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Pereira returns for second season with Royals

Pereira returns for second season with Royals

Wednesday, July 6th

Reading, Pa. – The Reading Royals, ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL, announced that the team has agreed to terms with forward Mike Pereira.

Last year, Pereira, who hails from West Haven, Conn., led all players on the Royals final active roster with 19 goals in 47 games with the team. Pereira, who racked up 11 multi-point performances during the regular season, also led the Royals with five game-winning goals and led all forwards on the team in plus-minus with a +14 rating. Pereira earned three separate call-ups last season to the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League, where he played 17 regular-season games, totaling two points (1g-1a). The 24-year-old added one assist in three postseason games with Utica.

Pereira kicked off his pro career in 2014-15, when he registered seven points (4g-3a) and eight penalty minutes in a rookie season that was abbreviated to just 22 games with the Stockton Thunder due to injury. Pereira made his pro debut late in the 2013-14 season after the conclusion of his senior season at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, when he joined the Worcester Sharks of the AHL. During a three-game stint with the Sharks, Pereira scored his first pro goal when he bagged what proved to be the game winner in Worcester’s 5-1 victory over the Manchester Monarchs on March 16, 2014.

Prior to turning pro, Pereira had a stellar collegiate career at UMass-Amherst, finishing in the team’s top three in goals and overall scoring in all four of his seasons with the Minutemen. In his freshman year, Pereira tied for the team lead with 12 goals in 34 games and earned a spot on the Hockey East All-Rookie team, while being selected as the team’s Rookie of the Year. A three-time selection to the Hockey East All-Academic team, Pereira led the Minutemen with 17 goals in his sophomore season, while also leading the team in power play points (13), game-winning goals (3) and hattricks (2). Pereira, who was chosen as the Hockey East Player of the Week twice and UMass-Amherst’s Athlete of the Week four times during his college career, racked up 107 points (53g-54a) in 135 games with the Minutemen.