Saturday 30 November 2013

Preview: Victoria at Seattle, Friday November 30th

The Victoria Royals (18-10-0-1, 37pts) wrap up a two game US road swing against the Seattle Thunderbirds (14-9-1-3, 32pts) Saturday night.

It’s the final meeting of the season, with the Royals holding a 2-1 series advanatge.  The Thunderbirds took the most recent encounter 3-1 on the Island after Victoria beat them 2-1 in overtime the night before.  The Royals won on the road against the T-birds 5-3 earlier in  November.

Victoria has won 8 of their last 9, while riding a 5 game win streak moving them into sole possession of 4th place in the West.

The Royals have outscored the opposition 20-4 during the streak, while their power play is operating at 50% during that span (10/20).

Friday night Victoria beat the Tri City Americans 3-1 as Axel Blomqvist scored his first as a Royal, Logan Nelson had 2 assists while Austin Carroll and Ben Walker added singles.  Patrik Polivka was the #1 star for a 5th straight, while the power play went 3 for 4.

They earn a franchise best 6th straight road win (9-3).

Seattle was at home last night and beat Saskatoon 6-2.  Alex Delnov scored twice and chipped in three assists while Ryan Gropp scored and set up two more.  The T-Birds were 3-for-5 on the power play in the win.

Seattle has won 2 in a row, but just 3 in their last 10.  They beat Portland 5-4 in overtime last Saturday and sit 6th in the West, 5 points back of Victoria.

Up next the Royals return home for a 3 game set beginning with the Ice on Tuesday, followed by a back to back set against the Giants.

Victoria Royals vs Seattle Thunderbirds: Head To Head Stats
Summary

   
Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular Season Victoria 2-1-0-0Seattle 1-1-1-0
Head to Head Record 2012-13 Regular Season Victoria 4-0-0-0Seattle 0-4-0-0
Last 5 Years record between teams Victoria 11-4-1-3Seattle 8-7-4-0
Victoria vs. Seattle Last 5 Years record at Victoria Victoria 6-3-0-1Seattle 4-3-3-0
Victoria vs. Seattle Last 5 Years record at Seattle Victoria 5-1-1-2Seattle 4-4-1-0
Previous Meetings This Season Seattle 3 @ Victoria 1 (Nov 16 2013) Final
Seattle 1 @ Victoria 2 (Nov 15 2013) Final OT
Victoria 5 @ Seattle 3 (Nov 8 2013) Final



How the 2 teams match up
     
 
Seattle
Victoria
Team Record 14-9-1-3 -- 32 points 18-10-0-1 -- 37 points
Division Ranking 4th U.S. 2nd B.C.
Conference Ranking 6th Western 4th Western
League Ranking 10th 6th
Past 10 Games 3-5-1-1 8-2-0-0
Streak 2-0-0-0 5-0-0-0
Last Game 6-2 W vs Saskatoon (Nov 29 2013) Final 3-1 W @ Tri-City (Nov 29 2013) Final
Home Record 8-3-0-2 9-7-0-1
Away Record 6-6-1-1 9-3-0-0
GF 95  77 
GA 102  65 
PP (Overall) (21/114) 18.4 (28/128) 21.9
PP (Home) (13/45) 28.9 (15/77) 19.5
PP (Away) (8/69) 11.6 (13/51) 25.5
PK (Overall) (27/125) 78.4 (14/120) 88.3
PK (Home) (14/51) 72.5 (11/79) 86.1
PK (Away) (13/74) 82.4 (3/41) 92.7
Leading Rookie Barzal (3-22-25) Soy (8-7-15)
Most PIM Yakubowski - 79 Carroll - 61
Team PIM/GM 17.6/Game 15.1/Game
Leading Scorers Theodore (11-16-27) Nelson (11-18-29)
  Barzal (3-22-25) Carroll (13-10-23)
  Delnov (12-11-23) Magee (7-12-19)
  Troock (8-14-22) Blomqvist (9-8-17)
  Lipsbergs (15-6-21) Fushimi (10-5-15)
Last 5 Games 6-2 W vs Saskatoon (Nov 29 2013) Final 3-1 W @ Tri-City (Nov 29 2013) Final
  5-4 W vs Portland (Nov 23 2013) Final OT 5-0 W vs Kamloops (Nov 23 2013) Final
  6-3 L @ Vancouver (Nov 22 2013) Final 6-1 W vs Kamloops (Nov 22 2013) Final
  4-3 L vs Kelowna (Nov 19 2013) Final SO 4-1 W @ Kelowna (Nov 20 2013) Final
  3-1 W @ Victoria (Nov 16 2013) Final 2-1 W @ Kamloops (Nov 19 2013) Final
Leading After 1st 8-1-1-0 10-0-0-0
Leading After 2nd 11-0-0-1 13-0-0-0
Tied After 1st 2-3-0-3 6-1-0-0
Tied After 2nd 2-1-1-2 3-0-0-1
Trailing After 1st 4-5-0-0 2-9-0-1
Trailing After 2nd 1-8-0-0 2-10-0-0
Out Shooting Opponents 9-2-0-0 5-5-0-1
Out Shot by Opponents 4-6-1-3 10-5-0-0
1-Goal Games 6-0-1-3 8-3-0-1
2-Goal Games 4-3-0-0 4-3-0-0
3-Goal Games 1-3-0-0 3-1-0-0

Recap: VIC 3 - TRI 1

The Victoria Royals (18-10-0-1, 37 pts) scored 3 power play goals to get past the Tri City Americans 3-1 on the road Friday night.

