 |
| POWER
PLAY |
8TH
- 19.1 |
| PENALTY
KILL |
18TH
- 80.7 |
| FORWARDS |
| BROCK
HOOTON |
26-33-59
(+12) |
| DANY
ROUSSIN |
23-34-57
(+15) |
| PATRICK
JARRET |
9-31-40
(-5) |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| PJ
ATHERTON |
16-25-41
(-4) |
| STEVEN
LATER |
9-18-27
(+9) |
| DAVE
PSZENYCZNY |
6-14-20
(-12) |
| GOALTENDERS |
| TERRY
DENIKE |
8-8-2
(0 SO)
3.74 GA
.881 PCT |
|
| JOHN
MURRAY |
3-3-1
(1 SO)
3.36 GA
.883 PCT |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Reading
vs Elmira |
|
|
SCHEDULE |
| 1 |
APR.
11 |
READING
0 - ELMIRA 1 |
SEED
3 |
2 |
APR.
12 |
ELMIRA
4 - READING 5 (OT) |
SEED
2 |
38-26-6
(84) |
3 |
APR.
15 |
READING
3 - ELMIRA 2 |
41-24-3
(89) |
| |
4 |
APR.
17 |
ELMIRA
5 - READING 2 |
|
| |
5 |
APR.
19 |
READING
2 - ELMIRA 1 (OT) |
|
| |
6 |
APR.
20 |
ELMIRA
4 - READING 5 (2OT) |
|
| |
7 |
APR.
21 |
READING
at ELMIRA |
|
| Reading
Wins Series 4-2 |
|
SERIES
PREVIEW |
| |
Reading,
PA - Usually when a franchise moves from one league
to another, expectations are usually not very high at
the start of the season. You can bet that if a poll had
been taken in Elmira before the season start on just how
good the team might do this season, fans and team management
alike would have probably just said they’d just be happy
to have made the playoffs.
Well, the season is over, and it is probably fair to say that the Jackals have done more than surpass everyone’s expectations. Elmira finished second in the ECHL’s North Division with a record of 41-24-3-4 (89 points), 16 points behind first place Cincinnati Cyclones and five points ahead of their playoff opponent, the Reading Royals.
The Jackals will face the Royals in a best-of-seven series that will no doubt remind people of old time hockey. It didn’t take very long for both teams to have developed a heated rivalry over the course of the season from the very first pre-season game against each other. The Jackals won the season series 5-4.
While the series might not remind anyone of the movie SLAPSHOT, it will remind people just how fun the playoffs in hockey are.
Series Overview:
Reading – The Royals return to the playoffs after a one year hiatus away from post-season playoff. The best the Royals have ever done in the playoffs was making the conference finals in the teams third season (2004).
Offensively this year's Royals are the team's third highest scoring team in their seven year history. In fact, every player on the current roster has at least one goal. Defensively the team is the third worst in team history. Unfortunately for the Royals they will not head into the playoffs on a roll.
Things have gotten so bad of late that the team had 30 minute closed door meeting that eventually turned into a players-only closed door meeting.
Still, one has to think that once playoff time comes, the Royals will show up and make this series one of the leagues best. In fact, with the Los Angeles Kings (Reading’s NHL parent club) season over, there should be a trickle down effect on the Royals playoff roster, despite the fact that it appears that the Kings and Royals AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, clinched a playoff spot.
The Royals offense had nine players with 10 or more goals, and three of those players had over 20 goals (Brock Hooton, Dany Roussin, and Chris Blight). The Royals did not have a single player among the top 20 scorers in the league, but Blight was tied for eighth in the league with three shorthanded goals, and 19th in the league with five game winning goals.
Defensemen P.J. Atherton was tied for eighth in the league in scoring by a defenseman with 16 goals and 25 assists. Steven Later has 9 goals and 18 assists and has the best plus/minus ranking by a defenseman (+9) on the team.
Right now the most pressing issue on the teams is who will be the teams starting goaltender come playoff time. The Royals would love to have Kings prospect Jonathon Quick back from Manchester, but it appears that another Kings prospect Danny Taylor will be the man in net against the Jackals.
Quick has 23 of the Royals 38 wins, while backup Terry Denike is next on the team in wins with eight. Still, Taylor has a better save percentage in five games played, but will his regular season play transfer over to the playoffs? We will all find out soon enough.
