The Newfoundland Growlers opened their 2023-24 season with a bang as they rolled to a 7-4 victory over the Reading Royals on Friday night at the Mary Brown’s Centre.

It was a scrappy affair, with no shortage of fire on both sides, but the Growlers put up the offense to topple their division rivals in the opening night of their fifth season in the ECHL.

Four Growlers scored their first professional goals — Tyler Weiss, Grant Cruikshank, Jackson Berezowski and Brock Caufield — including a pair from Weiss while Todd Skirving and Serron Noel provided the other tallies for Newfoundland.

Head Coach Matt Cooke also secured his first win as the team’s new bench boss.

The Growlers and Royals square off once again tonight at 7pm.