Patrik Polivka was the number one star for a 5th straight game with 33 saves, pushing Victoria’s win streak to 5, and a franchise record 6th straight on the road (9-3).
Axel Blomqvist scored his first as a Royal
Logan Nelson had two assists, Ben Walker and Austin Carroll added singles and Axel Blomqvist scored his first as a Royal, now 4 points in 3 games (1g 3a).

Royals celebrate 5th straight win
Victoria scored a goal in each period before Connor Rankin broke Polivka’s shut out bid with 1:03 left in the third on the power play and with Eric Comrie on the bench for the extra attacker.

The Royals have won 8 of 9, and take sole possession of 4th in the West after a Chiefs loss.

During the 5 game win streak, the club has only allowed 4 goals while scoring 20.  Victoria is now 14-0 when scoring first, and 13-0 when taking a lead to the third period.

The Royals power play went 3 for 4 and is now 10 for 20 (50 %) during the 5 game win streak.  The Americans went 1 for 4 with the man advantage.

Victoria takes a 2-1 series lead and will meet one final time on the Island February 12.

The Royals are without 20 year old defenseman Jordan Fransoo (upper, 4 weeks), Joe Hicketts (upper, indefinite) and Jack Walker (illness, day to day).

The two game US road swing wraps up Saturday night at Seattle.  Victoria is 2-1 in the season series, winning 5-3 in Kent Washington, 2-1 at home in overtime, and most recently falling 3-1 November 16th on the Island.

-Marlon Martens

Victoria Royals 3 at Tri-City Americans 1 - Status: Final
Friday, November 29, 2013 - Toyota Center - Kennewick, WA

Victoria 1 1 1 - 3
Tri-City 0 0 1 - 1

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Walker 8 (Fushimi, Magee), 10:06 (PP).

Penalties-McCue T.c (delay of game), 9:17; Soy Vic (hooking), 18:50.

2nd Period-
2, Victoria, Carroll 13 (Soy, Nelson), 11:28 (PP).

Penalties-Kanzig Vic (slashing), 8:17; Messier T.c (hooking), 10:42.

3rd Period-
3, Victoria, Blomqvist 9 (Nelson, Hodges), 4:26 (PP).
4, Tri-City, Rankin 10 (Vickerman, Comrie), 18:57 (PP).

Penalties-Hamonic T.c (hooking), 3:22; Hodges Vic (roughing), 8:55; Wotherspoon T.c (cross checking), 8:55; Fushimi Vic (hooking), 10:19; Wotherspoon T.c (interference), 13:45; Hodges Vic (roughing), 17:51; Gagnon Vic (roughing), 19:53; Rankin T.c (roughing), 19:53.

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 9-10-10-29.
Tri-City 11-11-12-34.

Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 3 / 4;
Tri-City 1 / 4.

Goalies-
Victoria, Polivka 13-8-0-0 (34 shots-33 saves).
Tri-City, Comrie 11-10-1-2 (29 shots-26 saves).

A-4,270
Referees-Sean Raphael (28), Ryan Benbow (62).
Linesmen-Kirk Van Helvoirt (107), Jacob Hill (122).

Friday 29 November 2013

Royals Sign Keith Anderson

Keith Anderson

ROYALS SIGN KEITH ANDERSON
Victoria inks 2012 WHL Bantam Draft pick.
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, November 25, 2013

Victoria, BC – The Victoria Royals are pleased to announce that the club has signed 1997-born forward Keith Anderson to a Western Hockey League (WHL) Standard Player Agreement.

The Hermiston, OR native currently plays in the Canadian Sports School Hockey League (CSSHL) for Compete Hockey Academy. In 13 games played this season, Anderson leads his team in scoring with 23 points (13g-10a) to go along with 10 minutes in penalties.  
Keith Anderson in blue
We are very happy to have Keith sign a WHL contract with us, and look forward to him wearing a Royals’ jersey in the future,” Royals’ General Manager Cameron Hope said. “He is having a great season, using his skill and size to make a difference on his current team. He's the kind of player who we expect can make an impact in the WHL in the coming years.

Keith Anderson (with cage)
Last season, Anderson helped  the Arizona Bobcats Tier-1 Under-16 team to a state championship. The 6-4, 208 lb forward was selected by the Royals with the club’s sixth round, 115th overall, pick in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft.

The Royals return to Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Tuesday, December 3rd when Victoria hosts projected 2014 first overall NHL Draft pick Sam Reinhart and the Kootenay Ice! Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

We are Royal Blue, are you? 2013-14 season ticket packages starting from $414 are on sale now! To guarantee yourself the best seats at the best prices call 250-220-7889, visit www.victoriaroyals.com, or head down to the Victoria Royals Ticketing Office located at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

Preview: Victoria at Tri City, Friday Nov. 29th, 2013

The Victoria Royals (17-10-0-1, 35 pts) begin a two game US road swing against the Tri-City Americans (14-11-1-2, 31pts) Friday night.

Victoria looks to extend their franchise best 5 game road winning streak while sporting an 8-3 record away from home this season.

It’s the third meeting of the season with the home team victorious both times.  The Royals fell 4-2 in Washington against the Americans on October 18th, but beat them 2-1 on the Island October 6th.

The Royals are 4 points up on the 6th place Americans in the West, tied for 4th with the Chiefs with 35 points.

Victoria has won 7 of 8, and are riding a 4 game win streak.  Tri City is winless in 2, (0-1-1-0), but have won 6 in their last 10 (6-3-1-0).