Elmira – The Jackals offense is led by two rookies,
Beniot Doucet and Pierre-Luc Faubert. Doucet finished
tied for fourth in the league while Faubert was eighth.
The scary thought is both players are far and away the
best scorers on the team in which Faubert has 29 more
points than teammates Chaz Johnson. If anything happens
to either player you can bet the Jackals will be in trouble.
Defenseman Chris Busby was 23rd in the league in scoring
by a defenseman with 8 goals and 24 assists.
Like Reading, the Jackals would love to get their top goaltender Dan Lacosta, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect back. If Lacosta does not come back into the lineup the Jackals are in good hands with Ervins Mustukov, who has never had a save percentage below 90 percent in five seasons.
Intangibles – Special teams appear to be evenly
matched, but the penalty killing unit must do better if
they are to win the series. Because of the bad blood that
has already ensued between the two teams you can bet the
Royals will try to take a Jackal into the penalty box
with them.
If Elmira has an effective power play the series will be a short one. The same goes for it Reading can do the same. The team that stays out of the box will most likely win the series.
Both teams draw well at the gate, but Reading can fit nearly twice as many fans into their arena than Elmira can. Still, both teams will be well represented at the gate.
Prediction:
Royals in seven.
Winning in tough enough as is, but to do it without one of your top goaltenders sure makes things tougher. Still, this should be a long series that should go no less than six games. |
|
| Game
1 |
Reading
0 - Elmira 1 |
| by
Brian Jennings - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Elmira
Leads Series 1-0 |
Elmira,
NY - Going into the series between the Reading
Royals and the Elmira Jackals fans and media alike predicted
a rough and tumble best-of-seven series between the two
teams.
Game One might not have been rough and tumble, but the
Elmira Jackals will take the 1-0 victory and the 1-0 lead
in the series. Jackals goaltender Joel Martin made 34
saves and Bruce Watson got the only goal of the game at
8:50 of the third period to give Elmira the victory.
Reading outshot Elmira in two of the three periods, and
43-29 for the game. Los Angeles Kings prospect Danny Taylor
took the loss for the Royals despite having a strong game
in net.
Both teams went 0-5 on the power play, and despite the
amount of fights between the two teams when they get together,
no fighting majors were called during Game One.
In an odd twist in the scheduling for the series, games
2, 4, and 6 of the series will be in Reading, while games
3,5, and 7 will be back in Elmira.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
2 |
Elmira
4 - Reading 5 (OT) |
| by
Brian Jennings - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Series
Tied 1-1 |
Reading,
PA - The Reading Royals, down 3-0, and looking
at a 2-0 deficit and heading back to Elmira for game three
in the series, had a switch which went off in the locker
between the second and third period that could have saved
the Royals season.
The Royals won a thrilling come from behind victory over
the Elmira Jackals 5-4 to tie the series at 1-1. Elmira
took a 3-0 leading heading into the third period but Reading,
who had been out-shooting the Jackals all night, had to
come back twice in the game and scored four goals in the
third period sending the game in overtime.
Reading out shot Elmira in every period (44-21 for the
game), but it took their first goal 23 seconds into the
third to kick start the comeback thanks to Los Angeles
Kings prospect Dany Roussin, who also scored the Royals
second goal as well to get Reading within one on the power
play. P.J. Atherton also scored on the power play to tie
the game at three sending the towel waving fans into a
frenzy.
Both teams traded goals to send the game in overtime,
but referee Barry Pochmara made the game very interesting
calling two penalties on Reading in the last two minutes
of regulation and 56 seconds into overtime.
The shorthanded Royals played the puck up the boards and
Brock Hooton and Kevin Saurette went in on a 2-on-2 breakaway.
Saurette, who was along the left wing boards, backhanded
a pass to Hooton who made no mistake lifting the puck
past Jackals goaltender Joel Martin 1:25 into overtime
to tie the series and sent the home fans happy.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
3 |
Reading
3 - Elmira 2 |
| by
Brian Jennings - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Reading
Leads Series 2-1 |
Elmira,
NY - It is roughly a six-hour drive from Providence,
Rhode Island, but the Reading Royals sure are glad Kevin
Schaeffer make the trip to Elmira, New York for game three
against the Jackals. Schaeffer got the game winning goal
on the power play at 10:34 too win the game after being
sent down from the AHL’s Providence Bruins earlier in
the day.
