Sunday 31 January 2016

Recap: VIC 4 - KEL 1 (Sat, Jan.30.2016)

Matthew Phillips scores on a breakaway for the eventual game winner in Kelowna Saturday

Matthew Phillips scored twice and added an assist as the visiting Victoria Royals (31-15-2-3) defeated the Kelowna Rockets 4-1 Saturday night.

“I think we stayed patient, we worked and waited for our opportunities.” Said Royals Head Coach Dave Lowry on the win.

After giving up a short handed goal to the Rockets to start the game, the Royals responded with 4 unanswered, including 3 on the power play.

Victoria wins their 5th in a row and have points in 8 straight games (7-0-1-0), to pull within 4 of Kelowna, who lead the Western Conference and are ranked 7th in the CHL Top 10.  The Rockets had their 5 game win streak snapped.

“Our best players had to step up and be our best players, and the last two games our guys have played their hearts out.” according to Lowry.

The Royals knocked off the league leading Hurricanes, the #6 ranked team one night earlier 3-1.

“We just want to be recognized after this weekend as a team that’s hard to play against, and a team that comes and competes regardless of our opponent.” said Lowry,

“Credit to our leadership group to make sure that they were ready to play, and guys stayed committed to playing how we have to play.”

Phillips second goal came on a breakaway with :18 seconds left in the 2nd period to give Victoria a 2-1 lead heading to the third.

“You look at the game winning goal tonight, you go from playing in our end, to blocking a shot to changing the tide.” Said Lowry on Phillips eventual game winner, shown on a national stage, via Sportsnet. 

Phillips went unranked in the NHL Central Scouting mid-term rankings, while leading all rookies in goals, now with 28.

“Great for Matthew (Phillips), he does it every night, he comes and plays – he’s a small guy that plays a big man’s game…there’s a lot of guys that are 6’3, 6’4 that if they had half the heart and passion that he has, they’d be really good players.”

The Royals then added a pair on the power play to put the game out of reach.

Coleman Vollrath earned the win stopping 22 of 23, while Michael Herringer allowed 4 goals on 34 Victoria shots.

Victoria was 3 for 6 on the power play, while shutting down all 4 Kelowna man advantages.

Alex Forsberg had a goal and assist, while Jack Walker chipped in with a pair of helpers.  Walker now has 9 points in his last 4 games (2g 7a).

Forsberg fought Justin Kirkland and Vladimir Bobylev scrapped Rodney Southam both in the 2nd period.

Victoria returns home for a single game against the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday.

- Marlon Martens

Victoria Royals 4 at Kelowna Rockets 1 - Status: Final
Saturday, January 30, 2016 - Prospera Place - Kelowna, BC

Victoria 1 1 2 - 4
Kelowna 1 0 0 - 1

1st Period-
1, Kelowna, Kirkland 20 (Dube, Johansen), 8:39 (SH).
2, Victoria, Phillips 27 (Forsberg, Walker), 11:50 (PP).

Penalties-Anderson Vic (holding), 3:27; Southam Kel (cross checking), 6:43; served by Borstmayer Kel (too many men), 10:36; Bobylev Vic (slashing), 15:13.

2nd Period-
3, Victoria, Phillips 28   19:42.

Penalties-Walker Vic (roughing), 0:54; Soustal Kel (roughing), 0:54; Walker Vic (roughing), 9:17; Bobylev Vic (cross checking), 15:00; Dube Kel (roughing), 15:00; Forsberg Vic (major-fighting), 17:30; Kirkland Kel (major-fighting), 17:30; Bobylev Vic (major-fighting), 18:40; Southam Kel (major-fighting), 18:40.

3rd Period-
4, Victoria, Forsberg 21 (Walker, Hicketts), 11:06 (PP).
5, Victoria, Soy 26 (Phillips, Reddekopp), 13:08 (PP).

Penalties-Hicketts Vic (boarding), 1:49; Southam Kel (hooking), 10:12; Stephens Kel (holding), 11:30; Johansen Kel (tripping), 16:16; Kirkland Kel (holding), 16:41.

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 7-12-15-34.
Kelowna 8-11-4-23.

Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 3 / 6;
Kelowna 0 / 4.

Goalies-
Victoria, Vollrath 22-12-0-2 (23 shots-22 saves).
Kelowna, Herringer 15-6-1-0 (34 shots-30 saves).

A-5,531
Referees-Chris Crich (20), Colin Watt (72).
Linesmen-Kevin Crowell (141), Dave McMahon (134).