Most recently, the Americans fell to the Chiefs 4-3 in overtime Saturday night at the Spokane.  Eric Comrie, a Winnipeg Jets draft pick, got the start for the Americans after getting the last two games off making 41 saves on the night.  Comrie fell 3-2 for Team WHL at the Super Series on Wednesday.

The Royals swept the Blazers at home last weekend, by 6-1 and 5-0 scores.  They beat Kamloops 3 times last week, and won once in Kelowna.

Netminder Patrik Polivka was named CHL Goaltender of The Week after posting a 4-0 record, 0.75 goals against average and 0.977 save percentage.  Polivka becomes the first goaltender in Victoria Royals team history to receive the award.  He was the number one star in each of the clubs 4 wins. 

During the the 4 game win streak, Victoria has only allowed 3 goals against while scoring 17.  The Royals power play has struck 7 times over the streak on 16 opportunities (43.75%).

Victoria is now 13-0 when scoring the first goal of the game, and 12-0 when leading after 40 minutes.  They own the leagues #1 penalty kill, while allowing the fewest goals against on average per game.

Tri-City Americans defenseman Michal Plutnar was invited to the Czech Republic’s training camp for the upcoming World Junior Championship in Sweden.

19-year-old defenseman Justin Hamonic will serve as the team’s interim captain, until current team captain Mitch Topping returns from injury.

Tri-City made a trade this week acquired 19 year old defenseman Jeff Hubic from the Kootenay Ice in exchange for a 7th round pick in the 2014 Bantam Draft.

Victoria is without 20 year old defenseman Jordan Fransoo (upper, 4 weeks), and still without Joe Hicketts (upper, indefinite) and Jack Walker (illness, day to day).

After Tri City Friday, Victoria plays at Seattle Saturday before returning home to face Kootenay and Vancouver for a pair.

-Marlon Martens
Victoria Royals vs Tri-City Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary

Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular Season Victoria 1-1-0-0Tri-City 1-1-0-0
Head to Head Record 2012-13 Regular Season Victoria 3-0-1-0Tri-City 1-2-0-1
Last 5 Years record between teams Victoria 9-8-1-0Tri-City 9-8-0-1
Victoria vs. Tri-City Last 5 Years record at Victoria Victoria 5-3-1-0Tri-City 4-5-0-0
Victoria vs. Tri-City Last 5 Years record at Tri-City Victoria 4-5-0-0Tri-City 5-3-0-1
Previous Meetings This Season Victoria 2 @ Tri-City 4 (Oct 18 2013) Final
Tri-City 1 @ Victoria 2 (Oct 6 2013) Final

How the 2 teams match up
Tri-City
Victoria
Team Record 14-11-1-2 -- 31 points 17-10-0-1 -- 35 points
Division Ranking 4th U.S. 2nd B.C.
Conference Ranking 6th Western 5th Western
League Ranking 10th 7th
Past 10 Games 6-3-1-0 8-2-0-0
Streak 0-1-1-0 4-0-0-0
Last Game 4-3 L @ Spokane (Nov 23 2013) Final OT 5-0 W vs Kamloops (Nov 23 2013) Final
Home Record 9-4-0-0 9-7-0-1
Away Record 5-7-1-2 8-3-0-0
GF 78  74 
GA 76  64 
PP (Overall) (23/109) 21.1 (25/124) 20.2
PP (Home) (10/50) 20.0 (15/77) 19.5
PP (Away) (13/59) 22.0 (10/47) 21.3
PK (Overall) (18/114) 84.2 (13/116) 88.8
PK (Home) (8/61) 86.9 (11/79) 86.1
PK (Away) (10/53) 81.1 (2/37) 94.6
Leading Rookie Purtill (2-2-4) Soy (8-6-14)
Most PIM Astles - 42 Carroll - 61
Team PIM/GM 14.0/Game 15.2/Game
Leading Scorers Williams (20-10-30) Nelson (11-16-27)
Rankin (9-17-26) Carroll (12-10-22)
Bowles (4-15-19) Magee (7-11-18)
Tot (8-9-17) Blomqvist (8-8-16)
Nickles (6-8-14) Cote (2-13-15)
Last 5 Games 4-3 L @ Spokane (Nov 23 2013) Final OT 5-0 W vs Kamloops (Nov 23 2013) Final
4-1 L vs Kelowna (Nov 22 2013) Final 6-1 W vs Kamloops (Nov 22 2013) Final
2-1 W vs Vancouver (Nov 19 2013) Final OT 4-1 W @ Kelowna (Nov 20 2013) Final
5-2 L @ Vancouver (Nov 16 2013) Final 2-1 W @ Kamloops (Nov 19 2013) Final
5-3 W vs Regina (Nov 15 2013) Final 3-1 L vs Seattle (Nov 16 2013) Final
Leading After 1st 9-1-1-0 9-0-0-0
Leading After 2nd 11-1-1-1 12-0-0-0
Tied After 1st 4-4-0-2 6-1-0-0
Tied After 2nd 3-2-0-0 3-0-0-1
Trailing After 1st 1-6-0-0 2-9-0-1
Trailing After 2nd 0-8-0-1 2-10-0-0
Out Shooting Opponents 8-2-0-1 5-5-0-1
Out Shot by Opponents 6-9-1-1 9-5-0-0
1-Goal Games 5-3-1-2 8-3-0-1
2-Goal Games 3-3-0-0 3-3-0-0
3-Goal Games 4-3-0-0 3-1-0-0

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Polivka CHL Goaltender of The Week



ROYALS’ POLIVKA NAMED VAUGHN CHL GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Czech goaltender helps Victoria to 4-0-0-0 record.
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Victoria, BC – The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) today announced that Victoria Royals’ goaltender Patrik Polivka has been named the Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week.

