When it comes to listing all-time stars of the Reading Royals franchise, countless names come to mind. Philipp Grubauer of the Colorado Avalanche, Deryk Engelland of the Vegas Golden Knights and James Reimer of the Carolina Hurricanes are just a few of the current NHL players, who at one point, skated at the Santander Arena, previously known as the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA.
However, not all iconic Royals played in the NHL. When assigned the task of picking just three stars in Reading Royals history, I decided to look past their stats on paper. After all, there are so many incredible Royals alumni that have played at the NHL level that it would be nearly impossible to select just three. So I decided to take a different approach.
The three players I have selected from Reading’s history have, in one way or another, changed the franchise forever. I wanted to find three guys who I feel have made a permanent impact on the team, the fans and have become synonymous with Reading Royals hockey.
Jonathan Quick
Born on January 21st, 1986 in Milford, Connecticut, Jonathan Quick currently stands at six-foot-one, weighs 216 pounds, and plays for the Los Angeles Kings. He is easily one of the most notable goalies to have come through Reading and perhaps one of the team’s most notable alumni in general.
In 2005, Quick was selected by the Kings with the 11th pick in the draft’s third round. He was the 72nd pick overall. That same year, he began playing collegiate hockey for the University of Massachusetts Amherst. There, he would backstop the team for two seasons. He played in 54 total games for UMass Amherst, averaging a .925 save percentage between the two seasons he spent with them.
In 2007, Quick made his professional hockey debut with the Reading Royals of the ECHL. He played 38 games with the Royals hockey club, posting a 2.79 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. This would prove to be his only campaign in Reading, as he moved up to the American Hockey League. He played 19 games with the Manchester Monarchs and three games with the NHL affiliate in Los Angeles.
The following season, Quick played 14 games with Manchester before joining the Kings for the remainder of the season. He quickly became the franchise goalie in Los Angeles, serving 44 games between the pipes that year.
2012 was a huge year for Quick, as he played in his first NHL All-Star Game and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoff MVP. Of course, he also recorded his first Stanley Cup Championship. During the 2014 Winter Olympics, Jonathan Quick backstopped the United States National Men’s Team for five games, posting a 2.17 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.
2014 also saw Quick lead Los Angeles to yet another Stanley Cup championship. The already-decorated goalie won the William M. Jennings Trophy in both 2013-14 and 2017-18.
Today, Quick has played in a total of 644 games throughout his NHL career. He’s played a part in 325 wins for the Kings and has also hoisted the Stanley Cup twice. NHL.com says it best, noting that “The Los Angeles Kings’ goaltending record book belongs to one man. Whether it is a regular-season or postseason record, practically every significant franchise mark for goalies is held by Quick.”
There is no question that Quick has had an illustrious professional career, and it all began in Reading, where his picture still hangs on the Wall of Honor. He is an iconic former Royal, a name all fans recognize and overall an easy choice for one of three stars in Reading Royals franchise history.
Yannick Tifu
As aforementioned, not all of the stars I have selected have actually played in the NHL. However, no conversation about iconic Reading Royals alumni would be complete without mentioning one man – Yannick Tifu.
Born on October 12th, 1984 in Brossard, Quebec, Yannick Tifu is a household name for any fan of the Reading Royals. Standing at five-foot-eleven and weighing in at 185 pounds, the lefty joined the Royals relatively late in his career, but surely made a monumental impact.
Tifu began his pro career in 2005 when he signed with the Rockford IceHogs. He played 76 regular season games, scoring 23 goals along with 49 assists. He also added 102 penalty minutes.
Tifu began his ECHL career in 2006 playing for the Phoenix Roadrunners. He played just 13 games for Phoenix before moving over to the Dayton Bombers. With Dayton that year, Tifu tallied 26 goals along with 51 assists through 65 games played.
During the 2007-08 season, Tifu played another 39 games with Dayton before spending time with two different AHL clubs – the Albany River Rats and the Rochester Americans. Tifu led the league in scoring that season and was selected as a starting player for the ECHL American Conference All-Star Team.
