TMLfans.ca guest columnist Barry Schickling returns with one of his regular updates on the Leafs prospects playing for the Reading Royals of the ECHL.

The Royals Review

(Jan. 11-24)
READING, Pa. – As the 2009-10 season unfolds, it appears the Maple Leafs and Marlies are facing an uphill challenge in their attempts to reach the playoffs in their respective leagues. But the Reading Royals, the Leafs’ ECHL secondary affiliate, continue to hold down first place in the East Division and their prospects of qualifying for the 2010 Kelly Cup Playoffs look decent. With 42 games played and 30 to go in the regular season, Reading has a four-point lead in the division over Elmira. The division winner automatically qualifies for the playoffs. However, the rest of American Conference standings are tight, so the Royals would be best served to win the East and not worry about having to clinch one of the five remaining playoff spots.

Here’s what the Toronto-contracted players have been up to over the past two weeks (with this season’s ECHL statistics).

Stefano Giliati – The winger got into just a couple games with Reading before he was recalled to the Marlies for the second time this season. While with Reading, he was one of 13 players who missed his shootout attempt in a loss to Florida. He’s got three goals with the Marlies. (26GP-10G –125A –+2 – 25 PIM)

Ben Gordon – Prior to being recalled to the Marlies on a tryout, Gordon was having a good season. Since his return to Reading, it’s been getting even better. In the space of eight days, he was the third star in a loss to Florida, the second star in a win over Elmira and was first star in a victory against Trenton when he assisted on the game-winning goal with 1.2 seconds left. As a starter and alternate captain for the victorious American Conference team in the ECHL All-Star Game in Ontario, Calif., he was credited with an assist and had three shots, although he was a minus-three. In addition to leading the team in goals, assists, points and shots (131), he’s fourth in the league in points. He has at least a point in 24 of his last 28 games with Reading and is the 16th player in team history to record 50 points in a season. In 19 games this year, he’s recorded more than one point. However, there’s no truth to the rumour that he was selling programmes prior to a recent game. (35GP-19G – 31A –+11 – 31 PIM) (Under contract to Reading.)

Joey Ryan – The Stoneham, Mass. native had a quick turnaround. Five days after being returned to Reading by the Marlies, he was recalled to Toronto for the second time this season. (27GP-2G – 5A – -2 – 39 PIM)

Eric Werner – Perhaps the unsung hero of the club, the fifth-year pro continues to shine on the defence corps. He leads the team in plus/minus and he’s still seeing lots of ice time. At 5-10 and 185, he doesn’t have the size and physical bite to his game that most teams are looking for from their defenders but he’s handling everything else very well. (38GP-3G – 15A – +17 – 25 PIM)

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Barry Schickling can be contacted at Barry.DoubleSMedia@rocketmail.com

TMLfans.ca guest columnist Barry Schickling returns with one of his regular updates on the Leafs prospects playing for the Reading Royals of the ECHL.

The Royals Review

(Dec. 29-Jan. 10)
READING, Pa. – It’s fairly common for minor-league teams at the “AA” level to struggle this time of year, particularly as a result of injuries, recalls and player loans. At one point early this month the Reading Royals, ECHL affiliate of the Maple Leafs and Marlies, had 14 such affected players. Reading even had to play with a less than full 16-skater roster for a few games in the last couple weeks. But when the Marlies returned left wing Ben Gordon (who had been on a tryout contract) and defenceman Joey Ryan to Pennsylvania, the Royals snapped back to life and earned a convincing 7-3 win over Florida on Jan. 9 and bumped their East Division lead back to five points over Elmira. Reading has reached the mid-point of its schedule with a 20-13-1-2 mark.

Here’s a look at what the Toronto-contracted players have been up to over the past two weeks (with this season’s ECHL statistics).