Polivka, a 1994-born Czech Republic native, recorded a 4-0-0-0 record last week to go along with a 0.75 goals against average (GAA) and a .977 save percentage on his way to the honour. Polivka also becomes the first goaltender in Victoria Royals team history to receive the Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week award.

Most recently, Polivka stopped all 26 shots he faced on November 23rd against the Kamloops Blazers to record his league-leading fourth shutout of the season. The Plzen, Czech Republic product is enjoying a productive 2013-14 WHL season with a 12-8-0-0 record, a 2.28 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Last year, Polivka posted a 28-16-2-3 regular season record to go along with a 3.24 GAA and a .894 save percentage. The import netminder was selected by Victoria with the 12th overall pick in the 2012 CHL Import Draft.

Polivka and the Royals will embark on a two-game U.S. Division road trip this weekend before returning to Vancouver Island on Tuesday, December 3rd to face projected first overall NHL Draft pick Sam Reinhart and the Kootenay Ice. Puck drop on December 3rd is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

Give the gift of hockey this holiday season by purchasing a Royals Holiday Combo or an Island Savings Kids Club membership! The Holiday Combo, available for $60, includes four anytime ticket vouchers and a gift. Kids Club memberships, for fans 12 years and younger, are available for only $20 and include four child tickets, a t-shirt, newsletters from Marty the Marmot and much more!

Saturday 23 November 2013

Recap: KAM 0 - VIC 5

The puck got past Pouliot 5 times in the Royals victory Saturday.
Tyler Soy scored twice and added an assist as the Victoria Royals (17-10-0-1, 35pts) blanked the visiting Kamloops Blazers 5-0 Saturday night.

The Royals sweep the Blazers in the two game set, and beat them 3 times in 5 nights over the week.

Patrik Polivka was the number star for a 4th game in a row with 26 saves, also his 4 straight win allowing just 3 goals over that stretch.  It was his 12th win while earning his league leading 4th shut out of the season.

Victoria extends their winning streak to 4 games and are victorious in 7 of their last 8, while Kamloops (6-17-2-1, 15pts) is now winless in 8 (0-8-1-0). 

After a scoreless first, Keegan Kanzig’s point drive found the back of the net for the only goal of the second.  The Royals who were doubled in shots in the middle frame, turned the tables again for a second consecutive night with a 4 goal third period.
#22 Taylor Crunk had a goal and assist

Taylor Crunk scored his 2nd in as many nights, Tyler Soy and Isaac Schacher (1st WHL Goal) on the power play, before Soy’s 8th and second of the night, put the game out of reach.

Victoria is now 13-0 when scoring the first goal of the game and a perfect 12-0 when leading after 40 minutes.

While being the stingiest team in the WHL allowing the fewest goals against, the Royals are starting to find the back of the net too, scoring 15 goals over their last 3 games.

Victoria’s power play went 2 for 5, having scored 7 goals with the man advantage during the 4 game win streak.  Kamloops was 0 for 4.
Patrik Polivka earned his 4th straight 1st star honours with the shut out.
Up next the Royals hit the road for a 2 game US road swing with games against the Americans Friday, and the Thunderbirds Saturday.

-Marlon Martens

Kamloops Blazers 0 at Victoria Royals 5 - Status: Final
Saturday, November 23, 2013 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Kamloops 0 0 0 - 0
Victoria 0 1 4 - 5

1st Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Grist Kam (high sticking), 4:15; Fisher Vic (holding), 7:26; Needham Kam (high sticking), 8:36; Ness Kam (inter. on goaltender), 15:51; Harrison Kam (slashing), 19:25; Palmer Vic (tripping), 19:25.

2nd Period-
1, Victoria, Kanzig 2 (Soy, Blomqvist), 2:41.

Penalties-Carroll Vic (slashing), 6:34; Skapski Vic (charging), 10:53; Reddekopp Vic (hooking), 18:19.

3rd Period-
2, Victoria, Crunk 2 (Fisher), 2:18.
3, Victoria, Soy 7 (Nelson, Cote), 5:21 (PP).
4, Victoria, Schacher 1 (Cote, Crunk), 14:07 (PP).
5, Victoria, Soy 8 (Blomqvist, Fushimi), 18:36.

Penalties-Ully Kam (tripping), 3:54; Harrison Kam (hooking), 13:29.

Shots on Goal-
Kamloops 7-14-5-26.
Victoria 10-7-14-31.

Power Play Opportunities-
Kamloops 0 / 4;
Victoria 2 / 5.

Goalies-
Kamloops, Pouliot 5-7-0-1 (31 shots-26 saves).
Victoria, Polivka 12-8-0-0 (26 shots-26 saves).

A-4,479
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Brett Montsion (54).
Linesmen-Riley Friesen (76), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).

Friday 22 November 2013

Recap: KAM 1 - VIC 6

The Victoria Royals (16-10-0-1, 33pts) scored 4 unanswered third period goals to defeat the visiting Kamloops Blazers 6-1 Friday night.

Patrik Polivka was the number star for a third game in a row with 34 saves, also his 3 straight win allowing just a single goal in each of those victories. 

