The 7th place Victoria Royals ( 20-36-2-4, 46pts) entertain the 5th place Spokane Chiefs (21-22-4-3, 71pts) in the first of a two game set Tuesday night. Pregame show on The Zone @ 91.3 FM at 6:45.
SERIES: It’s the third of four meetings, with Victoria picking up a point in a 6-5 shoot out loss in Spokane February 3rd. The Royals lost to the Chiefs 6-1 back on Oct 26th.
STANDINGS: Victoria with 46 points is in 7th, 2 up on Seattle, 3 ahead of Everett and now 6 up on Prince George. Spokane with 71 points is 5th in the West, 5 back of Vancouver.
LAST GAMES: The Royals are coming off a pair of road wins against the Cougars, 5-3 Saturday, and 4-2 on Friday. Robin Soudek had 3 goals over the weekend, while rookie netminder Jared Rathjen earned his first two WHL victories. With a win, Victoria would match a season high 3 game win streak.
Spokane has dropped their last two, 7-3 versus Tri City on Saturday, and 8-3 in Portland Friday. The Chiefs have 1 win in their last 7 as they begin a four game road trip.
HOME & AWAY: The Royals look for their 12th home win, the Chiefs are 3 under .500 on the road, also with 11 victories.
WHO’S HOT: Zane Jones scored a goal and assist last game, extending his point streak to 3 games (1g, 3a). Robin Soudek has 3 goals in his last 2 games. Dakota Conroy (1g 1a) and Brett Cote (2a) have points in back to back games.
The Chiefs Brenden Kichton leads all defenseman in points (59) and assists (46). F Dominik Uher also has 59 points and is on a 3 game point streak (3g, 3a). F Mitch Holmberg (2g) has goals in back to back games. Darren Kramer is second in the league in penalty minutes (168).
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Spokane has allowed 15 goals against in their last two games. They’ve scored the 8th most goals overall, while giving up the fewest shots on goal in the league per game (25.98). The Chiefs are the 3rd least penalized team. They own the 9th best penalty kill, and their power play is ranked 19th overall.
LEADING SCORERS:
Uher (27-32-59)
Kichton (13-46-59)
Holmberg (24-26-50)
Aviani (12-26-38)
Kuhn (12-26-38)
Crooks (32-30-62)
Nelson (21-34-55)
Soudek (25-28-53)
Rintoul (15-31-46)
Magee (21-23-44)
DRAFTED/NHL SIGNED PLAYERS: For Victoria: D Tyler Stahl (Carolina, 6th rd 2010), D Jordan Fransoo (Ottawa, 7th rd 2011). For Spokane: Brenden Kichton (NYI ’11), Dominik Uher (PITT ’11), Darren Kramer (OTT ’11)
TOP PROSPECTS: Central Scoutings mid-term rankings of North American players positions Victoria’s Steven Hodges (55), and Logan Nelson (108). For Spokane: Cole Wedman (142), and Reid Gow (185)
INJURIES:
For Spokane:
#15, Carter Proft, Upper body, TBD
#18, Reid Gow, Upper body, day to day
For Victoria:
#3, Zach Habscheid, Lower body, 1 month
Play By Play Voice of the Victoria Royals on The Zone @ 91.3 FM
