Reading, PA – The ECHL and the Reading Royals today unveiled the primary and secondary logos for the 2009 ECHL All-Star Skills Competition and Game, which will be held at the Sovereign Center in the City of Reading, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 20 and 21, 2009. The primary logo is framed with a ‘keystone'-shaped design in recognition of Pennsylvania's state ‘nickname' as the ‘Keystone State'. The secondary logo incorporates a stylized drawing of the Reading Pagoda—the historic city landmark that celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary this year.

The logos were designed by Joe Bosack, the president and founder of the Joe Bosack Graphic Design Company, a full service design studio that specializes in branded identity. Bosack has created a number of logos for ECHL related activities, including the ECHL logo, the Kelly Cup Playoffs logo, and the last six ECHL All-Star logos. Bosack has created identities, both directly and indirectly, for the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the National Football League, Major League Baseball, Nike Team Sports, as well as other sports' leagues, individual teams and universities.

2009 ECHL All-Star merchandise displaying the newly-minted logos is currently available at the Fan Attic, the Royals' merchandise outlet store located at 645 Penn Street in Reading. As additional ECHL All-Star merchandise becomes available, it will also be available through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com.

The ECHL All-Star logos will be utilized in virtually every activity associated with ‘Hockey Week in Reading,' which will feature a wide variety of special events held in conjunction with the ECHL All-Star celebration. Those special events will include a Royals' regular season game on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (Monday, January 19, 2009) and the official induction ceremony for the second class of the ECHL's Hall of Fame. The Stanley Cup and Patrick J. Kelly Cup will also be on display throughout the event, marking the ninth time in the last ten years that the NHL championship trophy and the ECHL championship trophy have been displayed together at the All-Star Game.

Next year's ECHL All-Star celebration will mark the seventeenth season the ECHL has held a mid-season showcase of the top prospects in the Premier ‘AA' Hockey League. It will be the twelfth edition of the ECHL All-Star Skills Competition. Historically, hockey operations representatives from the National Hockey League and American Hockey League have attended the ECHL All-Star game, which has produced some 42 players who have gone on to play in the NHL, including 26 since 2002 when the focus of the game was shifted to feature younger prospects. The past six ECHL All-Star Games have brought at least $1 million to the local economy with invited guests, players, coaches, and fans occupying hundreds of hotel rooms and spending three days in the host city. The game has been available live to more than 80 million homes on the NHL Network each of the last six years as well as being rebroadcast on multiple regional sports networks. The audio broadcast has been carried each of the last three years on XM Satellite Radio as well as being available in all ECHL markets.