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| Keith Hamilton notched his 15th win last night. |
Last night the Royals trailed 2-0 just 15 seconds in on a pair of goals by Tim Bozon, but scored four unanswered to defeat the Blazers for the first time in six meetings (1-4-1-0). After tonight they’ll meet once more, February 22nd in Kamloops.
Victoria got goals from Robin Soudek, Hayden Rintoul, Ben Walker and Brandon Magee. Keith Hamilton made 33 saves for his 15th win of the season, as Cole Cheveldave recorded just his 6th loss with a 31 save effort.
Kamloops is now tied with Tri City for tops in the WHL with 72 points. The Blazers have now lost back to back games after a riding a 9 game win streak, and held pointless for the first time in 11.
Victoria with 37 points, has now won 2 of their last 3, and remain one point back of Seattle for 7th, moving 5 up on 9th place Prince George. The Cougars come to Victoria for a pair of games next Tuesday and Wednesday.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS:
Kamloops 2 @ Victoria 4 (Jan 27 2012) Final
Victoria 2 @ Kamloops 4 (Dec 3 2011) Final
Kamloops 6 @ Victoria 5 (Nov 30 2011) Final OT
Kamloops 4 @ Victoria 3 (Nov 29 2011) Final
Victoria 1 @ Kamloops 4 (Nov 25 2011) Final
Victoria 2 @ Kamloops 8 (Oct 2 2011) Final
BLAZING NUMBERS: Kamloops is tied for the most road wins in the league with 16, have scored the most ‘first goals’ with 35, and are unsurpassed in short handed goals with 14. With five, 20 goal scorers, the Blazers combined have scored the 3rd most goals per game. Kamloops has been stingy in January, only allowing 18 goals in their last 11, the 4th fewest a gainst in the league. Their special teams are both ranked 8th overall.
Kamloops first and third period are their strongest, out scoring the opposition by 28 and 25 goals respectively, and only by 8 in the middle frame.
WHO TO WATCH: For Victoria: Jamie Crooks has 6 points in his last 3 outings (2g 4a). Robin Soudek has now scored a goal in each of his last 3 games. Hayden Rintoul leads all WHL defenseman in power play goals with 11. Logan Nelson extends his point streak to 3 games (2g 3a). Brandon Magee and Ben Walker have points in their last 2, after finishing the night with a goal and assist each.
For Kamloops, Swiss born Tim Bozon’s 2 goals last night puts him just one back of Vancouver’s Marek Tvrdon in rookie scoring with 49 points, and leads all freshman in goals with 25. Brendan Ranford leads the team in points with 59, 15th best in the league. Overager F Colin Smith is over a point per game with 57 in 49 games. D Austin Madaisky is tied for 6th in defenseman scoring with 38 points. Cole Cheveldave has the 3rd best GAA (2.37), and 4th best save percentage (91.8%) while recording 3 shut outs this month.
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| Tonight is 'Pink in the Rink' |
Tonight the Royals will look for back to back wins against the Blazers, and chance to get back to .500 on home ice.
The pregame show starts at 6:45 on the Zone at 91.3 FM.
LEADING SCORERS:
For Kamloops:
Ranford (25-34-59)
Smith (24-33-57)
Bozon (25-24-49)
Lipon (15-33-48)
Herrod (20-24-44)
For Victoria:
Crooks (25-27-52)
Nelson (20-28-48)
Soudek (21-22-43)
Rintoul (12-23-35)
Magee (15-19-34)
DRAFTED/NHL SIGNED PLAYERS: For Victoria: D Tyler Stahl (Carolina, 6th rd 2010), D Jordan Fransoo (Ottawa, 7th rd 2011). For Kamloops: Brendan Ranford (PHI ’10), D Austin Madaisky (CBJ ’10).
TOP PROSPECTS: Central Scoutings mid-term rankings of North American players positions Victoria’s Steven Hodges (55), and Logan Nelson (108). For Kamloops: Tim Bozon (39).
INJURIES: For Victoria: #6, Jesse Zgraggen, Upper body, indefinite, #7, Tyler Stahl, Upper body, indefinite. For Kamloops: #13, Ryan Hanes, Upper body,day to day, #17, Jordan DePape, Upper body, 1 month, #22, Brandon Herrod, Lower body, day to day.
