Royals search for wins in Washington state
GAME DAY: VICTORIA AT SEATTLE 7 p.m. at the Sho Ware Center TV: None / Radio: The Zone 91.3 FM
The Victoria Royals have so far this Western Hockey League season met most of the criteria they set out for themselves.
Goal No. 1 was to hold their own in the tough B.C. Division. At 8-3 in that department, check. (Although four of those wins have been against the lagging Prince George Cougars).
Goal No. 2 was to show they can beat the elite teams in the league. With wins over Canadian Hockey League top-10 or honourable mention squads Lethbridge and Edmonton, check.
Goal No. 3 for most B.C. Division teams is to do well against Western Conference foes in the U.S. Division because those are the teams B.C. clubs meet most often out-of-division.
Hold the check mark on that, however, as Victoria is winless at 0-4-1 against U.S. Division teams.
The Royals (11-8-1) will try to rectify that situation on a threegame swing through Washington state. It begins tonight in Kent against the Seattle Thunderbirds (7-12-3) and continues Friday in Kennewick against the Americans (11-8-3) and Saturday in Spokane against the Chiefs (12-8-2) and 2018 first-round NHL draft-pick Ty Smith.
The Royals have won five of their last six games. Which explains a lot, said head coach Dan Price.
“We played the U.S. Division teams quite early in the season when our team was still trying to find its identity,” said Price.
It’s safe to say the Royals have found it of late.
“We’re not the same version of the team that played those games earlier in the season. We’re looking at this road trip as a fresh start against the [U.S. Division].”
Price said the team leaders, several who have come via offseason trades, took a while getting acclimatized but are starting to assert themselves.
“You can see it in practice, where our compete level has become very high,” said Price.
“Our leadership group sets the tone for that.”
That has spilled over the last six games.
The Royals leadership group, however, will have to go forward after the road trip without captain Phillip Schultz. The Dane has twice represented his country at the IIHF world junior championship but Denmark fell out of the top group at the 2019 world juniors in Vancouver and Victoria, replaced by 2019 second-tier tournament winner Germany for the 2020 world junior championship beginning Boxing Day in the Czech Republic. Schultz will try to lead Denmark back to the top group through the second-tier tournament early next month in Minsk, Belarus. Schultz will leave following Saturday’s game in Spokane and return after Christmas.
Things are going the opposite direction for tonight’s Royals opponent as Seattle has lost seven of its last nine games, including a 10-1 blowout last week in Kamloops. The Thunderbirds’ last game, however, was a 3-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades in Kent.
“[ShoWare Center] is one of the loudest buildings in the league,” said Price.
“U.S. Division fans really engage with the entertainment. Even the ambient sound is loud [in-between promotions and face-offs].”
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Thunderbirds forward Payton Mount from Victoria faces his hometown team tonight with four goals and 14 points in 21 games. It will be old-home night going the other way for Royals forward Graeme Bryks, the two-season Seattle forward, who was traded to Victoria just before the season began.
Seattle-captain Matthew Wedman scored 40 goals last season and was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL draft by the Florida Panthers. The 20-year-old leads the Thunderbirds with six goals and 17 points in 16 games. The six-foot-three over-ager is the last player connected to the 2017 team that won Seattle’s only WHL championship in the 43-year history of the franchise formerly known as the Breakers.