From Reading Royals
The Reading Royals, proud affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, announced their 25th anniversary regular season schedule. The 2026-27 campaign begins on the road against the Greensboro Gargoyles on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m., at First Horizon Coliseum.
The game marks the 18th time in 25 seasons the Royals have opened their season with an away game. The Royals are 9-11-4-0 all-time in season openers with a 6-9-3-0 record in season openers on the road.
The season opener begins a two-game road trip for the Royals with two games against Greensboro (Oct. 16-17).
Click here to download the schedule.
Home Opener
The Royals play their home opener at Santander Arena on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., against Kalamazoo. The home opener opens a two-game series with the Wings, which concludes on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 3 p.m. The Royals hoist a record of 9-11-1-3 in home openers, with their last home opener victory coming against the Norfolk Admirals, 6-4, on Oct. 23 of the 2021-22 season.
Fans can secure their seat for Opening Night now with a Royals ticket plan. The Royals offer plans ranging from as low as four games all the way up to the full season Royals365 Membership.
Royals single-game ticket information will be announced later this summer. For more on the home opener, click here.
Quick hits
- Home Weekend Warriors: During the regular season, the Reading Royals will play 12 Friday games, 12 Saturday games, and three Sunday games at Santander Arena.
- A Pair of Monday 1 p.m. Puck Drops (MLK Day and President’s Day): The Royals will play their seventh annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day game against the Wheeling Nailers on Monday, Jan. 18, as well as their first President’s Day game since 2023-24 against the Trenton Ironhawks on Monday, Feb. 15. Both games are at 1 p.m. at Santander Arena.
- Education Day Games: Reading announced that their sixth annual season with an Education Day Game will be the first with two educational-friendly home games. The first Education Day Game will be played on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 10:30 a.m., and the second Education Day Game will be played on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 10:30 a.m., both against Adirondack.
- Both Education Day Games will feature an educational component and discounted tickets for K-12 Students. To sign your classroom up today, visit Royals Education Day Games.
- Thanksgiving Eve Game: The Royals will play a game on Thanksgiving Eve for the 10th time in the 17 seasons Reading has played a game on the final Wednesday in November (2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15). This season, the Royals will play the Trenton Ironhawks for a 7 p.m. puck drop before the turkey feast!
- Reading last hosted a game on Thanksgiving Eve 10 seasons ago (2014-15, 4-3 SOL vs. Elmira). The Royals are 4-11-0-1 all-time on Thanksgiving Eve.
- New Year’s Eve Game: The Royals will host a game on New Year’s Eve for the fifth time in the 16 seasons (2019-20, 2021-22, 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26) they have played a game on Dec. 31. This season, the Royals will host the Norfolk Admirals for a 4 p.m. puck drop before the ball drops!
- Reading previously hosted a game on New Year’s Eve last season (2025-26, 2-1 W vs. Norfolk). The Royals are 7-7-0-1 all-time on New Year’s Eve.
- North Division Alignment: The North Division welcomes the Trenton Ironhawks, relocated from the Utah Grizzlies. The Royals 2026-27 divisional opponents (games vs.) include the Adirondack Thunder (10), Greensboro Gargoyles (7), Maine Mariners (7), Norfolk Admirals (7), Trenton (12), Trois-Rivières Lions (7), and the Worcester Railers (5). 55 of Reading’s 72 regular-season games are against North Division opponents.
- This is the third season Reading has played a season in an eight-team division (2004-05, 2025-26) and the fourth season they will compete in a division of eight or more teams (2003-04, nine-team division).
- Hello, Old Friend (Trenton): The Royals revive their 83-mile rivalry with Trenton, who welcome the return of ECHL hockey for the first time in 14 years as the Trenton Ironhawks. They will play their home games at the 7,000-seat CURE Insurance Arena, which was previously home to the ECHL’s Titans and Devils from 1999-2013. The Trenton Titans twice reached the Kelly Cup Finals, falling to South Carolina in 2001 and capturing their only championship in 2005, defeating Florida in six games.