Ben Gordon – After his seven-game stint with the Marlies, during which he scored twice and added three assists, Gordon returned to Reading still flying high. The International Falls, Minn. native who was ECHL Player of the Month in December (the first Royal to ever earn that honour), contributed four assists in a win against Florida on Jan. 10 and leads the team in goals, assists, points, shots and plus-minus despite having played in only 29 of the team’s 36 games. He’s fourth in the ECHL in scoring, has a point in six straight ECHL games and has multiple points in 17 games for Reading this season. (29GP-16G – 28A –+12 – 29 PIM) (Under contract to Reading.)

Joey Ryan – The second-year pro defenceman played five games with the Marlies prior to returning to Reading. In his first game back with the Royals he played a conservative, steady game, good for a +2 rating. Almost all his ice time in that game came in even-strength situations. (26GP-2G – 5A – -2 – 39 PIM)

Eric Werner – Now second on the team in plus/minus, the fifth-year pro defenceman is the class of the Royals’ blue line. He’s been a plus in eight of his last 10 games, leads the team’s defencemen in assists and has four-multi-point games this season. He quarterbacks the first power-play unit and sees lots of ice time in all situations. (32GP-3G – 12A – +11 – 23 PIM)

Blast from the past: One of the players who suited up for Florida in its game at Reading on Jan. 10 was former Toronto and St. John’s Maple Leaf Paul Healey. The Edmonton native, a former Prince Albert (OHL) star, played 65 games with the Leafs and 75 games with the Baby Leafs from 2001-03. Now 34, he played in Sweden, Finland and Austria the last three seasons. The 1993 eighth-round draft choice of Philadelphia has four goals and three assists in 10 games with the Everblades this season.

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Barry Schickling can be contacted at Barry.DoubleSMedia@rocketmail.com

TMLfans.ca guest columnist Barry Schickling returns with one of his regular updates on the Leafs prospects playing for the Reading Royals of the ECHL.

The Royals Review

(Dec. 14-Dec. 28)

READING, Pa. – The last couple weeks have been productive ones for the Royals. Despite playing only two home games this month, Reading has rolled to a nine-point lead over Elmira in the East Division of the ECHL’s American Conference. With a record of 18-10-1-2, Reading has ascended to second place in the 12-team conference. The down side is that injuries and other recalls in Toronto, especially with the Marlies, have left the Royals to start the last week of 2009 with just two players under contract to the Blue and White. Things have been going so well in Reading that the Marlies even signed LW Ben Gordon to a pro tryout contract. Gordon, who played a couple games in the AHL with Providence earlier this season, added a goal in his second outing with Toronto in a loss at Hamilton on Dec. 28.

Here’s a look at what the Toronto-contracted players have been up to over the past two weeks (with this season’s ECHL statistics).

Stefano Giliati – The left winger had both a goal and an assist in a pair of games with Reading prior to his recall to the Marlies. He added a goal for the Marlies in a loss at Hamilton on Dec. 28. (10G- 12A – +2 – 25 PIM)

Joey Ryan – The second-year pro was recalled to the Marlies along with Giliati. The defenceman was showing some improvement in the ECHL prior to being summoned to the AHL. (2G – 4A – -5 – 37 PIM)

Eric Werner – The defender has taken over the team lead in plus-minus and is playing well and confidently at both ends of the ice. He had a pair of assists in a win at Trenton (Dec. 27) and one of those came on the OT game winner. He’s tied for seventh in team scoring among active Royals. Considering that many of Reading’s top players are now in the AHL, Werner could very well end up as an all-star representative. (3G – 9A – +10 – 19 PIM)

Andrew Engelage – The former Windsor Spitfire star has finally returned to Reading after an extended stay with the Marlies. In his first game back in the ECHL, he stopped 46 of 49 shots in an OT win at Trenton. He’s won overtime games with both the Royals and Marlies this season. (4-1 – 3.32 GAA – .901 SV%)

One final note: The Reading saga of Beau Erickson has reached an end. The goaltender, who spent time with the Marlies earlier in the season and was signed to a Royals’ contract for a second time in November, was traded to Utah for future considerations on Dec. 21.

