Royals Powered By Canada

If you're not familiar with the ECHL's Reading Royals, you may be like a lot of the hockey world. That's not to say that the Royals haven't had success that should have brought them attention. After all, they won the 2013 Kelly Cup, they won the most games among all ECHL Eastern Conference teams last season, and they've been the ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers since 2016. And despite their Pennsylvania location, the Royals seem to be stocking up on players who have honed their trade north of the border at the university level!

Former Saskatchewan Huskies playmaker Zane Franklin signed with the Royals this summer after spending one year at the Saskatoon-based school. Franklin, who came to the University of Saskatchewan after having played the 2020-21 season with the ECHL's Allen Americans, put up some impressive numbers in his lone season with the Huskies, leading the team with six goals and 20 assists in 20 Canada West games. One could easily see that Franklin had all the tools necessary for professional hockey, but his choice to play Canadian university hockey made the talent pool much deeper at the U SPORTS level. While the Huskies failed to reach their goal in the shortened 2021-22 season, Franklin was a star shining brightly at the Canada West level.

In three games against Newfoundland last weekend, Franklin announced his return to the ECHL in a big way. On Friday, he scored his first goal of the season at 19:54 of the first period to make it a 3-2 game in an eventual 4-2 loss. On Saturday, Franklin picked up assists on all three Reading goals in an eventual 4-3 overtime loss. And, on Sunday, he picked up another assist on a first-period power-play goal to make it 2-2 in the eventual 6-2 loss Reading absorbed that day. Despite the team starting 0-3 on the season, Franklin is finding all sorts of opportunties in putting up five points in three games! Congratulations, Zane, on a great start to the season!

The Royals continued to add some former Canada West talent to their roster this season when they signed former ECHL Atlanta Gladiators forward Kamerin Nault to a one-year deal. Nault, who has also played with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits and Kansas City Rabbits in between stints with the AHL's Manitoba Moose and Charlotte Checkers, has been an effective scorer at the ECHL level, totalling 37 goals and 33 assists in 102 games over four seasons with three teams after spending three seasons at the University of Manitoba where he was on the scoresheet often. In 46 Canada West games, Nault piled up 16 goals and 10 assists while finishing fourth in scoring in 2017-18 when he recorded 20 points.

Nault didn't find the scoresheet last weekend against Newfoundland, but he seems to be settling in with his new team as he showed his physical presence against the Growlers by finishing checks and coming to the aid of teammates in scrums. It won't be long before Nault's splashing ink on the scoresheet again, but he's setting a good tone in his Royals debut weekend!

The third player you may know who is from around these parts didn't actually play Canadian university hockey, but he was a star in the MJHL before making the jump to the NCAA's Bemidji State Beavers! Tyler Kirkup was a standout forward with his hometown Virden Oil Capitals where he posted 68 goals and 89 assists in 178 games over four seasons before making the jump to the NCAA level. With the Beavers, Kirkup continued his solid development at both ends of the ice, posting 21 goals and 27 assists in 131 NCAA games over four seasons, including a 12-goal senior campaign, when the Royals came calling for Kirkup's services. Kirkup suited up for six games last season with the Royals once his NCAA career had ended, but did not score.

Reading liked what they saw in that six-game professional debut, though, and they brought Kirkup back this season on a full one-year deal. He was in the lineup for two of the three opening games against Newfoundland, but Kirkup is still looking for his first professional point. He was effective at both ends of the ice in last weekend's opening games, remaining one of only three Reading players to not have a negative plus/minus rating.

Add in defender Dominic Cormier and centerman Yvan-Gabriel Mongo from the University of Ottawa and defender Garrett McFadden from Acadia University, and the Royals have a solid contingent of U SPORTS talent on their roster for this season. As we're seeing, more and more minor-pro hockey teams are looking north to the Canadian university ranks, and, in Reading's case, they've added a pair of Manitobans in Nault and Kirkup.

HBIC is always proud to celebrate what players from Manitoba are doing professionally, and this blog will always cheer for players who starred in the Canada West circuit. With Zane Franklin leading the Royals in scoring and both Kamerin Nault and Tyler Kirkup rounding into form, it seems the Royals are set to have another solid ECHL season!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!