Victoria extends their winning streak to 3 games and victorious in 6 of their last 7, while Kamloops (6-16-2-1, 15pts) is now winless in 7 (0-6-1-0). 

The Royals pull into a tie for 4th in the West with the Chiefs, who fell to the Winterhawks.  Victoria is 3 ahead of Tri City, who were defeated by Kelowna.

Newcomer Axel Blomqvist earned an assist in his Royals debut, while generating multiple scoring opportunities.  Luke Harrison was a physcial presence in his first game as a Blazer.

The line of Logan Nelson (1g 1a), Austin Carroll (1g 2a) and Ben Walker (1g 1a) combined for 7 points. 

Victoria got goals from 6 different players in their biggest offensive output of the season.  Taylor Crunk with his first of the season to open the scoring in the second period, followed up by Ben Walker :39 seconds later.

Chase Souto scored with one second remaining in the middle frame to cut the lead in half heading to the third period.

After being outshot 26-20 after 2 periods, Victoria poured it on in the third with 4 straight goals.  Brandon Magee with a laser, top corner followed :34 seconds later by a spin around shot by Nelson.  Austin Carroll struck on a breakaway during the power play and Brandon Fushimi set up by Blomqvist, put the Royals out of reach.

Victoria went 1 for 4 with the man advantage and stopped all 3 Kamloops opportunities, including a :44 second Blazer 5 on 3 in the first.

The Royals chased Taran Kozun from the nets in the third after allowing 4 goals on 24 shots.  Bolton Pouliot went 7 for 9.

Victoria is now 12-0 when scoring the first goal of the game, and 11-0 when leading after 40 minutes.

The back half of the two game set, and third meeting in five days goes Saturday in Victoria.  The Royals won 2-1 on the road against the Blazers on Tuesday.

-Marlon Martens

Kamloops Blazers 1 at Victoria Royals 6 - Status: Final
Friday, November 22, 2013 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Kamloops 0 1 0 - 1
Victoria 0 2 4 - 6

1st Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Grist Kam (tripping), 6:26; Crunk Vic (tripping), 12:55; Kanzig Vic (tripping), 14:11.

2nd Period-
1, Victoria, Crunk 1 (Gagnon, Fisher), 15:21.
2, Victoria, Walker 7 (Nelson, Carroll), 16:00.
3, Kamloops, Souto 16 (Needham, Connolly), 19:59.

Penalties-Chyzowski Kam (high sticking), 4:10; Clouston Kam (unsportsmanlike cnd., 10-minute misconduct), 7:51; Skapski Vic (checking to the head), 7:51; Carroll Vic (interference), 10:58; Kornelsen Kam (checking from behind), 16:08.

3rd Period-
4, Victoria, Magee 7 (Hodges), 5:10.
5, Victoria, Nelson 11 (Carroll, Walker), 5:44.
6, Victoria, Carroll 12 (Magee), 7:54 (PP).
7, Victoria, Fushimi 10 (Blomqvist), 12:25.

Penalties-Grist Kam (roughing), 7:25.

Shots on Goal-
Kamloops 17-9-9-35.
Victoria 8-12-13-33.

Power Play Opportunities-
Kamloops 0 / 3;
Victoria 1 / 4.

Goalies-
Kamloops, Kozun 1-10-2-0 (24 shots-20 saves); Pouliot 5-6-0-1 (9 shots-7 saves).
Victoria, Polivka 11-8-0-0 (35 shots-34 saves).

A-4,423
Referees-Pat Smith (12), Nick Swaine (35).
Linesmen-Devon Sephton (149), Nathan Van Oosten (115).

Thursday 21 November 2013

Preview: Kamloops at Victoria, Friday Nov. 22

The Victoria Royals (15-10-0-1, 31pts) entertain the Kamloops Blazers (6-15-2-1, 15pts) for a pair of back to back games beginning Friday night.   After the weekend two game set the clubs will have met 3 times in a matter of 5 days.

Pregame show on The Zone @ 91.3 at 6:45 pm.

The Royals beat the Blazers 2-1 in Kamloops on Tuesday.  The Blazers have been idle since, while Victoria went to Kelowna and beat the Rockets 4-1 on Wednesday snapping the Rockets 9 game win streak.

Tuesday in Kamloops, the Royals scored a pair of first period power play goals, while Patrik Polivka made 42 to saves to edge the Blazers 2-1.  The season series sits tied at a game a piece.

Victoria is in sole possession of 5th in the West with 31 points, one more than Tri City and now just 2 back of Spokane.  Kamloops is 10th and last in the West 10 points out of a playofff spot.

18 year old Swedish forward Axel Blomqvist is expected to make his Royals debut Friday after being acquired along with a conditional pick from Lethbridge for a 4th and 8th round pick in the 2014 bantam draft.

Former Victoria forward Luke Harrison will make his debut in a Kamloops jersey after being acquired Tuesday for a 6th round pick in 2014.

The Royals have won 5 of their last 6, while setting the franchise record for consecutive road wins with 5.  Their road record is an impressive 8-3, while at home the club is .500 (7-7-0-1).

The Blazers are winless in 6 (0-5-1-0), and are 1-7 away from the ISC.  Kamloops now plays 15 of 19 on the road after completing a stretch of 10 home games in 11.

Victoria has only given up a single goal in 3 of their last four games, now allowing just the 2nd fewest goals against on average per game in the league (2.42).