During the summer of 2008, the Florida Everblades announced that they had traded four of their players, as well as future considerations, to the Dayton Bombers to acquire Yannick Tifu. Tifu, being the 2007-08 ECHL First-Team All-Star. Tifu split the season between the Everblades and the Albany River Rats of the AHL that year.
Over the next few seasons, he would find himself playing for three new teams, including the Victoria Salmon Kings, the Elmira Jackals and the Chicago Express. He also spent more time in the AHL with the Albany River Rats, and later, the Binghamton Senators.
In November of 2011, Tifu was traded to the Reading Royals where he breathed new life into the team, which was two games under .500 at the time. In early February 2012, the forward made Royals history when he scored back-to-back overtime game winners. Later that year, Tifu was named team captain and the Royals were able to clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Following this, he was crowned the team’s MVP for the season as well as receiving the team’s Fan’s Choice Award.
Yannick Tifu was the first player re-signed by the Royals for what would become a legendary 2012-13 season. Once again, the fan favorite forward wore the “C” on his sweater as he skated in all 72 regular season games. During, he’d score 27 goals along with 45 assists.
Reading entered the postseason as the first seed in the Eastern Conference. By defeating the Cincinnati Cyclones in the conference finals, Reading became the 2013 Eastern Conference champions. They then proceeded to the Kelly Cup Finals where they knocked off the Stockton Thunder in a five-game series to win the first Kelly Cup Championship since the team’s founding back in 2001. Tifu played a major part in hoisting the Kelly Cup that year, posting 12 goals and 13 assists during the postseason.
The iconic forward played in Reading the following season before leaving the league for a year to compete with Ducs d’Angers. Upon returning for 2015-16, Tifu spent time skating for both the Royals and the Brampton Beast. He has played in the North American Hockey League since then.
On March 17th, 2018, Tifu’s jersey number, #10, was officially retired by the Reading Royals. Tifu was also inducted into the Reading Royals Wall of Honor. His jersey number now hangs from the rafters at the Santander Arena, the second number to ever be retired by the organization.
Larry Courville
The third and final star for the Reading Royals of course goes to Larry Courville. This man has notably done it all, so I’ll begin with his career as a player. In 1993, Courville was selected 119th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the draft’s fifth round. During the 1993-94 season, the left-winger began his pro hockey career at just 18-years-old with the AHL’s Moncton Hawks.
The following season, Courville skated with Canada’s U20 team for the U20 World Junior Championship. He skated in all seven games, where he recorded two goals along with three assists. He did so as the team took home the gold medal.
In 1995, Courville was selected again in the NHL Entry Draft. This time, the young forward was picked 61st overall by the Vancouver Canucks. He skated in three NHL games with Vancouver during the 1995-96 season where he scored one goal. Courville spent the remainder of the season, 71 games, with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.
He remained in the affiliation, bouncing between Vancouver and Syracuse for three seasons. In the NHL, Courville spanned a total of 33 games with the Vancouver Canucks. The 1998-99 season marked the end of the back-and-forth as Courville played solely with the Syracuse Crunch.
He remained in the AHL, albeit with various clubs, including the Kentucky Thoroughblades, Hershey Bears and Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, from 1998 to 2002. Courville made his ECHL debut during the 2001-2002 season, playing eight games with the inaugural Reading Royals team.
Taking the following season off, Courville returned to play in the fall of 2003 with the Johnstown Chiefs. In 2004, he signed with the Reading Royals and spent his final four seasons with the team before retiring in 2008.
During his time as a Royal, Courville skated in 152 games. However, just because his time on the ice concluded in 2008 doesn’t mean that’s where his story as a Royal ends. On the contrary, his biggest contributions to the team began the following season from behind the bench.
During the 2008-2009 season, Courville was appointed as assistant coach. Halfway through the season, he would replace Jason Nobili as head coach. From 2009 to 2017, Larry Courville wore the titles head coach and director of hockey operations with the Royals.
In 2013, he became the first, and so far, the only Royals coach to lead the team to a Kelly Cup Championship. Courville’s jersey number, 22, went on to become the first ever retired by the hockey club. With his jersey number hanging from the rafters above the ice, Larry Courville was also named to Reading’s Wall of Honor where his accolades will be forever memorialized in the Santander Arena.