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Barry Schickling can be contacted at Barry.DoubleSMedia@rocketmail.com

TMLfans.ca guest columnist Barry Schickling returns with one of his regular updates on the Leafs prospects playing for the Reading Royals of the ECHL.

The Royals Review

(Nov. 30-Dec. 13)

READING, Pa. – For the first time since Reading became the ECHL affiliate of the Maple Leafs beginning with the 2008-09 season, the Royals are on a nice roll and own a five-point lead at the top of the East Division of the American Conference. Reading just concluded a 2-1-1 road trip and managed to increase its lead over the Elmira Jackals, despite the fact that they’ve played only one home game this month and have just three more games scheduled at the Sovereign Center before the end of 2009.

Although the holiday season is nearly here, it’s a critical time as the Royals will play Elmira three times in the next two weeks. In fact, seven of Reading’s next 12 games will be against the Jackals.

Here’s a look at what the Toronto-contracted players have been up to over the past two weeks (with this season’s ECHL statistics).

Stefano Giliati – Although the second-year pro scored just his third goal in the last 16 games, it was an unassisted game winner at Cincinnati on Dec. 13. It came off a neutral-zone turnover. He also assisted on an OT game-winner at Trenton on Dec. 6. The LW is fourth on the team in points. (9G- 11A – +2 – 21 PIM)

Joey Ryan – The Stoneham, Mass. native only had one point in the last two weeks but it was a big one. He notched the OT winner on Dec. 6 at Trenton – the first OT goal for Reading this season. The defenceman was named first star of that game for his efforts. (2G – 3A – -5 – 37 PIM)

Eric Werner – The former University of Michigan star has been a shining star for the Royals blue line this season. Not only has he been arguably the team’s best defenceman this season, he’s tied for the team lead in scoring by D-men. Coach Larry Courville relies on him in every situation and he generally plays with lots of confidence and control. (3G – 4A – +3 – 19 PIM)

Goaltender Beau Erickson, who spent some time with the Marlies earlier in the season, but is under contract to Reading, leads the Royals in GAA and save percentage. In a victory over Trenton on Dec. 5, he made 34 saves and was named the game’s second star. However, he’s not getting lots of playing time since the Boston Bruins (a co-parent of Reading along with the Maple Leafs) assigned Matt Dalton to the team. (3-2 – 2.78 GAA — .915 SV %)

The Royals are still awaiting the return of G Andrew Engelage from the Marlies, but as long as Jonas Gustavsson and James Reimer remain out of the lineups for the Leafs and Marlies, respectively, the Oshawa-born Engelage will continue to wet his professional feet in the American Hockey League

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Barry Schickling can be contacted at Barry.DoubleSMedia@rocketmail.com

TMLfans.ca guest columnist Barry Schickling returns with one of his regular updates on the Leafs prospects playing for the Reading Royals of the ECHL.

The Royals Review

(Nov. 16-29)

READING, Pa. – It’s probably a coincidence, but once six players under contract to the Maple Leafs or Marlies were assigned to the Reading Royals, the team made it into first place in the North Division of the ECHL. But as often happens in the world of AA hockey, those numbers didn’t last for long. By the beginning of December, the Royals were back to three Leafs/Marlies on the roster and down to second place (by a point) in the standings.

Here’s a look at what the Toronto-contracted players have been up to over the past two weeks (with season’s ECHL statistics).

Stefano Giliati – The LW had a hot October but a fairly chilly November. The former QMJHL All-Star only scored one goal in the last two weeks and ended the segment on seven-day I.R. He did take on Florida tough guy Brad Zanon in a fight and got an instigation minor to go along with it. (8G- 9A – +2 – 17 PIM)

Joey Ryan – Has struggled with coverage in the defending zone. The 22-year-old defenceman ended the segment with a very forgettable minus-5 in back-to-back games against Johnstown. (1G – 3A – -6 – 27 PIM)

Greg Scott – The Victoria, BC native who’s listed as a right wing was sent to the Royals by the Marlies for four games. During that time, while primarily playing centre, he scored his first pro goal. The 21-year-old was named the third star in that game for his efforts. (1G- 0A – -1 – 2 PIM) He was recalled by the Marlies on Dec. 1.

