Royals need one point to clinch playoff spot
Forget the clothes-shedding antics of Magic Mike. When it comes to this time of year in hockey, it’s all about magic numbers. And the magical numeral for the Victoria Royals is one.
They need a single point to clinch a playoff berth into the Western Hockey League playoffs. A win, or overtime or shootout loss, tonight in Kamloops against the Blazers will do it.
It is against the Blazers, the highest-ranking team in the Western Conference outside one of the eight playoff slots, that the magic number is being counted. Ninth-place Kamloops (27-32-5) is 16 points behind Victoria (35-23-5), with 16 points available to the Blazers over their final eight regular-season games.
The only reason Victoria hasn’t already clinched a spot is that Kamloops holds the tie-breaker against the Royals.
It’s all pretty much academic at this juncture. It’s not a matter of if for the Royals, but when.
So, too, for the Blazers, but going the other way. They wouldn’t be eliminated with a loss tonight to the Royals, but things are looking grim.
Kamloops sits six points adrift of the Seattle Thunderbirds for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth, with Seattle holding three games in hand.
“It’s not that we haven’t played well, but we’ve struggled getting points,” said legendary Kamloops head coach Don Hay.
“Seattle is not doing much more, but they are managing to get the odd point. It’s the old cliché, but it’s one game at a time, and we’ll come out and play hard each game.”
It’s that desperation factor that has the Royals not taking anything for granted tonight in Kamloops and Friday and Saturday in Prince George against the Cougars, another team set to miss the playoffs.
The 10th-ranked Cougars are still mathematically alive, but at 17 points behind Seattle with 11 games remaining, they are in reality all but done.
“Kamloops and Prince George are both hard-working teams,” warned Victoria head coach Dan Price, lest his team lets its guard down.
This has made for a bittersweet year for Hay, who this season eclipsed former Portland Winter Hawks mentor Ken Hodge as the winningest coach in WHL history.
“You don’t go into it to break the record, but it happened that way,” said the self-effacing Hay.
“It’s overwhelming, but these are team achievements. I have been a part of some good organizations and have so many people to thank for it [record].”
The Blazers feature three Island players. The most notable is goaltender Dylan Ferguson of Lantzville, who made headlines this season as an emergency NHL call-up for the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
Also playing for Kamloops this season are veteran defenceman Nolan Kneen of Duncan and rookie blueliner Sean Strange of Saanich.
ICE CHIPS: The return of sixfoot-five Royals blueliner Chaz Reddekopp, who has been out with injury since Jan. 13, is imminent. The Los Angeles Kings-signed prospect is listed as day-to-day.