 victory Friday. 

You don’t bench the Captain. Tortorella, I’m 

SCORE SHEET:

1ST PERIOD

WOR: 10:20 – J. Pivonka (18) | A. Calder, T. Cosgrove

REA: 19:17 – D. Paliani (15) | T. Bertuzzi, R. Devine

2ND PERIOD

WOR: 3:38 – A. Bakanov (11) | J. Quinlivan

WOR: 6:52 – K. Howdeshell (7) | B. Robbins, R. Verrier

3RD PERIOD

WOR: 00:31 – K. Howdeshell (8) | J. Quinlivan, Z. Garat

REA: 00:48 – T. Gratton (1) | J. Bouquot, J. Smith

WOR: 3:16 – J. Pivonka (19) | A. Calder

REA: 3:28 – J. Smith (15) | J. Bouquot, T. Gratton

WOR: 3:56 – Z. White (9) | Unassisted

WOR: 15:47 – Z. White (10) | C. Welsh – SH

Final: 7-3 Worcester

WOR- Henrik Tikkanen 28 – SH | 25 – SV | 3 – GA (W)

REA – Anson Thornton 46 – SH | 39 – SV | 7 – GA (L)

Three Stars

1. Zach White – WOR

2. Keeghan Howdeshell – WOR

3. Jake Pivonka – WOR

Game Length: 2:14  7:01 PM EST – 9:29 PM EST  

Attendance: 3,231

Reading, PA : 03 . 23 . 24 – St. Hattricks Night at Santander Arena, maybe brought some Irish luck with a late Nardi goal that forced overtime and Jake Smith capped off the night with the overtime winner on Saturday night. Just one goal had been scored for 54 minutes of regulation until Joseph Nardi knotted things up and celebrated his game-tying goal upside down. Nardi sent downtown Reading into party mode or pardi mode if you would. The Royals would then secure the two points with Jake Smith’s overtime winner 3:37 into overtime. Maier earned first-star honors behind his 27-save performance.

SCORE SHEET:

1ST PERIOD

WOR: 3:56 – A. Heidemann | Unassisted

2ND PERIOD

n/a

3RD PERIOD

REA: 16:08 – Joseph Nardi (15) | P. Connor, T. Bertuzzi

Overtime

REA: 3:37 – Jake Smith (16) | Y. Mongo, T. Bertuzzi – PP

Final/OT: 2-1 Reading

WOR- John Muse 26 – SH | 24 – SV | 2 – GA (OTL)

REA – Nolan Maier 28 – SH | 27 – SV | 1 – GA (W)

Three Stars

1. Nolan Maier – REA

2. Jake Smith – REA

3. Joseph Nardi – REA

Game Length: 2:31  7:02 PM EST – 9:33 PM EST  

Attendance: 4,529

Reading, PA : 03 . 24 . 24 – Not the way the Royals would’ve liked to end the weekend before hitting the road. Evenly matched on the shots, it seemed Reading had more chances but the Railers had more where it counted. Nardi and Smith each scored again for Reading, and Cosgrove scored twice for Worcester both into an empty net. 

SCORE SHEET:

1ST PERIOD

REA: 13:17 – J. Nardi (16) | J. Bouquot, T. Fawcett

2ND PERIOD

WOR: 2:04 – A. Calder (16) | R. Scarfo, A. Kulakov

WOR: 5:25 – K. Howdeshell (9) |J. Cipollone, M. Klee

WOR: 8:51 – A. Callin (12) | Z. White, T. Cosgrove

3RD PERIOD

WOR: 3:29 – A. Bakanov (12) | J. Cipollone, A. Callin

REA: 4:35- J. Smith (17) | S. Sellar

WOR: 17:46 – T. Cosgrove (8) | A. Bakanov, J. Pivonka – EN

REA: 18:16 – T. Bertuzzi (16) | J. Nardi, Y. Mongo

WOR: 19:05 – T. Cosgrove (8) | A. Callin – EN

Final: 6-3 Worcester

WOR- Henrik Tikkanen 28 – SH | 25 – SV | 3 – GA (W)

REA – Nolan Maier 26 – SH | 22 – SV | 4 – GA (L)

Three Stars

1. T. Cosgrove – WOR

2. J. Cipollone – WOR

3. Jake Smith – REA

Game Length: 2:30 3:01 PM EST – 5:31 PM EST  

Attendance: 3,310

Santander Arena | Reading, PA

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Reading, PA – Ouch. Royals struggles continue, giving up eight goals to Wheeling for a second consecutive night. The promotion at Santander Arena was “Star Wars Night”; bringing a large crowd of over five thousand fans. The Royals wore specialty Baby Yoda sweaters for the 7 p.m. faceoff against the club from West Virginia. The alternate captains, Brubacher and Fawcett found twine for Reading. 

