ECHL: Reading Royals’ Player Spotlight: Will Cranley

Though the Royals haven’t been in the spotlight for wins, there is a player however, that has been dominating the player spotlight in his last two games.

Will Cranley has taken the spotlight this week as he has outshined in goaltending in his last two games with the Royals. Cranley currently sits at the top in SV% at 0.889 and a GAA of 3.55, outshining the Royals’ goaltenders Nolan Maier and Jacob Kucharski. In his last two games, Cranley has stunned the crowd with his incredible saves, with his latest show-stopper being a save made with the toss of his stick toward the nearly completely open goal. The crowd jumped to their feet, and the cheers could be heard down Penn Street for sure as it brought back the fire the game surely needed after a lengthy tie. Though the Royals did not win that game against the Norfolk Admirals, fans still couldn’t believe the performance of the man in the crease. It seemed as though the Royals had won that game with the way he was talked about, with a third star being the least of what he deserved at his Saturday night performance.

Before Cranley joined the Royals, he spent most of his hockey career in the OHL, playing five seasons with the Ottawa 67’s. In the 2022-23 season, Cranley spent his final OHL season with the Flint Firebirds before coming to Reading. During that season, he appeared in 44 games for the Firebirds, maintaining a SV% of .884 and a GAA of 3.87. His stats are looking about the same thus far this season, with only four games with the Royals so far, but with it still being early in the season, there is always that possibility the numbers may improve, especially with him maintaining averages early in this season. There is still plenty of season left for Cranley to show his impressive skills, but surely, fans have expressed they’re excited to see it.