Friday 29 January 2016

Recap: LETH 1 - VIC 3 (Friday, Jan.29.2016)



Jack Walker scored twice, and Alex Forsberg scored the eventual winner as the Victoria Royals (30-15-2-3, 65pts) knocked off the league leading Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-1 on the Island Friday night.

“We were committed to playing our style, we played a really good game…” said Head Coach Dave Lowry.

Forsberg broke a 1-1 third period draw with a power play goal, to give the Royals their 4th consecutive victory and points in 7 straight games (6-0-1-0). 

“It was a tight game, I really liked the way that after (Lethbridge) tied it up, our guys went back to work and stayed with it.” Said Lowry.

The Hurricanes ranked 6th in the CHL Top 10, (36-12-0-0, 72pts) had their 10 game winning streak snapped, losing their first game in 2016.

Lethbridge came in as the most offensive team in the league, squaring off against Victoria’s 2nd most stingiest squad.

“What we needed was to play a good team game…the best part about tonight, was we didn’t have any passengers.” commented Lowry

Victoria out shot Lethbridge 42 – 17, as ‘Canes netminder Stuart Skinner earned first star hounours making 39 saves.  Skinner entered the game earning back to back shut outs, and held the Royals off the scoreboard until 5 minutes in the middle frame, when Walker deflected a puck through his legs.

Victoria took a 1-0 lead to the third, but Ryley Lindgren one timed a pass on the power play past Coleman Vollrath (17/18) to draw even at 1-1.

Royals leading scorer Alex Forsberg (20th) restored the lead with a sharp back hand top corner for the eventual game winner as Walker (18th) added an empty net goal for insurance.  Vladimir Bobylev chipped in with a pair of assists.

“I liked our games start to finish.” quipped Lowry.

Victoria was 1 for 5 on the power play while stopping 3 of 4 Lethbridge man advantages, ranked first in the league.

The 2nd place Royals pull 4 points up on the 3rd place Cougars, and 5 on the Silvertips.
Victoria travels and then plays Kelowna on Saturday night at 7:30, the top team in the Western Conference, 6 up on the Royals who took 3 of 4 points recently in a back to back set on the Island.

The Rockets have won 5 in a row, and are ranked 7th in the CHL Top 10.
“For us, this is like a playoff weekend, throw travel in, it’s a quick turnaround.  We have every excuse in the book, but our guys will ride the momentum.  We’re going into a tough building, playing the 2nd best team in the league – it’s going to be another good challenge for us.” Added Lowry.

Puck drop Saturday from Kelowna is at 7:30 p.m on the Zone @ 91.3 fm, with the pregame show at 7:15.

-Marlon Martens

Lethbridge Hurricanes 1 at Victoria Royals 3 - Status: Final
Friday, January 29, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Lethbridge 0 0 1 - 1
Victoria 0 1 2 - 3

1st Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Burke Let (high sticking), 9:35; Nielsen Let (cross checking), 10:15; Atwal Let (roughing), 19:54; Hicketts Vic (roughing), 19:54; Folk Let (roughing), 20:00; Gagnon Vic (roughing), 20:00.

2nd Period-
1, Victoria, Walker 17 (Jarratt, Bobylev), 5:25.

Penalties-Reddekopp Vic (holding), 2:05; served by Anderson Vic (too many men), 6:17.

3rd Period-
2, Lethbridge, Lindgren 20 (Burke, Nielsen), 5:40 (PP).
3, Victoria, Forsberg 20 (Bobylev, Hicketts), 9:45 (PP).
4, Victoria, Walker 18   18:43 (EN).

Penalties-Nielsen Let (high sticking), 1:00; Reddekopp Vic (tripping), 2:47; Walker Vic (checking to the head), 4:59; Pankewicz Let (tripping), 9:03; Lindgren Let (tripping), 12:52.

Shots on Goal-
Lethbridge 5-4-8-17.
Victoria 16-11-15-42.

Power Play Opportunities-
Lethbridge 1 / 4;
Victoria 1 / 5.

Goalies-
Lethbridge, Skinner 19-7-0-0 (41 shots-39 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 21-12-0-2 (17 shots-16 saves).

A-6,245
Referees-Kevin Bennett (29), Adam Griffiths (36).
Linesmen-Ron Dietterle (121), Riley Friesen (76).

Kaid Oliver Signs With Royals



ROYALS SIGN KAID OLIVER
Victoria locks up 2015 WHL Bantam Draft pick.

