Czarnik, Penny join Royals

Reading, Pa. – The Reading Royals, ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, announced that the team has agreed to terms with forwards Robbie Czarnik and Ryan Penny for the 2016-17 season.

Last year, Czarnik scored a team-leading 23 goals and assisted on 23 others in 51 games with the Royals before being traded on March 9 to the Norfolk Admirals, where he added two goals and four assists in 14 games. While with the Royals, Czarnik earned two separate stints in the AHL, playing two games with the Providence Bruins and three games with the San Diego Gulls. Despite being traded from the Royals in early March, Czarnik ended up also leading the team in power play goals (9), first goals (6), and shots on goal (174). His four game winners for Reading were second most on the club.

Last year marked Czarnik’s second stint in the ECHL. In 2014-15, he racked up 40 points (23g-17a) and 30 penalty minutes in 52 games with the Indy Fuel and Ontario Reign before joining the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL late in the season with whom he added four points (1g-3a) in 10 games. Czarnik has racked up 92 career points (48g-44a) and 70 penalty minutes in 117 total ECHL games. A third-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2008 NHL Entry draft, Czarnik spent the first three seasons of his pro career in the AHL, primarily with the Manchester Monarchs, after signing an NHL entry-level contract with LA. In 150 total AHL games, he has recorded 38 points (14g-24a) and 95 penalty minutes.

Prior to turning pro, Czarnik had a breakout season in 2010-11 with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, where he tied for the team lead with 77 points (33g-44a) in 61 games of major junior. Czarnik joined the Whalers mid-way through the 2009-10 season after leaving the University of Michigan, where he played 51 total games and posted 22 points (8g-14a) over a season and a half. During his freshman year with the Wolverines, Czarnik earned the CCHA Rookie of the Week Award on March 2, 2009, for a Michigan team that would advance to the NCAA Tournament. Prior to matriculating to Michigan, Czarnik tied for the team lead in scoring for the bronze medalist Team USA in the 2008 Under-18 World Junior Championships.

Penny, who hails from Fall River, Nova Scotia, is entering his second season of pro hockey. Last year, Penny, who signed an AHL contract with the Binghamton Senators in July of 2015, started the season with the Evansville IceMen, where he registered a total of 23 points (10g-13a) in 33 games. Penny also earned a two-and-a-half month call-up to the Senators where he registered five points (2g-3a) in 24 games.

Prior to turning pro, Penny played five years in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where scored 32 goals in 66 games with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in his final season of major junior. In 305 total games in the QMJHL, Penny, who served as the team captain in his last two seasons in the league, racked up 154 points (78g-76a) and 185 penalty minutes.