Reading Royals’ Coach James Henry has started making moves this week trading off forward Alec Butcher to the Tulsa Oilers for forward Tag Bertuzzi.
Alec Butcher has made his move to Tulsa from Reading after playing his entire season last year with the Royals. During that time, Butcher scored a total of 21 goals and 28 assists. This season, Butcher has played in 15 games with the Royals totaling four goals and three assists before being traded to Tulsa for forward Tag Bertuzzi.
The new arrival to Reading, Tag Bertuzzi, made quite the impression in his first professional season in the ECHL last year. Bertuzzi played for both the Norfolk Admirals appearing in 28 total games before going on loan to one game to the Charlotte Checkers. In those 28 games with the Admirals, he acquired 19 total points with 8 goals and 11 assists with one of those goals being a power play goal. He was averaging 0.68 points per game in those 28 games and receiving 18 total penalty minutes. After his one-game loan to the Charlotte Checkers, Bertuzzi moved on out west to the Tulsa Oilers where his stats significantly increased in the 36 games he spent with the team. He earned a total of 33 points spread amongst 16 goals and 17 assists with 10 of those goals being power play goals. His points per game average increased significantly from the 0.68 he had in Norfolk to 0.92. Though playing in more games, his penalty minutes decreased to only a total of 14.
Now with a new forward added to the roster, the Royals are hoping this young player and his skills will be the missing piece needed to get the team headed in the right direction. Currently, the Royals sit at a 26.70% win percentage with a 4-9 record with two overtime wins, one overtime loss, and one shootout loss. The Royals currently sit last in the North Division and last in the Eastern Conference.