- Reading held a 75-57-15 all-time regular season record against Trenton with a 1-3 record in four Kelly Cup Playoff games against the Titans – 2005 North Division Final (TRN 3-1).
- The Royals’ last meeting with Trenton came on a stand-alone game 14 seasons ago on March 28, 2013 (6-4 L) in Reading. Current NHL goaltender for the Colorado Avalanche, Scott Wedgewood, was the winning goaltender for Trenton in the game. The Royals’ previous victory over Trenton came five meetings earlier, on Dec. 29, 2012, at Trenton in a Reading 3-2 win backstopped by current NHL goaltender for the Seattle Kraken Philipp Grubauer against Trenton’s Scott Wedgewood.
- Non-Division Foes: The Royals will play four non-division opponents (Kalamazoo, Wheeling, Rapid City, and Cincinnati) in the 2026-27 regular season.
- Kalamazoo Wings (3) ~ HOME (3): Oct. 24-25 and Nov. 20
- REA vs. KAL: Reading is 14-15-2 record in 31 all-time regular-season meetings against Kalamazoo with a 3-6 record in nine Kelly Cup Playoff games against the Wings – 2010 American Conference Quarterfinals (REA 3-2) and 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals (KAL 4-0).
- Reading’s last meeting with the Wings came on a stand-alone game two seasons ago on February 19, 2025 (4-1 L). The Royals last hosted Kalamazoo three seasons ago for a two-game home series on November 30 (4-3 L) and December 2 (5-3 W).
- Wheeling Nailers (6) ~ HOME (5): Jan. 11, 18, March 19-21 ~ AWAY (1): March 10
- REA vs. WHL: Reading hoists a 125-91-21 record in 237 all-time regular season games against Wheeling with a 8-13 record in 21 Kelly Cup Playoff games, which came in the 2004 Northern Division Semifinal (REA 3-2), 2006 North Division Semifinal (WHL 3-1), 2016 Eastern Conference Semifinal (WHL 4-3), and 2026 North Division Semifinal (WHL 4-1).
- The Royals concluded their 2025-26 campaign against Wheeling in the 2026 Kelly Cup Playoffs North Division Semifinal series, where they fell in four games to one after boasting an 8-7-0-0 record against the Nailers in the 2025-26 regular season.
- Rapid City (3) ~ AWAY (3): Jan. 21-23
- REA vs. RC: Reading holds a 2-0-0 all-time regular season record against Rapid City, earned in a two-game sweep over the Rush on Nov. 4 (6-3 W) and Nov. (5-3 W) to cap off a six-game west of the Mississippi road trip (4-1-0-1) across stops in Idaho, Colorado, and Rapid City.
- Cincinnati Cyclones (3) ~ HOME (3): March 3, 5, 6
- REA vs. CIN: Reading is 31-27-5 in 63 all-time regular-season meetings against Cincinnati with a 13-10 record in 23 Kelly Cup Playoff games against the Cyclones – 2008 North Division Final (CIN 4-3), 2010 American Conference Final (CIN 4-3), 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal (REA 3-1), and 2013 Eastern Conference Final (REA 4-1).
- Reading’s last meeting with the Cyclones came on a stand-alone game eight seasons ago on Feb. 16, 2018 (8-0 W) in Reading. Branden Komm was the winning goaltender for the Royals in his Reading debut, recording a 35-save shutout and two assists in the first of three most lop-sided wins in franchise history at +8 goals for (8-0 W vs Maine, 2/26/20 ~ 9-1 W vs Wheeling 3/12/22). Cincinnati also handed Reading the franchise’s greatest margin of loss at -11 goals against (13-2 L, 12/27/02).
- Kalamazoo Wings (3) ~ HOME (3): Oct. 24-25 and Nov. 20