For Immediate Release
Friday, January 29, 2016

Victoria, BC- The Victoria Royals are proud to announce the signing of 2000-born forward Kaid Oliver to a Western Hockey League (WHL) Standard Player Agreement.
Oliver was selected by the Royals in the third round, 57th overall in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft.

“Kaid is developing into the skilled and determined forward we saw when we drafted him, and at our training camp last fall.” General Manager Cameron Hope said. “We are happy to welcome Kaid and his family to the organization.”
Oliver currently plays for the Arizona Bobcats Under-16 AAA team of the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL). In 21 contests with the Bobcats the native of White Rock, BC has collected 24 points (16g-8a) along with eight penalty minutes.
The 5-10, 165 lb forward spent the 2014-15 campaign with the Bobcats where he collected 12 points (6g-6a) along with 40 minutes in penalties in 20 games played. Oliver helped the Bobcats win the Under-16 Arizona Tier 1 Championship after sweeping the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes U16 AAA in a best-of-three finals 2-0.
The Royals round-out their six-game homestand tonight against the league leading Lethbridge Hurricanes. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Select Your Tickets Box Office, over the phone by calling 250-220-7889 or by visiting www.selectyourtickets.com.

Avoid the line-ups by purchasing your tickets online. Visit www.selectyourtickets.com to take advantage of the “Pick Your Own” seat map, or give the box-office a call at 250-220-7777.

Monday 25 January 2016

Mitchell Prowse Signs With Royals



ROYALS SIGN MITCHELL PROWSE
Victoria secures 2015 WHL Bantam Draft pick.

For Immediate Release
Monday, January 25, 2016

Victoria, BC- The Victoria Royals are proud to announce the signing of 2000-born defenceman Mitchell Prowse to a Western Hockey League (WHL) Standard Player Agreement.

Prowse was drafted at the 2015 WHL with Victoria's second round pick, 35th overall.

“Mitchell is a smart and talented defenseman,” Royals’ General Manager Cameron Hope said. “He has a bright future in the WHL and we are pleased to welcome Mitchell and his family to the organization.”

The product of Kelowna, BC currently plays for the Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA) Midget Prep White Team of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL). In 43 games with the club, Prowse has recorded 20 points (4g-16a) and 46 minutes in penalties.

Last season, Prowse played for the OHA Bantam Prep and collected seven assists along with 24 penalty minutes in 18 contests. The 6-1, 180 lb blueliner helped the OHA win the CSSHL Championship and scored three points (1g-2a) in four games.

Victoria will round-out their six-game homestand on Friday, January 29th against the league leading Lethbridge Hurricanes. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Select Your Tickets Box Office, over the phone by calling 250-220-7889 or by visiting www.selectyourtickets.com.

The Royals have partnered with Ali Baba Pizza to bring the Ali Baba Friends and Family Nights beginning on January 29th vs. the Hurricanes. The ticket pack includes four tickets, four Ali Baba pizza slice coupons and four Royals’ hats for only $49, including service charges and taxes. Full details are at www.victoriaroyals.com or by calling 250-220-7889.

Sunday 24 January 2016

Recap: VAN 1 - VIC 5 (Sun. Jan.24.2016)



Jared Dmytriw scored twice to help lead the Victoria Royals (29-15-2-3, 63pts) past the visiting Vancouver Giants 5-1 Sunday afternoon.

The Royals built up a 4-0 first period lead, and added a single on a great individual effort by Tyler Soy in the third.

“We were ready to play, we were good early and we probably won the game in the first period…” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry,

Vancouver was playing with a depleted line up, missing seven players including Tyler Benson, Ty Ronning, Carter Popoff, Matthew Barberis, and Thomas Foster.  The Giants only dressed 9 forwards and 7 defenseman.

“I liked our execution on the offensive side...what we have to keep in perspective here, we play a team that’s missing some key players, but to our guys credit - they found a way to create some offense and score some goals.” according to Lowry.

The Royals swept the two game set after blanking the Giants 8-0 one night earlier.

Victoria got a pair of power play goals on their first two chances and ended up going 2 for 6.  Vancouver was 0 for 4 as the Royals penalty killers have stopped 24 of their last 25 opposition attempts over their last 8 games.

“I like the fact that our power play generated some results...and was sharp early when the game was still within reach.” said Lowry.