RECAP

Bear with me as I recap all eleven goals from the Saturday night contest. The first tally was a blast from the blue line off the blade of Thimo Nickl, Nickl’s second of the season in 39 games at 13:51. Lukas Svejkovsky just over a minute later at 15:08, netted the one-timer glove-side on a sliding Kenny. Dillon Hamaliuk put the Nailers up three, the puck was just sitting outside the crease after a slapshot from the point no one claimed it, but Dillon extended Wheeling’s lead.

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The Royals looked to come out just as they did in the first, dictating play and putting shots on. Reading finally found the back of the net, and 2:20 into the second Tyson Fawcett netted his fifth of the season. Justin Lee restored the Nailers’ three-goal lead with a slapshot under the blocker of a screened Royals netminder at 6:59. Dillon Hamaliuk ended Kenny’s night between the pipes for Reading, a wrister from the high slot at 9:30. Nolan Maier came in relief and wasn’t greeted so nicely by Wheeling. Lukas Svejkovsky greeted Maier, the first shot Nolan faced was behind him. Svejkovsky’s top-shelf one-timer came at 11:02. Matt Koopman kicked the extra point, his seventh of the season slotting home the rebound on the open cage at 19:53.

The final Nailers’ tally came 4:25 into the third period, Matthew Quercia crashed the net and carried Maier’s pad along with the puck into the net. Don’t call it a comeback! Adam Brubacher capped off the scoring for the contest, with a one-timer five-hole at 17:36.

Final: 8-2 Wheeling

WHL – Jaxon Caster 29 – SH | 27 – SV | 2 – GA (W)

REA – Ryan Kenny 15 – SH | 10 – SV | 5 – GA (L)

REA – Nolan Maier 15 – SH | 12 – SV | 3 – GA 

Three Stars

1. Lukas Svejkovsky – WHL

2. Cédric Desruisseaux – WHL

3. Lukas Svejkovsky – WHL

Game Length: 2:14  7:01 PM EST – 9:15 PM EST  

Attendance: 5,290

Santander Arena | Reading, Pennsylvania

1 . 24 . 24 – Fortunate for Reading to pull out a point Wednesday night. Reading was outplayed in the second and third; miraculously the Royals found the back of the net four times on 16 shots. Reading led by two not once, but twice. 2-0 at the end of the first and responded to the Nailers’ first goal in the second. Wheeling scored 3 goals in the second frame, and the Royals were fortunate to be knotted up with just 4 shots in the period. Ryan Chyzowski knotted the game up with just 27 seconds left in regulation an absolute snipe over the glove of Gauthier to force overtime. The Nailers would pull away with the two points, Lukas Svejkovsky with the game-winner 53 seconds into the extra session.

Final/OT: 5-4 Wheeling

WHL – Taylor Gauthier 16 – SH | 12 – SV | 4 – GA (W)

REA – Nolan Maier 32 – SH | 27 – SV | 5 – GA (OTL)

Three Stars

1. Lukas Svejkovsky – WHL

2. Jordan Martel – WHL

3. Tag Bertuzzi – REA

Game Length: 2:23  7:01 PM EST – 9:24 PM EST  

Attendance: 2,037

1 . 26 . 24 – *Nervous Whisting* Where do I begin? It was 1-0 after twenty minutes, shots were 21-6 Wheeling. A heavily penalized ending to the second frame, Reading had gained momentum heading into the final frame. The Royals trailed 4-0 after two but opened the third with two goals in the first three minutes of play on the man advantage. Wheeling still outscored the Royals 4-3 for the period, despite playing up to the Nailers. Maier faced 50 shots between the pipes for Reading, the Royals produced 24. Not much to say about the club’s morale heading into the final game with the Nailers on Saturday, the team is frustrated and knows they can compete a lot harder than they have been. 