It was Reading’s only power play goal on seven chances,
but it was more than enough as the Royals came from behind
to win. Elmira went 0-for-5 on the power play but did
get a shorthanded goal on the same power play Schaeffer
scored on at 9:50 by Pierre-Luc Faubert to even the score
at 2-2 in the third period. However, Reading did not panic
as Schaeffer came up with the goal of the game.
After being down 1-0 after the first period from a goal
by the Jackals Benoit Doucet, the Royals Patrick Jarrett,
who also had an eight game stint with the Manchester Monarchs
(AHL), was the Royals other star of the game scoring twice
in the second period to give the Royals a 2-1 lead.
The Royals held the Jackals to only seven shots in the
third period to secure the victory. Reading outshot Elmira
31-20 in the game, and outshot the Jackals in all three
periods.
Game four of the series will be Thursday night in Reading,
Pa.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
4 |
Elmira
5 - Reading 2 |
| by
Brian Jennings - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Series
Tied 2-2 |
Reading,
PA - The shot counter on the scoreboard might
have made the average hockey fan think the Reading Royals
walked away with Game 4 against Elmira, but the final
score is the only thing that matters in hockey, which
is why the Elmira Jackals won the game 5-2 to even the
best-of-seven series 2-2.
Reading outshot Elmira 28-14 through the first two periods,
but poor passing and poor decision making all night long
turned out to be the Royals Achilles' heel. The Jackals
scored first on a goal by Chaz Johnson on a nice move
around Royals goaltender Danny Taylor and out-waited him
and cut across the net and shot high over Taylor to give
the Jackals 1-0 lead.
From there on the Jackals controlled play, even if they
didn’t get a lot of shots on goal. Elmira’s Joel Martin
made sure there was no repeat of Game 2 in which the Royals
came from three goals behind to steal the win. Martin
had 35 saves on the night.
Neither team was stellar on the power play as each scored
only a goal apiece. Elmira had a three-goal lead going
into the third period, but Charlie Kronsschnabel got his
first playoff goal of the series to remind the 4,183 fans
of Game 2, but Maxime Boisclair ended any thoughts of
a repeat performance by Reading scoring only 31 seconds
later. Luke Fulgham scored a little over four minutes
later to end any hopes the fans might have had. Dan Roussin
scored his third goal of the playoffs on the power play
at 15:29, but the game was essentially over as Reading
could only muster nine shots in the third period.
With the series tied at two, there is the potential that
both teams will have to play three straight nights in
a row if the series goes the full seven games. Games 5-7
will take place Saturday and Monday in Elmira for Games
5 and 7, with Game 6 sandwiched in between Saturday night
in Reading.
Contact
the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
5 |
Reading
2 - Elmira 1 (OT) |
| by
Brian Jennings - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Reading
Leads Series 3-2 |
Elmira,
NY - The hero of Game 2, Brock Hooton, once again
came through in fine fashion delivering the final blow
in overtime beating Elmira goaltender Joel Martin over
his left shoulder for the game winner at 8:33. Hooten
delivered in another thrilling, tight game in Elmira to
win the game 2-1, giving Reading the edge in the series
3-2. The two teams back to Reading for Game 6 Sunday night.
The game resembled Game 1 in Elmira as both teams engaged
in a tight-checking game in which the Jackals won 1-0.
It looked as though Game 6 would end the same way when
Elmira’s Beniot Doucet scored his second goal of the series
at 18:15 of the first period giving the Jackals the lead.
Second period resembled the first without a goal scored
and not a lot of pressure on either goaltender. Reading’s
Vladimir Draveky served a bench minor for too many men
on the ice with 51 seconds left in the period, but Charlie
Kronschnabel came up with what might become the Royals
most important goal in the playoffs scoring on a breakaway
beating Martin to tie the game with only one second left
in the period.
With the Royals having the momentum, they came out in
the third period with great pressure outshooting Elmira
13-7. The Royals however could not score and the game
was sent into overtime once again.