Giants defenseman Brennan Mennell broke Coleman Vollrath’s shut out bid with :96 seconds left in the third, but earned 2nd star hounours with 27 saves.  Ryan Kubic was busy stopping 40 of 45 Royals shots in the defeat.

Victoria also got goals from Joe Hicketts and Ethan Price on the power play, while Logan Fisher and Jack Walker picked up 2 assists each.

Price extends his goal streak to 3 games with 5 in that span.  Soy’s goal streak is now at 6 games with 8 goals, the longest current streak in the league.  Vladimir Bobylev collected an assist against his former squad stretching his point streak to 5 games (1g 5a) and 6 points.

Dmytriw earned his 7th and 8th goals of the year, both perfect shots into the top corner glove side.

I like the fact that he was skating and shooting the puck…his biggest asset is his speed…” said Lowry,

“He shoots the puck really well, and I don't think he really understands how well he can shoot it.”

The Royals now lead the season series 4-3, and will face the Giants on the road Feb. 17th.

Victoria has won their last 3 games, out scoring the opposition 21-3 in that span, and have points in 6 straight games (4-0-1-0).

Lowry earned his 200th WHL win, and is the 43rd head coach in league history to reach the benchmark.

The Royals remain 2nd in the West, while the Giants are 10th, have lost back to back games and 6 of their last 7.

Victoria wraps up their 6 game home stand (5-0-1-0) Friday against the league leading Lethbridge Hurricanes who beat the Royals 4-3 in a shoot out earlier in the season.

- Marlon Martens

Vancouver Giants 1 at Victoria Royals 5 - Status: Final
Sunday, January 24, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Vancouver 0 0 1 - 1
Victoria 4 0 1 - 5

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Hicketts 3 (Walker), 9:04 (PP).
2, Victoria, Dmytriw 7 (Nagy, Fisher), 13:50.
3, Victoria, Price 8 (Walker, Hannoun), 16:24 (PP).
4, Victoria, Dmytriw 8 (Fisher), 16:39.

Penalties-Reddekopp Vic (boarding), 3:05; Crunk Van (inter. on goaltender), 8:24; Crunk Van (roughing), 16:06.

2nd Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Anderson Vic (slashing), 3:18; Walker Vic (hooking), 9:37; Lang Van (cross checking), 11:14; Brown Van (hooking), 19:09.

3rd Period-
5, Victoria, Soy 25 (Bobylev), 17:06.
6, Vancouver, Menell 5   18:24.

Penalties-Reddekopp Vic (cross checking), 10:54; Baer Van (roughing), 11:30; Brumm Van (tripping), 14:22; Cox Van (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 17:45; Dmytriw Vic (10-minute misconduct), 17:45; Gagnon Vic (cross checking), 17:45.

Shots on Goal-
Vancouver 11-9-8-28.
Victoria 20-15-10-45.

Power Play Opportunities-
Vancouver 0 / 4;
Victoria 2 / 6.

Goalies-
Vancouver, Kubic 13-16-2-0 (45 shots-40 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 20-12-0-2 (28 shots-27 saves).

A-3,797
Referees-Reid Anderson (53), Steve Papp (17).
Linesmen-Jeff MacAdams, Bevan Mills (98).

Recap: VAN 0 - VIC 8 (Sat. Jan.23.2016)

The Victoria Royals got two goal performances from Tyler Soy, Matthew Phillips and Ethan Price as they defeated the visiting Vancouver Giants 8-0 Saturday night. 

“We're feeling pretty good,” said Soy on the victory,

“Anytime you’re able to put the puck in the net 8 times is pretty spectacular, so we're happy with how we played.”

Soy extended his goal scoring streak to 5 games with 7 in that span, and chipped in an assist for a 3 point night.

“We know that tomorrow will be a completely different game so we have to make sure that we are prepared for them to give us a good push back.”

Victoria evened the season series at 3 games a piece, and will meet again Sunday afternoon at 2pm on the Island.

The Royals led 1-0 after 20 minutes, added 3 goals in the second period and 4 more in the third.

“A lot of times when you're up by a big score, you tend to coast.  I  thought we kept the foot on the gas pedal for 60 minutes…”  said Royals Assistant Coach Enio Sacilotto.

The Giants were missing some key players, six in total, including top prospects Tyler Benson and Ty Ronning, 20 year old Carter Popoff, 19 year old Thomas Foster, and 16 year first round bantam picks Dawson Holt and Brendan Semchuk.