Final: 8-3 Wheeling

WHL – Taylor Gauthier 24 – SH | 21 – SV | 3 – GA (W)

REA – Nolan Maier 50 – SH | 42 – SV | 8 – GA (L)

Three Stars

1. Jordan Martel – WHL

2. Isaac Beliveau – WHL

3. Lukas Svejkovsky – WHL

Game Length: 2:29  7:02 PM EST – 9:31 PM EST  

Attendance: 2,915

It was a wild 24-48 hours for the 21-year-old, as he debuted last night against Montreal. Jamie Drysdale as many know was aquired by Anaheim in exchange for former Flyers 5th overall pick, Cutter Gauthier. Gauthier, who recently won gold with USA in the World Juniors, came out and said he didn’t want to play for Philadelphia and the Flyers front office handled it extremely well, trading him as soon as they possibly could for the former Ducks 6th overall pick in 2020.

The trade happened in the middle of a Flyers-Pens game on Monday night in South Philadelphia. Amidst the action, Keith Jones and Daniel Briere spoke with the media regarding the decision and what led up to it. 

Philly vs Minnesota

“He didn’t wanna be a Flyer… If you don’t wanna be a Flyer, you’re not going to be a Flyer.”

Keith Jones on Cutter Gauthier

“He looked at us in the draft and told us he was built to be a Flyer, wanted to be a Flyer, and maybe a few months later told us that he didn’t wanna be a Flyer, didn’t wanna play for the Flyers.” 

Daniel Briere on Cutter Gauthier

Early in the talk about the trade and how it came about, some theories considered former Flyer, Kevin Hayes as the influence on Cutter’s decision to not play for Philadelphia. As Cutter said before in an article in March 2023, “A great spirit. I’m super fortunate to have him in my contacts. Somebody I can call whenever…” 

The idea of Hayes playing any role in the situation has seemed to die off. Head coach John Tortorella spoke to the media following the Flyers 3-2 shootout win against the Canadiens and showed his frustration on the fact that someone caused Kevin Hayes an issue like this. 

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“Are you kidding me? You think Kevin Hayes is gonna do something like that? It’s bull****. It pisses me off that you guys throw that **** around and affect someone’s life. Kevin Hayes and I had a problem we couldn’t come to an agreement on how to play that’s a good man, and what you said is gonna stay with him…”

Head Coach, John Tortorella on Hayes/Gauthier Drama

If you don’t know, Hayes received many threats towards him and his family along with people being happy and spiteful of his brother’s passing undeservingly. Even if Hayes did influence Cutter (I’m not saying he did) there’s no universe where Kevin deserved the things that were said or projected his way on the situation. 

Let’s redirect the attention back onto the newest Flyer, Jamie Drysdale. A wild time for Jamie he was headed south with Anaheim, and now he’s heading north with Philadelphia, not much time for Jamie to catch his breath amidst all the attention as he got into to Philadelphia around 5:45 a.m. on Tuesday. 

“… A pretty wild last 24/48 hours, I’m just glad I got to get right into it not think too much just go out and play.

Jamie Drysdale – Following the 3-2 Shootout Win

Jamie’s parents were in attendance as accommodated by the Philadelphia front office. Gary and Tina cheered on their son, Jamie, and the orange & black on Wednesday night. The Toronto native was very grateful that his parents were able to attend on such short notice. 

“It’s awesome to have them out here. It shows what a good organization this is, right when I got out here they asked me if I wanted my parents out for my first game. Obviously, I said yes so my parents were thrilled to be out here…”

Jamie Drysdale – Speaking on his family being able to attend his first Flyers game

Jamie’s debut was pretty special, he showed what he brings to the table with his playmaking ability and not afraid to attack offensively. The newest blue-liner picked up an assist on the game-tying goal in the 2nd period on Wednesday. He was greeted by a pretty big roar of cheers in Wells Fargo on the announcement of his first point as a Flyer. 

I think it’s safe to say the Flyers fans are all in on Drysdale and his love for the city of Philadelphia. Jamie seems to love the passionate fans and is excited to play in front of them along with his new teammates. 

Philadelphia is on the road for the next three straight. Minnesota on Friday, January 12th Winnipeg on Saturday, January 13th, and the road trip wraps up on Monday, January 15th in St. Louis. Philadelphia then comes home for four straight at Wells Fargo Center. 

Reading and Idaho capped off their three-game set, Friday and Saturday night.

1 . 5 . 24 – Series clinching win came on Friday night, a 2-1 finish in Boise. Gahagen in back-to-back games faced 41 shots. In the contest on Wednesday, he gave up 3, and on Friday he gave up just 1. Ryan Chyzowski broke the scoreless tie, 5:32 into the second frame. Yvan Mongo in his first game back since November 25th, netted a tally in the third that would stand as the game-winning tally. Jack Becker netted his third in two games against the Royals following a big momentum-shifting fight in the third.

