Labelle comes back to Royals looking to add to resume

Reading, Pa. – Forward Olivier Labelle, the Reading Royals’ career leader in goals (128) and games played (294), has agreed to a contract with the team for the 2019-20 season.

The Royals are the ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Phildelphia Flyers and the American Hockey League's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Labelle is one of three Royals ever to play five seasons with Reading (Larry Courville and Ryan Cruthers). With his first game played this season, he will become the first Royals player to appear in six seasons with the squad. The Royals have made the playoffs every year he’s been on the team and Labelle is tied for the most playoff goals (16) in team history with Cruthers.

In addition to the team goals record, Labelle ranks first in career game-winning goals (23), power-play goals (48) and penalty minutes (581). He ranks second in Royals history in points (256) and third in assists (128). The St.-Eustache, Quebec native needs 17 points to tie Cruthers’ team mark for most points ever (273).

The 13-year professional has compiled 742 career regular-season games combined between the AHL, ECHL and overseas leagues, scoring 256 goals and 538 points.

Labelle last played for the Royals in 2016-17 and led the Royals with 27 goals that season. Following a stint in France, Labelle returned to the ECHL in 2018-19 with Indy and posted 15 goals and 40 points. On March 15-16 of last season with Indy, he played against the Royals for the first time ever and assisted on a pair of tallies. Labelle has scored double-digit goals in all nine seasons he’s played in North America. He’s led the Royals in single-season goals three times (2011-12, 2014-15, 2016-17) and scored a career-high 30 goals in 2014-15 for Reading.