“We knew that they had some of their top guys out, so we thought if we jumped on them early, got a lot of pressure on them early - maybe we can return the favour,” said Soy,

“It was nice that the guys didn't let up - and I think we played a solid game.”

Victoria’s Griffen Outhouse earned his 3rd shut out in his rookie campaign, the most in franchise history by a freshman, while making 27 saves. 

After 17 games, Outhouse leads the league in save percentage (0.938), and goals against average (1.92).  He was snubbed by NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings for the upcoming NHL draft.  Outhouse started the last 7 of the last 8 games, with 20 year old Coleman Vollrath shouldering the lion’s share of games played with 36.

“Its competition…” said Head Coach Dave Lowry on his goaltending situation,

“There's nothing wrong with a competitive environment, and Griffen is worthy of playing, as is Coleman.  Competition for these guys makes them better, keeps them sharp and it allows us not to have to over play one player.”

Vancouver started back up Jake Morrissey, who’s only played 17 WHL games, to relieve Ryan Kubic who appeared in 27 straight games.  Morrissey allowed 8 goals on 30 Royals shots.

Victoria was 1 for 1 on the power play while Vancouver was 0 for 3.  The Royals now have stopped 20 of 21 opposition power plays over the last 7 games, good for 3rd best in the WHL.

8 Victoria skaters had multi point games including Vladimir Bobylev and Dante Hannoun with a goal and assist each, 3 assists for Jack Walker, and 2 helpers for Alex Forsberg and Joe Hicketts.

Bobylev extends his point streak to 4 with 5 points in that span (1g 4a), while Price has back to back 2 goal games. 

Rookie Matthew Phillips leads the team in goals with 26, the most by a rookie in the WHL, but was not listed by NHL CSS rankings - along with Hannoun who now has 19 goals in his sophomore campaign.

“I got asked about the Top Prospects game, and Griffen not being there, and we've got guys that are worthy of opportunities…”  Said Lowry,

“I just tell our guys - just keep proving everybody wrong.  Just go out and play the way that you play - that will answer all the questions.” 

It was also back to back 8 goal outbursts for the Royals, after defeating the Tigers 8-2 Wednesday for the first time in franchise history.

“I think it's exactly how we want to play and we want to be a fast team, we want to play off of the opposition's net and we want the puck.  We always talk about where we want to finish when we get it in the offensive zone, we want to finish at the net.” According to Lowry,

“Tonight we get a couple of lucky bounces - we have guys in the right area, they work to get back above pucks and they stop, and then we started stopping on pucks in the offensive zone as the game progressed.”

Victoria moves back into 2nd spot in the West, one point up on Everett and Prince George in a tight battle.

The Royals now have points in 5 straight games, (4-0-1-0).

The Giants remain 10th and last in the West, now 8 points out of a Wild Card spot.

- Marlon Martens

Vancouver Giants 0 at Victoria Royals 8 - Status: Final
Saturday, January 23, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Vancouver 0 0 0 - 0
Victoria 1 3 4 - 8

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Soy 23 (Hicketts), 12:10.

Penalties-Hannoun Vic (boarding), 4:49; Cox Van (roughing), 10:42; Westgard Vic (roughing), 10:42; Phillips Vic (roughing), 12:10.

2nd Period-
2, Victoria, Bobylev 14 (Soy), 3:28.
3, Victoria, Phillips 25 (Walford), 10:54.
4, Victoria, Hannoun 19 (Hicketts, Walker), 19:14 (PP).

Penalties-Plouffe Van (high sticking), 19:08.

3rd Period-
5, Victoria, Phillips 26 (Hannoun, Walker), 8:18.
6, Victoria, Soy 24 (Bobylev, Forsberg), 13:23.
7, Victoria, Price 6 (Walker, Westgard), 18:27.
8, Victoria, Price 7 (Fisher, Forsberg), 19:27.

Penalties-Walker Vic (hooking), 15:45.

Shots on Goal-
Vancouver 11-6-10-27.
Victoria 7-7-16-30.

Power Play Opportunities-
Vancouver 0 / 3;
Victoria 1 / 1.

Goalies-
Vancouver, Morrissey 0-3-0-0 (30 shots-22 saves).
Victoria, Outhouse 9-3-2-1 (27 shots-27 saves).

A-5,017
Referees-Fraser Lawrence (10), Kevin Webinger (6).
Linesmen-Riley Friesen (76), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).

Thursday 21 January 2016

Recap: MH 2 - VIC 8 (Wed, Jan.20.2016)



The Victoria Royals overcame a 2-1 deficit by scoring the next 7 goals, cruising to an 8-2 win over the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers Wednesday.