Final: 2-1 Reading

Royals Record: 13 – 14 – 1 – 1 = 28 PTS

Steelheads Record: 22 – 8 – 0 – 1 = 45 PTS

REA – Parker Gahagen 41 – SH | 40 – SV | 1 – GA (W)

IDH – Bryan Thomson 23 – SH | 21 – SV | 2 – GA (L)

Three Stars

1. Parker Gahagen – REA

2. Yvan Mongo – REA

3. Jack Becker – IDH

Game Length: 2:31  7:10 PM MST – 9:41 PM MST  

Attendance: 5,201

Idaho Central Arena | Boise, Idaho

1 . 6 . 24 – Idaho showed why they can be the best in the league on Saturday. The Steelheads pulled away with a 5-2 win, Wade Murphy found twine twice for Idaho in the convincing dub. Tyson Fawcett and Will Zmolek made it a one-goal game but Idaho pulled away with Wade Murphy’s 19th and Keaton Mastrodonato’s 17th, an empty netter with under 4 minutes to play. Nolan Maier stopped 34 of the 38 Steelheads’ shots he faced in the contest. 

Final: 5-2 Idaho

Royals Record: 13 – 15 – 1 – 1 = 28 PTS

Steelheads Record: 23 – 8 – 0 – 1 = 47 PTS

REA – Nolan Maier 38 – SH | 34 – SV | 4 – GA (L)

IDH – Bryan Thomson 33 – SH | 31 – SV | 2 – GA (W)

Three Stars

1. Wade Murphy – IDH

2. Willie Knierim – IDH

3. Will Merchant – IDH

Game Length: 2:27  7:10 PM MST – 9:37 PM MST  

Attendance: 5,228

Idaho Central Arena | Boise, Idaho

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Boise, ID – Reading puts up a touchdown against the top team in the ECHL! A couple of first-pro goals, Nicolas Ouellet and Trevor Thurston each netted theirs: three-point nights, Shane Sellar with a goal and two assists. Devon Paliani also picked up a three-point night, with three primary helpers. 

RECAP

Shots favored Idaho, but the score favored the Royals. Reading leads 1-0 after a period in Boise. Nicolas Ouellet tallied the lone goal for Reading. Ouellet, the Mascouche, QC netted the first of his pro career a wrister past the sprawled-out netminder at 13:02 of the first. Gahagen was solid in the crease, he stoned all 13 he faced in the frame. 

Kenny Johnson kicked things off early in the second period. Johnson took his time and fired it past the sliding goaltender for his first as a Royal just 31 seconds into the period. Willie Knierim put Idaho on the board, a deflection past Gahagen at 2:10. Tyson Fawcett put the Royals back up two, using his speed and pulling it on his forehand and elevating it over the pad of Tendeck on the man advantage at 4:35. Shots for the period 10-8 in favor of the Steelheads, for the game Idaho led 23-16. 

With a two-goal lead heading into the third, the Royals looked to pull away, and they did just that. Trevor Thurston put Reading up three, firing the puck from the blue line off the offensive draw at 5:41 of the third. 18 seconds later, Adam Brubacher put Reading up four with a wrister past the glove of Tendeck at 5:59. Less than a minute later, Shane Sellar extended the Royals lead with his tie for the team lead 11th goal at 6:43. Jack Becker scored a pair of goals to put Idaho within three. The first goal was a wrister in the slot under the glove of Gahagen at 9:20. The second Becker goal was a backhand one-timer shorthanded at 11:34. Austin Master capped off the night, his second of the season with a backhander on the rebound past the sliding netminder at 18:18.

Final: 7-3 Reading

Royals Record: 12 – 14 – 1 – 1 = 26 PTS

Steelheads Record: 22 – 8 – 0 – 1 = 45 PTS

REA – Parker Gahagen 41 – SH | 38 – SV | 3 – GA (W)

IDH – David Tendeck 19 – SH | 14 – SV | 5 – GA (L)

IDH – Bryan Thomson 9 – SH | 7 – SV | 2 – GA 

Three Stars

1. Shane Sellar – REA

2. Jack Becker – IDH

3. Devon Paliani – REA

Game Length: 2:34  7:10 PM MST – 9:34 PM MST  

Attendance: 5,215

Idaho Central Arena | Boise, Idaho

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