Victoria is without 20 year old defenseman Jordan Fransoo (upper, 4-5 weeks), and still without Joe Hicketts (upper, indefinite) and Jack Walker (illness, 1-2 weeks).

Victoria Royals vs Kamloops Blazers: Head To Head Stats
Summary

   
Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular Season Victoria 1-1-0-0Kamloops 1-1-0-0
Head to Head Record 2012-13 Regular Season Victoria 4-4-0-0Kamloops 4-2-0-2
Last 5 Years record between teams Victoria 14-17-1-2Kamloops 20-11-1-2
Victoria vs. Kamloops Last 5 Years record at Victoria Victoria 9-5-1-1Kamloops 7-7-0-2
Victoria vs. Kamloops Last 5 Years record at Kamloops Victoria 5-12-0-1Kamloops 13-4-1-0
Previous Meetings This Season Victoria 2 @ Kamloops 1 (Nov 19 2013) Final
Victoria 3 @ Kamloops 4 (Oct 4 2013) Final

How the 2 teams match up
     
 
Kamloops
Victoria
Team Record 6-15-2-1 -- 15 points 15-10-0-1 -- 31 points
Division Ranking 5th B.C. 2nd B.C.
Conference Ranking 10th Western 5th Western
League Ranking 21st 7th
Past 10 Games 2-6-1-1 6-3-0-1
Streak 0-5-1-0 2-0-0-0
Last Game 2-1 L vs Victoria (Nov 19 2013) Final 4-1 W @ Kelowna (Nov 20 2013) Final
Home Record 5-8-2-1 7-7-0-1
Away Record 1-7-0-0 8-3-0-0
GF 64  63 
GA 91  63 
PP (Overall) (13/93) 14.0 (22/115) 19.1
PP (Home) (10/67) 14.9 (12/68) 17.6
PP (Away) (3/26) 11.5 (10/47) 21.3
PK (Overall) (32/129) 75.2 (13/109) 88.1
PK (Home) (24/82) 70.7 (11/72) 84.7
PK (Away) (8/47) 83.0 (2/37) 94.6
Leading Rookie Chyzowski (2-2-4) Soy (6-4-10)
Most PIM Grist - 69 Carroll - 57
Team PIM/GM 16.3/Game 15.7/Game
Leading Scorers Ully (10-16-26) Nelson (10-14-24)
  Sterzer (12-8-20) Carroll (11-8-19)
  Souto (15-4-19) Magee (6-10-16)
  Connolly (4-15-19) Cote (2-12-14)
  Needham (3-14-17) Blomqvist (8-5-13)
Last 5 Games 2-1 L vs Victoria (Nov 19 2013) Final 4-1 W @ Kelowna (Nov 20 2013) Final
  7-3 L vs Portland (Nov 16 2013) Final 2-1 W @ Kamloops (Nov 19 2013) Final
  3-1 L vs Medicine Hat (Nov 13 2013) Final 3-1 L vs Seattle (Nov 16 2013) Final
  8-7 L vs Prince George (Nov 10 2013) Final OT 2-1 W vs Seattle (Nov 15 2013) Final OT
  5-0 L vs Edmonton (Nov 8 2013) Final 3-2 W @ Portland (Nov 9 2013) Final OT
Leading After 1st 4-0-1-0 9-0-0-0
Leading After 2nd 5-0-2-0 10-0-0-0
Tied After 1st 2-6-0-1 4-1-0-0
Tied After 2nd 1-1-0-0 3-0-0-1
Trailing After 1st 0-9-1-0 2-9-0-1
Trailing After 2nd 0-14-0-1 2-10-0-0
Out Shooting Opponents 1-2-0-1 4-5-0-1
Out Shot by Opponents 5-13-2-0 8-5-0-0
1-Goal Games 2-3-2-1 8-3-0-1
2-Goal Games 1-3-0-0 3-3-0-0
3-Goal Games 2-6-0-0 3-1-0-0

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Recap: VIC 4 - KEL 1

The visiting Victoria Royals (15-10-0-1, 31pts) scored 3 third period goals to beat Kelowna 4-1 Wednesday night, snapping the Rockets 9 game win streak.

“We got real solid goaltending, I liked our penalty kill, and power play scored a couple goals.  It was a real good team effort and a lot guys sacrificed and paid the price to win.” – Head Coach Dave Lowry
The Royals celebrate a power play goal
The Royals won both games on their 2 game BC Division road swing with a 2-1 win against the Blazers the night before.

Victoria takes sole possession of 5th in the West with 31 points, one more that idle Tri City and now just 2 back of Spokane.

Polivka star #1
Patrik Polivka (10-8) earned first star honours with a 26 save performance, after 42 saves the night before.  Jordon Cooke suffered his first regulation loss in 15 games this season (12-1-0-2) allowing 4 goals on 19 shots.

Victoria has now set the franchise record for consecutive road wins with 5, and improve to 8-3 away from home. 

Kelowna  (16-3-0-2, 34 pts) who’s ranked 3rd in the CHL, fell at home for just a second time in regulation, and second loss at home to the Royals.  Victoria is now 2-1-0-1 in the eight game season series.

Goal celebration
Tyler Soy (6th) opened the scoring for a second straight night on the first shot of the game. 

Tyson Baillie tied it up in the second as the Rockets outshot the Royals 24-8 after 40 minutes.  Victoria came out strong in the third, getting 3 unanswered goals.  Austin Carroll (11th) on the power play, Ben Walker (6th) and Brandon Fushimi (9th), also with the man advantage.