“Tonight we went back to playing to our strengths…we did a lot of little things right.” Said Head Coach Dave Lowry,

“We put pucks to the net, we got into the area to score goals and hung around and battled to score.”

Ethan Price scored twice and Dante Hannoun had a 3 point night with a goal and two assists, as the Royals had 7 different goal scorers and 6 with multipoint games.  It was their biggest offensive output of the season, as only 3 skaters were held off the score sheet. 

Victoria out shot Medicine Hat 44-18, and 24-2 in the middle frame alone.  Price had a quarter of the clubs shots with 11. The 24 shots for in a period is the most for the club this season.

The Royals trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes, but scored 4 times in the middle frame and added 4 more in the third to earn points in 4 straight games (3-0-1-0). 

“When we started putting pucks in, started using our speed, getting a little more physical, we began creating chances…and then we were able to capitalize.” Said Lowry

Ralph Jarratt and Matthew Phillips had a goal and assist each, while Marsel Ibragimov, Regan Nagy and Tyler Soy shorthanded got the other goals for Victoria.  Jared Dmytriw and Logan Fisher picked up a pair of assists each.

Phillips sets the Royals record for most goals by a rookie with 24, passing Logan Nelson’s 23.  The franchise record is held by Oscar Moller who struck 32 times in 06-07.  Phillips now has 50 points, 2nd most among rookies, and leads all freshman in goals.

Victoria is 3rd in the West, 1 back of Everett and 6 back of Kelowna, and lead Prince George by 3 points.

Coleman Vollrath earned the win making 16 stops on 18 shots, while Nick Schneider was relieved in the third after allowing 6 goals on 37 shots.  Mack Shields stopped 5 of 7 the rest of the way, as Medicine Hat saw their 3 game win streak snapped.

There were 3 firsts for Victoria, Ibragimov scored his 1st WHL goal, while picking up their first points as assists were Scott Walford and Ty Westgard.  Walford was back from injury after missing 23 games.

The Tigers got goals from Mason Shaw and Alex Mowbray, and remain 3 points out of a Wild Card spot in the East.  Forward Brian Williams made his debut with the club but was held off the scoreboard.

The Royals went 1 for 5 on the power play while shutting down all 3 Tiger man advantages.  Victoria has now stopped 17 of 18 opposition power plays over their last 6 games, ranked 3rd in the WHL.

Tyler Soy extends his goal scoring streak to 4 games with 5 goals in that span.

Victoria continues their 6 game homestand with a pair against Vancouver Saturday at 7, and Sunday at 2pm.

- Marlon Martens

Medicine Hat Tigers 2 at Victoria Royals 8 - Status: Final
Wednesday, January 20, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Medicine Hat 1 1 0 - 2
Victoria 0 4 4 - 8

1st Period-
1, Medicine Hat, Shaw 12 (Butcher, Stanton), 12:55.

Penalties-Clouston M.h (roughing), 5:25; Hannoun Vic (high sticking), 7:00; Clayton M.h (high sticking), 13:12.

2nd Period-
2, Victoria, Nagy 6 (Dmytriw, Fisher), 0:37.
3, Medicine Hat, Mowbray 7 (Rassell, Heid), 2:18.
4, Victoria, Price 4 (Hannoun, Walford), 7:35 (PP).
5, Victoria, Hannoun 18 (Phillips, Reddekopp), 10:16.
6, Victoria, Price 5 (Jarratt, Bobylev), 18:45.

Penalties-Gerlach M.h (hooking), 7:14; Butcher M.h (slashing), 14:04; Shaw M.h (hooking), 15:19; Clouston M.h (roughing), 18:45; Westgard Vic (roughing), 18:45.

3rd Period-
7, Victoria, Ibragimov 1 (Gagnon, Fisher), 1:50.
8, Victoria, Soy 22 (Dmytriw), 9:25 (SH).
9, Victoria, Phillips 24 (Forsberg, Hannoun), 12:17.
10, Victoria, Jarratt 3 (Westgard), 13:11.

Penalties-Walford Vic (hooking), 2:03; Walford Vic (slashing), 8:39.

Shots on Goal-
Medicine Hat 8-2-8-18.
Victoria 9-24-11-44.

Power Play Opportunities-
Medicine Hat 0 / 3;
Victoria 1 / 5.