Robert Slaney – Like Scott, Slaney was shipped to Pennsylvania for four games in five days.. Playing almost exclusively with Scott as his centreman, the Upper Island Cove, NF native managed one assist (on Scott’s goal) in the four games. His speed is a fine asset but he still needs to pay attention to defence. (0G- 1A – -1 – 2 PIM) He was recalled by the Marlies on Dec. 1.

Eric Werner – Statistically speaking, the oldest of the Leafs/Marlies on the Royals (26) didn’t contribute much the last two weeks. Much of that was because he missed the final three games while on the three-day I.R. Reading could certainly use his talents back in the lineup, especially on the power play. (1G – 4A – +4 – 19 PIM)

Andrew Engelage – The first-year pro from Oshawa won his first game during the fortnight and pushed his personal streak to three, before losing a game with the Royals. When the Marlies’ James Reimer was injured, Engelage was recalled to Toronto for the second time this season. (3-1 – 3.44 GAA – .885 SV%)

One other note: With both the Leafs’ Vesa Toskala and Reimer out of action, and Engelage’s recall to the Marlies, G Beau Erickson, who played for the Marlies during their preseason tour in Scotland and spent some time on their roster in October, was re-signed to an ECHL contract. He had signed with Reading at the start of the season but was released by the Royals on Nov. 10.

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Barry Schickling can be contacted at Barry.DoubleSMedia@rocketmail.com

TMLfans.ca guest columnist Barry Schickling, returns with one of his regular updates on the Leafs prospects playing for the Reading Royals of the East Coast Hockey League.

The Royals Review

(Nov. 2-15)

READING, Pa. – There’s a good news and not-quite-as-good news scenario coming from the Reading Royals the last two weeks. The good news is that the Royals are playing well, riding a two-game winning streak and are just two points out of first place in the North Division of the ECHL. The not-quite-as-good news is that the Maple Leafs and Marlies assigned to the club haven’t exactly been at the forefront of the team’s good fortunes.

Here’s a look at what the Toronto-contracted players have been up to over the past two weeks:

Stefano Giliati – The LW who was the ECHL Player of the Week from Oct. 26-Nov. 1 has come back down to earth. Although he’s had just one point (a goal) in the last five games, he still leads the team in goals and assists. And that goal, which came short-handed during a game in Johnstown, capped a four-goal comeback for the Royals. (Despite the comeback, the Royals ended up losing the game anyway.) Seems that word has gotten around that he’s someone to whom opposing defences must pay attention. (7G- 8A – +2 – 8PIM).

Joey Ryan – Didn’t accomplish much in the last two weeks, mostly because of a stay on the three-day injured reserve list caused him to miss a couple of games. (1G – 2A – -3 – 23PIM).

Eric Werner – The Gross Pointe Woods, Mich. native Is tied for the team lead in scoring by defencemen and is second on the team with a +5 rating. He’s also seeing plenty of power play time. He’s also getting chances to participate in the shootout. Unfortunately, he’s 0-for-2 this season. (1G – 4A – +5 – 17PIM).

Andrew Engelage – After being injured in his AHL debut with the Marlies, the rookie G finally has been assigned to Reading, where he’s expected to spend most of his first pro season. His first two ECHL starts were successes although not necessarily outstanding from a stats standpoint. But in his first victory, he stopped 3-of-5 attempts in the shootout. (2-0 – 2.88 GAA – .872 SV%)

One other note: G Beau Erickson, who played for the Marlies during their preseason tour in Scotland and also was on a PTO with the AHL club during the time when Vesa Toskala, Jonas Gustavsson and Engelage were all injured, was released by the Royals on Nov. 10. He was 2-1 with a 2.94 GAA in the ECHL. Since the Royals have affiliations with the Leafs/Marlies and Boston Bruins this season, Erickson was the odd man out..

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Barry Schickling can be contacted at Barry.DoubleSMedia@rocketmail.com