“…We weathered the storm for a period and half, and our goaltending was real good and then in the third period got some timely goal scoring.” Said Lowry

The Royals outshot the Rockets in the final frame 11-3.

“We killed off two 5 on 3's which really gave us the push we needed, we got a lot of energy from that and when guys are going all out to block shots it really just get’s the boys all fired up.”  Said Tyler Soy, “We knew we had to play hard and do the little things right to win the last period and that’s what we went out and did.”
Victoria buzzing around Cooke in the third

Victoria scored 2 power play goals on 5 opportunities while stopping all 5 Kelowna man advantages including a pair of 5 on 3 chances.

“Special teams were real good tonight, it was nice on the power play to get a couple goals, those are some important goals." said Ben Walker "And on the PK we had some really nice kills, and ultimately special teams won us the game tonight.”

The Royals improve to 11-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.

“Confidence is a big thing for this club,” said Austin Carroll, “…once we get that first goal, we end up winning, we get on a roll and it feels good.”
Celebrating the win in Kelowna
Victoria’s Head Equipment Manager Matt Auerbach reached a milestone of 600 games.

Riding a 2 game win streak the Royals return home to face Luke Harrison and the Blazers for a pair of games Friday and Saturday.  Victoria is expected to dress newcomer Axel Blomqvist.

- Marlon Martens

Victoria Royals 4 at Kelowna Rockets 1 - Status: Final
Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - Prospera Place - Kelowna, BC

Victoria 1 0 3 - 4
Kelowna 0 1 0 - 1

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Soy 6 (Skapski), 2:58.

Penalties-Nelson Vic (inter. on goaltender), 3:33; Cote Vic (delay of game), 4:45; Hodges Vic (roughing), 13:45; Goulbourne Kel (roughing), 13:45.

2nd Period-
2, Kelowna, Baillie 10 (Olsen, Franko), 5:47.

Penalties-Fisher Vic (hooking), 1:57; Severson Kel (holding), 9:28; Reddekopp Vic (hooking), 10:53; Magee Vic (inter. on goaltender), 11:24; served by Franko Kel (too many men), 18:26.

3rd Period-
3, Victoria, Carroll 11 (Nelson, Cote), 6:44 (PP).
4, Victoria, Walker 6   12:09. 5, Victoria, Fushimi 9 (Magee), 15:01 (PP).

Penalties-served by Franko Kel (too many men), 4:42; Stadel Kel (cross checking), 6:17; Baillie Kel (tripping), 14:19; Kel (game - coach), 15:01.

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 4-4-11-19.
Kelowna 9-15-3-27.

Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 2 / 5;
Kelowna 0 / 5.

Goalies-
Victoria, Polivka 10-8-0-0 (27 shots-26 saves).
Kelowna, Cooke 12-1-0-2 (19 shots-15 saves).

A-4,875
Referees-Jeff Ingram (82), Brett Iverson (24).
Linesmen-Ryan Gibbons (73), Bevan Mills (98).

Preview: Victoria at Kelowna, Wed Nov 20th

The Victoria Royals visit the 3rd ranked team in the CHL, the Kelowna Rockets (16-2-0-2, 34pts) Wednesday night, wrapping up a 2 game BC Division road swing.

Pregame show at 6:45 on The Zone @ 91.3fm.

It’s their 4th meeting of the season, with Victoria winning 4-3 in a shoot out in Kelowna on Sept. 28th, then falling 4-1 and 2-1 in shoot out at home October 25th and 26th respectively.

Both clubs played on the road Tuesday night.

The Royals beat the Blazers 2-1 in Kamloops back stopped by Patrik Polivka’s 42 saves and a pair of first period power play goals by Tyler Soy and Steven Hodges. They’ll meet again for back to back games on the Island Friday and Saturday.

The Royals take sole possession of 6th in the West, one up on the Thunderbirds.  The Rockets are 1st in the BC Division but trail both the Winterhawks and Silvertips by 2 points in the West.

Kelowna defeated Seattle 4-3 in a shootout night in Kent, WA, extending their winning streak to 9 games.

Jackson Whistle earned the win in net for the Rockets, stopping three straight Seattle shooters before Tyson Baillie won the game in the shootout. The Rockets outshot Seattle 50-46.  Damon Severson, Ryan Olsen and Madison Bowey scored in regulation for the Rockets. In the shootout, Justin Kirkland and Damon Severson also scored, with both goals extending the shootout, before Baillie's winner.

Kelowna is 9-1-0-2 at home while Victoria has won 4 straight on the road, improving to 7-3 on the season.

Both clubs are among the stingiest in the league, the Rockets have given up the 2nd fewest goals against per game on average, while the Royals the 3rd fewest.  Victoria’s penalty kill is 2nd in the league, only behind Kelowna.   The Royals had had their string of 29 straight kills on the road snapped in Kamloops.

The Rockets have scored the 2nd most goals on average per game in the league, yet have no player in the top 20 in scoring.  They boast a club with 5 players scoring at a point per game or better.

The two teams own the top netminders in the league.  Victoria’s Coleman Vollrath has the best save percentage (0.939) and goals against average (2.06), with a record of (5-2-0-1).  Kelowna’s Jordon Cooke has the 3rd best goals against (2.09), and 2nd best save percentage (0.930) with a record of (12-0-0-2).

Defenseman Keegan Kanzig returned the line up after missing the last 4.  Victoria is without 20 year old defenseman Jordan Fransoo (upper, 4-5 weeks), and still without Joe Hicketts (upper, indefinite) and Jack Walker (illness, 1-2 weeks).