Goalies-
Medicine Hat,
Schneider 11-16-1-0 (37 shots-31 saves); Shields 8-7-0-0 (7 shots-5 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 19-12-0-2 (18 shots-16 saves).

A-3,243
Referees-Ryan Benbow (62), Bryan Bourdon (45).
Linesmen-Curtis Craig (144), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).

Sunday 17 January 2016

Recap: KEL 2 - VIC 1 Overtime (Sat. Jan.16.2016)

Michael Herringer made 36 saves, while Justin Kirkland provided the winner in overtime to lift the visiting Kelowna Rockets (30-11-3-0 -- 63 points) past the Victoria Royals 2-1 Saturday night.

“I thought it was a hard fought game…” said Victoria's Head Coach Dave Lowry,

“One bounce here, one bounce there – that was the difference.”

The Royals (26-15-2-3 -- 57 points) settled for a split in the two game set after a 4-3 win one night earlier, earning 3 of a possible 4 points. 

“We’re disappointed we didn’t get the second point, but you can’t fault the guys effort – they laid it all on the table today.”

Victoria remains 2nd in the West, 1 up on Prince George and 6 back of Kelowna.

The Royals went 0 for 8 on their power plays, while shutting down all 4 Rocket man advantages.

“We had some good looks,” said Lowry about the power play,

“Their goaltender made some good saves, we ripped one off the bar late in the game…we generated some momentum…I can’t be disappointed with the execution.”

Kelowna was missing their leading scorer Tyson Baillie for a second straight night, due to personal reasons (death in the family).

In what turned out to be a battle of the goaltenders, Griffen Outhouse was the second star for Victoria, stopping 29 of 31 shots, in his 6th straight start.

“I just show up to the rink, being prepared to play every game that I can and just make sure I’m ready to go.” said the rookie Outhouse making his 6th straight start.

The overtime goal by Kirkland came just after Victoria killed off a Kelowna power play.

“It just bounced off the defenders leg, an unlucky break.”

Tyler Soy opened the scoring for the Royals, but Dillon Dube tied it in the first, which carried through until overtime.  Dube had 7 shots on goal to lead his club. 

Soy remains red hot for the Royals, scoring 15 points over his last 11 games (8g-7a).

“It was definitely a pretty intense game,” said Soy,

“Both teams playing with a lot of pace, felt like a fast game, people were hitting, getting a lot of shots – it was a fun game to play.”

Kelowna fired 18 first period shots before Victoria countered in the second with 15 and out shot the visitors 37-31 overall.

Victoria is now 3-2-1-0 in the 8 game season series against Kelowna, the 6th ranked team in the CHL.  They’ll meet again January 30th in the interior.

Up next, the Royals entertain the Tigers on Wednesday.

- Marlon Martens

Kelowna Rockets 2 (OT) at Victoria Royals 1 - Status: Final OT
Saturday, January 16, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Kelowna 1 0 0 1 - 2
Victoria 1 0 0 0 - 1

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Soy 21 (Walker, Bobylev), 7:53. 
2, Kelowna, Dube 19 (Kirkland, Foote), 13:08.

Penalties-Hicketts Vic (high sticking), 5:05; Johansen Kel (tripping), 19:34.

2nd Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Stephens Kel (delay of game), 1:41; Kirkland Kel (high sticking), 2:51; Soy Vic (roughing), 3:32; Stadel Kel (hooking), 6:50; Thurkauf Kel (holding), 12:04.

3rd Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Gagnon Vic (tripping), 5:33; Thurkauf Kel (tripping), 7:28; Thurkauf Kel (hooking), 12:12; Merkley Kel (holding), 16:47.

OT Period-
3, Kelowna, Kirkland 15 (Johansen, Gatenby), 3:42.

Penalties-Walker Vic (tripping), 0:59.

Shots on Goal-
Kelowna 18-7-4-2-31.
Victoria 13-15-9-0-37.

Power Play Opportunities-
Kelowna 0 / 4;
Victoria 0 / 8.

Goalies-
Kelowna, Herringer 11-5-1-0 (37 shots-36 saves).
Victoria, Outhouse 8-3-2-1 (31 shots-29 saves).

A-5,406
Referees-Jonathan Spurgeon (7), Derek Zalaski (8).
Linesmen-Ron Dietterle (121), Jeff MacAdams.