Hooton, Reading’s leading scorer during the regular season,
performed his magic thanks to some nice passing between
Mike Salakin and Malcolm MacMillan. Both players set up
Hooton for a nice shot that beat Martin and stunned the
crowd of 3,072, and sent the series back to Reading giving
the Royals a chance to end the series on home ice.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
6 |
Elmira
4 - Reading 5(2OT) |
| by
Brian Jennings - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Reading
Wins Series 4-2 |
Reading,
PA - One thing that can honestly be said about the ECHL
North Division playoff series between the Reading Royals
and the Elmira Jackals is that it was never boring. The
Royals and Jackals embraced in a memorable six game series,
the last game going into double overtime, the longest
in both franchise's history, as the Royals down the Jackals
5-4 to win the series in six games.
Unlike Game 5, the scoring came early and often in the
first period with both teams scoring three goals 1:13
apart. Benoit Doucet got this third goal of the playoffs
putting the puck past Royals goaltender Danny Taylor after
a mad scramble in front of the Royals net. Doucet tucked
the puck in shortside giving the Jackals a 1-0 lead.
Reading tied the game at one exactly one minute later
as Chris Blight went from the left side of the net, to
the right side and backhanded a shot over Elmira’s Joel
Martin to tie the game at one. The tie didn’t last long
as Jim McKenzie capitalized off of a poor clearing attempt
in Reading’s zone that went right to McKenzie where he
took a wrist shot from just near the left face-off circle
and beat Taylor over his left shoulder for a 2-1 lead.
Elmira extended the lead on a nice give and go by Luke
Fulghum, Elgin Reid, and Scott May. As usually Reading
had to come from behind once more.
During a four-on-four situation, P.T. Atherton and Brock
Hooton went in on a two-on-one breakaway, Hooton was on
the right side of Atherton and passed the puck through
the defender to Atherton who blasted a shot past Martin
to make the game 2-1. Game 5 hero Charlie Kronschnabel
once again came through for the Royals as the pushing
and shoving ensued near the Jackals crease. Kronschnabel
lifted the puck a foot from Martin and over his right
shoulder to tie the game at three.
The scoring didn’t stop there in the second as Fulghum
once again burned the Royals on a gift power play as he
backhanded in a rebound with 13 seconds left to go in
the period.
The Royals once again would bounce back at the 6:55 mark
as MacMillan skated the puck up the ice and left a drop
pass for Kronschnabel. Mike Salekin skated down the slot
and Kronschnabel hit him with a pass. Salakin burned a
shot past Martin to once again tie the game at 4-4.
Oddly enough the scoring was put to a halt from there
on in as both teams played an evenly matched game. The
Jackals had the best chance in the first overtime as Elmira
was given a power play on an elbowing call to Vladamir
Dvavecky. The Royals held off Elmira and set the stage
for double overtime.
The Royals needed a another hero. On this night it was
Kevin Saurette. After winning an offensive zone face-off,
defenseman Rob LaLonde shot the puck in from the left
point and a mad scramble in front of Martin ensued. Saurette
came into the slot area and put a solid shot on the net
past Martin for the game winner. Finally, for the third
time in the series, the Royals had won in overtime. Royals
Head Coach Karl Taylor reflected after the victory, and
the series.
"There were three overtime games, one double overtime
game, it was an unbelievable series. We were fortunate
tonight. We had a good face-off play. I know Kevin is
supposed to get married soon, maybe he's doing his best
to postpone it. He is a great guy. A veteran guy to have
in the locker room. I'm very happy for him."
And now, onto the next round against one of, if not arguably
the best team in the league.
"Hey, we get to enjoy this for about another hour than
its time to get ready to go on another run."
The Royals will take on the North Division regular season
champs, the Cincinnati Cyclones who swept past the Johnstown
Chiefs, in a best-of-seven series that will oddly enough
begin in Reading Thursday and Saturday night.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| POWER
PLAY |
12TH
- 17.6 |
| PENALTY
KILL |
10TH
- 83.5 |
| FORWARDS |
| BENOIT
DOUCET |
31-52-83
(+20) |
| PIERRE-LUC
FAUBERT |
31-45-76
(+29) |
| CHAZ
JOHNSON |
23-24-47
(+13) |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| CHRIS
BUSBY |
8-24-32
(+15) |
| TREVOR
HENDRIKX |
8-23-31
(+7) |
| MATT
GENS |
3-19-22
(+15) |
| GOALTENDERS |
| JOEL
MARTIN |
27-17-2
(2 SO)
3.03 GA
.892 PCT |
|
| ERVINS
MUSTUKOVS |
7-3-1
(1 SO)
2.66 GA
.913 PCT |
|
|
|
