Monarchs Assign Three To Reading
Defenseman Jeff Likens and Forwards Vladimir Dravecky and Petr Kanko Join Royals
January 13, 2008

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 Monarchs have assigned defenseman Jeff Likens and forwards Vladimir Dravecky and Petr Kanko to the Royals. In a separate transaction, the Monarchs recalled forward Ned Lukacevic from Reading. In other separate transactions, the Royals (i) released forward Graig Mischler; (ii) completed the future considerations element of yesterday’s trade with the Bakersfield Condors (in which the Royals acquired defenseman Steven Later) by sending forward Tom Boudreau to the Condors; (iii) and signed forward Larry Courville.

Likens (5’11/178) (22), a first year pro from Barrington, Illinois, played fourteen games with the Royals from late October through late November and assisted on four goals for Reading. Likens, who played his college hockey at the University of Wisconsin, has played 22 games in Manchester and registered eight assists and fourteen penalty minutes. Dravecky (5’10/185) (22), a first year pro from Kosice, Slovakia, has registered seven assists and seventeen penalty minutes in twenty-four games with the Monarchs this year. Kanko (5’10/190) (23), a fourth year pro from Pribram, Czech Republic, has registered four assists and thirty-five penalty minutes in twenty-two games for the Monarchs this year. A third round pick of the Kings in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Kanko played 10 NHL games with Los Angeles two seasons ago.

It is anticipated that Likens (#20), Dravecky (#26), Kanko (#12), and Courville (#22) will be in the lineup for the Royals in this evening’s game (5:05) against the Cincinnati Cyclones at the Sovereign Center in Reading. The game night broadcast tonight will kick off with the pre-game warm up show at 4:35 pm on ESPN Radio 1240 in Ephrata, as well as on the internet through the Royals website (www.royalshockey.com). Streaming video is available on a pay per view basis through the B2 Networks.