Saturday 16 January 2016

Recap: KEL 3 - VIC 4 (Fri. Jan.15.2016)



Alex Forsberg had 2 goals and an assist, while Matthew Phillips had 3 points including the winner as the Victoria Royals (26-15-1-3, 56pts) defeated the visiting Kelowna Rockets 4-3 Friday night, the first of back to back games.

“I thought we had a really good team game, contributions from everybody,” said Head Coach Dave Lowry,

“Guys stepped up when we needed them too, we had some good shifts after some goals – and were able to play the game the way that we wanted to play.”

The Royals led 3-0 after 40 minutes, but the Rockets (29-11-3-0, 61pts) gave a big push in the third outscoring Victoria by a 3-1 margin to make it close.

“We knew we’d see a push…they play a complete game, and play right to the end, they’re a very highly skilled group…” said Lowry,

“We held on, but have to keep it in perspective we’re playing a veteran squad, that’s been a top team over the last few years, and we’re a young team, learning as we go – and I thought our guys did a really good of job of staying with it.”

The Royals out shot the Rockets 36-33, but were out shot 13-6 in the final frame.

“We got a lesson in the third, that when we’re not skating, where we’re going to end up playing – and we know that our strength is our speed.” Continued Lowry.

Victoria won the special teams game, going 1 for 6 with the man advantage, while shutting down all 3 Kelowna power plays.

“I thought our power play gave us momentum in the first period, and generated a goal.” said Lowry.

 Phillips goal in the third came just :43 seconds after the Rockets scored their first goal, re-establishing the three goal lead.  It also turned out to be the game winner.

“Kelowna is a really opportunistic team, we can’t let them back into games like that.” Said Phillips who tied the Royals record for most goals by a rookie held by Logan Nelson with 23,

“Coming out (Saturday) night we want to shut them down, I think we did a good job of that in the first two periods.” 

Victora got a pair of assists from Jack Walker, while Tyler Soy scored his 20th of the season.  Forsberg added his 18th and 19th of the season on a three point night surpassing 200 career points.

“At the end of the day it’s not a matter of points – it just matters if we’re winning, and it’s been a really good year so far.”  Said Forsberg.

Royals Griffen Outhouse stopped 30 of 33 shots for his 8th win in his 5th consecutive start.  Rockets netminder Herringer allowed 4 goals 36 shots.

Kelowna got goals from Tanner Wishnowski, Calvin Thurkauf, and Nick Merkley.

Victoria takes a 3-2 season series lead, and moves into sole possession of 2nd in the West, now just 5 points back of the Rockets.  The Royals won their 2nd in a row, while snapping the Rockets streak of points in 3 straight.  Kelowna is the defending WHL Champions, and are ranked 6th in the CHL Top 10.

The rematch goes Saturday at 7pm

- Marlon Martens.

Kelowna Rockets 3 at Victoria Royals 4 - Status: Final
Friday, January 15, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Kelowna 0 0 3 - 3
Victoria 1 2 1 - 4

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Forsberg 18 (Phillips, Walker), 15:55 (PP).

Penalties-Merkley Kel (slashing), 8:48; Lind Kel (high sticking), 15:29; Walker Vic (hooking), 19:01.

2nd Period-
2, Victoria, Forsberg 19 (Phillips, Hannoun), 11:45.
3, Victoria, Soy 20 (Bobylev, Walker), 16:03.

Penalties-served by Peckford Vic (too many men), 3:05; Ballhorn Kel (slashing, major-fighting), 7:20; Price Vic (major-fighting), 7:20; Lind Kel (roughing), 16:40; Price Vic (inter. on goaltender), 17:20.

3rd Period-
4, Kelowna, Wishnowski 5 (Foote, Borstmayer), 4:35.
5, Victoria, Phillips 23 (Forsberg, Outhouse), 5:24.
6, Kelowna, Thurkauf 9 (Gatenby, Linaker), 11:07.
7, Kelowna, Merkley 14 (Chartier, Thurkauf), 16:17.

Penalties-Smart Kel (hooking), 8:42; Stephens Kel (tripping), 19:34.

Shots on Goal-
Kelowna 14-6-13-33.
Victoria 11-19-6-36.

Power Play Opportunities-
Kelowna 0 / 3;
Victoria 1 / 6.

Goalies-
Kelowna, Herringer 10-5-1-0 (36 shots-32 saves).
Victoria, Outhouse 8-3-1-1 (33 shots-30 saves).

A-5,171
Referees-Brett Iverson (24), Kevin Bennett (29).
Linesmen-Kirk Van Helvoirt (107), Riley Friesen (76).