The Victoria Royals picked up a split in the Okanagan on the weekend, snapping a 6 game winless skid in Kelowna Friday night 2-1, then falling to the Blazers in Kamloops 4-2 on Saturday.
The Royals remain in 3rd spot in the BC Division one point up of the Rockets and now return home for a pair against the Tri City Americans tonight and tomorrow.
It's another 4 game in 5 night stretch after only a 2 day break versus Tri-City, who are ranked 3rd in Canada. The Americans own the best win percentage in the league, sitting first in the conference.
The Royals were victorious in Tri Cities 5-4 on Oct 25th in their only meeting of the season. It was 2 point nights for Jamie Crooks, Robin Soudek, Steven Hodges and Kevin Sundher as they chased Eric Comrie from the net. Keith Hamilton made 41 saves for the win.
Tri is coming off wins against Everett and Seattle, winning 8 of their last 10. They boast the 2nd best Penalty Killing and have given up the 2nd fewest goals in the league. On the road, the Americans are only 4 over .500, while the Royals are one over .500 at home but winless there in 3.
Former Bruin Mitch Topping will face his former club tonight, while N. Saanich product Sam Grist returns to play infront of friends and family. Marcus and Jordan Messier’s father is Mitch who played for Minnesota in the 80’s and is a second cousin of Mark.
The Americans big threats include Adam Hughesman who’s fourth in league scoring with 50 points, Brendan Shinnimin who spent part of the season playing for Phoenix’s AHL affiliate the Portland Pirates and Patrick Holland, the Flames draft pick. On the back end Zachery Yuen is a recent Jets draft selection while Grist attended Flyers training camp. Between the pipes, Ty Rimmer has the second best goals against average and save percentage in the league – while rookie Eric Comrie has 9 wins in 14 games.
This evening the Royals face an Americans club looking for revenge while boasting the #1 win percentage in the league in Victoria tonight. Pregame show start at 6:45 on The Zone @ 91.3 FM.
Play By Play Voice of the Victoria Royals on The Zone @ 91.3 FM
