Royals List Includes Blight and Zappala

Chris Blight (l) and Joe Zappala

Reading, PA -- The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League and the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, today announced that the team has extended qualifying offers to eight players, including former Clarkson standout Chris Blight and former Yale standout Joe Zappala.

In his third pro season, Blight (6'0/190) (25) scored twenty-one goals and assisted on eighteen others (thirty-nine points) in forty regular season games with the Royals last season. Blight, who registered nine multi-point performances during the year, tied two team records when he scored four goals and picked up five points in the Royals' 6-2 victory over the Johnstown Chiefs on November 10, 2007. Blight, who played his college hockey at Clarkson University, also played thirty-one American Hockey League games last season in three separate call-ups with the Manitoba Moose, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, and the Albany River Rats. After his final stint in the AHL (with Albany), Blight returned to the Royals with five games remaining in the regular season and, in thirteen playoff games with the team, scored four goals and assisted on four others (eight points).

Zappala (6'0/205) (25), who hails from Medford, Massachusetts, will be entering his third pro season next year. Over the last two years, Zappala has played a total of 115 regular season games with the Royals, scoring a total of 41 goals and assisting on forty-seven others (eighty-eight points) and racking up 200 penalty minutes. Last season, Zappala, who played his college hockey at Yale University, established a new Royals' team record by scoring at least one goal in eight consecutive games (10 goals) (02/22 - 03/08/08). At last year's Fans' Choice Awards Banquet, Zappala received the Heart Award, as well as the Fans' Choice Award.

Under ECHL rules, each Member Team was entitled to reserve Rights to a maximum of eight (8) Qualified Players. Of these eight (8) Qualified Players, no more than four (4) of the Qualified Players shall be Veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2008-09 season). Players will have until August 1 to accept a qualifying offer. Players on open Qualifying Offers can not be traded. Teams were not required to protect players who signed a Standard Players Contract prior to July 1. Teams are not allowed to sign more than 24 players to contracts during the summer. Players that were not signed by July 1 or extended a qualifying offer by July 1 become unrestricted free agents.
 
A Member extending a valid Qualifying Offer to a Veteran retains the Rights to that Veteran until August 1. After August 1, if the Veteran is not signed to a Standard Player Contract by the Member, the Veteran shall be deemed a Restricted Free Agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other Members. Restricted Free Agents may not be traded.
 
When a Restricted Free Agent receives an offer to sign a Standard Player Contract from an Offering Member other than the Member with Rights and the Restricted Free Agent desires to accept the Offer, the Restricted Free Agent and the Offering Member must, within 24 hours, deliver a completed Offer Sheet to the Member with Rights, the League Office and the PHPA. The Member with Rights shall then have seven (7) days after the date it receives the Offer Sheet to exercise its Right to Match. The Right to Match shall expire seven (7) days from the date the Offer Sheet was received but not counting the day of receipt.
 
If a Restricted Free Agent is not signed to either an Offer Sheet or a Standard Player Contract by a Member by August 31, he shall be deemed an Unrestricted Free Agent.