Rested Royals ready for another giant test

With exactly one-third of the Western Hockey League season remaining and roughly one-third of its roster being relatively new, the Victoria Royals are still in a gel mode as they make the stretch run of the 2017-18 campaign.

Of the 24 games remaining, 10 are against B.C. Division rivals, including tonight’s quick trip to the Langley Events Centre to face the Vancouver Giants before welcoming the Calgary Hitmen to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Saturday and Sunday.

Coming off a disappointing 8-4 divisional loss to the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday, the Royals had a good week of practice as newcomers settle in.

Eight players, including Jeff de Wit, Braydon Buziak, Tanner Kaspick, Noah Gregor, Lane Zablocki, Kade Jensen, D-J Jerome and Andrei Grishakov have played 11 games or less after a flurry of trades over the past month.

Travel has not been kind to the Royals of late with a game in Kamloops followed by a jaunt to Everett the next night, then came an excursion to Portland for one game with a day in between before facing Vancouver and Kelowna for back-to-back road outings.

Although not excuses, they are definitely challenges as the team tries to develop its identity following so many changes.

“It’ll be nice for everybody to catch their breath and for our new players to get to know each other a little bit,” said Royals general manager Cam Hope.

“It’s been a little crazy and the timing has been a bit odd, because the trade deadline fell right in the middle of it, but there’s still a long way to go, so we’re good,” he said of the schedule, which includes this hectic weekend coming up. “It’s another three [games] in three days, but there’s not a lot of travel so it should be good.

“Despite the fact that teenagers recover quickly, it’s still difficult,” he said of three straight games. “There’s a lot of preparation and a lot of pressure that gets put on physically and mentally when you play that often.”

Being on the road has allowed the newcomers the opportunity to get to know their new teammates. Movement within the league at the trade deadline still is unsettling, however.

“Trades aren’t exactly the most fun, saying goodbye to friends I’ve had for a long time, but it’s a chance to make new friends and it looks like we’ve got some good pickups here. I’m excited about what they’re going to bring,” said veteran goalie Griffen Outhouse, who was asked about the ramifications of change.

“I don’t think it takes time to gel, I think it takes a bit of time for them to feel comfortable. I think all the guys in our organization do a good job of welcoming new players so guys are comfortable when they do come here.”

Of the 24 remaining games, the divisional ones will be key with tonight’s kicking it off. Victoria sits five points back of the Rockets — who still have a game in hand — and one ahead of the Giants. The Royals play three straight against Kelowna (two at home) from Feb. 9-12, which will be very telling. They will also be home to Vancouver one more time and face Prince George twice at home and twice away.

It’s interesting to note that Victoria is 15-5-1-0 at home and 12-12-2-1 on the road, including that 8-4 setback in Kelowna where they started miserably despite facing a 15-year-old goaltender making his first start.

“It was one of those games where we were on our heels early and I don’t think we had enough in the tank to come back from the hole that we had dug,” said Hope.

However, the Royals did win key games in Portland and Vancouver prior to the loss and 15 of the 24 remaining games are at home.