Victoria made a trade Wednesday, acquiring 18 year old Swedish forward Axel Blomqvist (bloom-qwist) and a conditional pick in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. In exchange, Victoria sends a fourth and an eighth round pick in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft to Lethbridge.

Axel is an offensively gifted player with very good vision,” General Manager Cameron Hope said.

Blomqvist has recorded 13 points (8g-5a) for the Hurricanes in 19 games so far this year. The 6-6, 212 lb right winger hails from Osby, Sweden and will fill the Royals’ available second import player spot.

"He's big and talented, hard to move off the puck...that's part of his game that's exciting."  Said Hope,

“His combination of size and skill is hard to come by at any level. Axel is an exciting addition to our roster and we feel that he can make an immediate contribution to our success this season.”

 Blomqvist attended training camp with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets earlier this year and signed a 3 year entry-level contract.

"We're the lowest scoring team in the league despite the fact that we’ve had some success and we're well above .500.  We'd like to get more scoring and Axel can step in and help us there."

Blomqvist is expected to make his debut for the Royals in Victoria on Friday night versus the Kamloops Blazers.

The Royals sent 18 year old forward Luke Harrison to the Blazers for a sixth round pick in 2014 Tuesday night following the game in Kamloops. The West Kelowna, BC native spent the past three seasons with the Royals.  In his three years with Victoria, Harrison logged 92 regular season games in which he recorded six points (4g-2a), 51 penalty minutes and a minus-27 rating.

Harrison will face his former club twice on Friday and Saturday as the Royals return home to again face the Blazers for a pair, a total of 3 times in 5 days.


-Marlon Martens

Victoria Royals vs Kelowna Rockets: Head To Head Stats
Summary

 
Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular Season Victoria 1-1-0-1Kelowna 2-0-0-1
Head to Head Record 2012-13 Regular Season Victoria 1-6-0-1Kelowna 7-1-0-0
Last 5 Years record between teams Victoria 13-18-1-3Kelowna 22-8-2-3
Victoria vs. Kelowna Last 5 Years record at Victoria Victoria 6-9-1-2Kelowna 12-4-2-0
Victoria vs. Kelowna Last 5 Years record at Kelowna Victoria 7-9-0-1Kelowna 10-4-0-3
Previous Meetings This Season Kelowna 2 @ Victoria 1 (Oct 26 2013) Final SO
Kelowna 4 @ Victoria 1 (Oct 25 2013) Final
Victoria 4 @ Kelowna 3 (Sep 28 2013) Final SO

How the 2 teams match up
     
 
Kelowna
Victoria
Team Record 16-2-0-2 -- 34 points 14-10-0-1 -- 29 points
Division Ranking 1st B.C. 2nd B.C.
Conference Ranking 2nd Western 6th Western
League Ranking 2nd 9th
Past 10 Games 9-1-0-0 5-4-0-1
Streak 9-0-0-0 1-0-0-0
Last Game 4-3 W @ Seattle (Nov 19 2013) Final SO 2-1 W @ Kamloops (Nov 19 2013) Final
Home Record 9-1-0-2 7-7-0-1
Away Record 7-1-0-0 7-3-0-0
GF 85  59 
GA 49  62 
PP (Overall) (23/106) 21.7 (20/110) 18.2
PP (Home) (16/69) 23.2 (12/68) 17.6
PP (Away) (7/37) 18.9 (8/42) 19.0
PK (Overall) (9/89) 89.9 (13/104) 87.5
PK (Home) (2/57) 96.5 (11/72) 84.7
PK (Away) (7/32) 78.1 (2/32) 93.8
Leading Rookie Merkley (7-14-21) Soy (5-4-9)
Most PIM Bowey - 33 Carroll - 57
Team PIM/GM 15.6/Game 15.8/Game
Leading Scorers Bowey (9-12-21) Nelson (10-13-23)
  Merkley (7-14-21) Carroll (10-8-18)
  Baillie (9-11-20) Magee (6-9-15)
  Severson (6-13-19) Cote (2-11-13)
  Bell (9-8-17) Fushimi (8-3-11)
Last 5 Games 4-3 W @ Seattle (Nov 19 2013) Final SO 2-1 W @ Kamloops (Nov 19 2013) Final
  4-3 W vs Medicine Hat (Nov 16 2013) Final 3-1 L vs Seattle (Nov 16 2013) Final
  2-0 W vs Edmonton (Nov 9 2013) Final 2-1 W vs Seattle (Nov 15 2013) Final OT
  5-2 W vs Prince George (Nov 8 2013) Final 3-2 W @ Portland (Nov 9 2013) Final OT
  6-2 W vs Red Deer (Nov 6 2013) Final 5-3 W @ Seattle (Nov 8 2013) Final
Leading After 1st 9-0-0-1 8-0-0-0
Leading After 2nd 13-0-0-2 10-0-0-0
Tied After 1st 4-0-0-1 4-1-0-0
Tied After 2nd 2-1-0-0 2-0-0-1
Trailing After 1st 3-2-0-0 2-9-0-1
Trailing After 2nd 1-1-0-0 2-10-0-0
Out Shooting Opponents 12-2-0-1 4-5-0-1
Out Shot by Opponents 4-0-0-0 7-5-0-0
1-Goal Games 5-1-0-2 8-3-0-1
2-Goal Games 1-0-0-0 3-3-0-0
3-Goal Games 7-1-0-0 2-1-0-0