Tuesday 4 November 2014

Preview: Victoria at Kelowna, Wed. Nov 5

The Victoria Royals (9-7-2-0, 20 pts) visit the #1 team in the CHL, the Kelowna Rockets (14-1-1-0, 29pts) Wednesday night, beginning a 3 game BC Division road trip.

Pregame show on The Zone @ 91.3 fm at 6:40 or online at www.thezone.fm/whl

It’s their first meeting of the season, as last year the Royals held a winning record against the Rockets winning 5 of 8 (5-2-0-1).  Victoria won all 4 in Kelowna, including 3 in regulation and 1 in a shoot out.  The Rockets only had 4 home regulation losses all season.

Kelowna returns from a 3 game road trip with a (2-0-1-0) record after a 5-3 win in Vancouver Sunday with former Victoria netminder Michael Herringer in goal.  Before that they picked up a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to Portland Saturday after blanking the Winterhawks two days earlier 5-0.

The Rockets were without head coach Dan Lambert, who is in Sarnia, Ontario as a coach of Team Red, one of Canada’s 3 entries in the U-17 World Hockey Challenge.

Kelowna has only l regulation loss this season in 16 games, and sit atop of the WHL with the best win percentage.  They are 6-0 on home ice, most recently at Prospera Place defeating Brandon 6-1.

Victoria is coming off a 3 point weekend after falling 5-4 in overtime to the Tri City Americans Sunday.  They beat the Ams 4-1 one night earlier.  The Royals wrapped up their 5 game homestand with a record of (3-1-1-0), 7 of a possible 10 points.

Victoria has reached the quarter mark of the season with a 2 game over .500 record, (9-7-2-0) and a share of 3rd spot in the West with Prince George and Kamloops, all at 20 points.  The club has scored a power play goal in 7 straight games (9/23 – 39%), moving them up to the 5th best % in the league.

The Royals are led in scoring by Austin Carroll with 23 points and team leading 11 goals, 2nd best in the WHL.  Defenseman Joe Hicketts is next and 2nd in the league among defenseman scoring with 20 points including 15 assists.  He is to wear the letter ‘A’ at the upcoming Subway Super Series.

Winnipeg Jets property forward Axel Blomqvist is 3rd in scoring riding 7 game point streak with 13 points including 6 goals.

The Rockets own the most efficient power play (31%), and have scored the 2nd most goals in the WHL on average per game with 5.  They are the 3rd stingiest, and have a league high 7 short handed goals for.

Kelowna is led in scoring by ‘A’ rated skater for the upcoming NHL draft, Nick Merkley with 27 points in 16 games which is also tops in the league.

Rourke Chartier leads the league in goals with 14.  Netminder Jackson Whistle owns the most wins with 12 and holds the top goals against average (2.14).

Defenseman Madison Bowey leads all defenseman in the league in scoring with 22 points in 14 games.  Victoria’s Joe Hicketts is 2nd with 20 points.

Former Royals netminder Michael Herringer has been added to the Rockets roster after an injury to Jake Morrisey.

On Tuesday Kelowna acquired 18 year old forward Rodney Southam from Tri City for a conditional 5th round pick in 2016 .  In 10 games he had 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points.

After Kelowna, Victoria travels to Prince George for a pair of weekend games.

- Marlon Martens0

Last Season: Victoria (5-2-0-1) / Kelowna (3-4-0-1)

Victoria 3 @ Kelowna 2 (Mar 11 2014) Final
Victoria 6 @ Kelowna 4 (Feb 8 2014) Final
Kelowna 5 @ Victoria 3 (Jan 18 2014) Final
Kelowna 1 @ Victoria 3 (Jan 17 2014) Final
Victoria 4 @ Kelowna 1 (Nov 20 2013) Final
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

U17 - CANADA WHITE:
F – Dillon Dube, Kelowna Rockets - INJURED

NHL CSS
Forwards Nick Merkley ‘A’, Tomas Soustal and Joe Gatenby ‘C’ skaters

TEAM WHL
Defenseman Madison Bowey, and forward Tyson Baillie

NHL CAMP Invitees

Tyson Baillie, San Jose Sharks, F/A, No
Madison Bowey, Washington Capitals, 2013, YES
Rourke Chartier, San Jose Sharks, 2014, No
Tyrell Goulbourne, Philadelphia Flyers, 2013, No
Justin Kirkland, Nashville Predators, 2014, No
Mitchell Wheaton, Detroit Red Wings, 2013, No
Jackson Whistle, Vancouver Canucks, F/A, No
Dalton Yorke, San Jose Sharks, F/A, No

Victoria Royals vs Kelowna Rockets: Head To Head Stats Summary
Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2014-15 Regular SeasonVictoria 0-0-0-0Kelowna 0-0-0-0
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular SeasonVictoria 5-2-0-1Kelowna 3-4-0-1
Last 5 Years record between teamsVictoria 15-13-1-3Kelowna 17-12-1-2
Victoria vs. Kelowna Last 5 Years record at VictoriaVictoria 6-7-1-2Kelowna 10-5-1-0
Victoria vs. Kelowna Last 5 Years record at KelownaVictoria 9-6-0-1Kelowna 7-7-0-2

How the 2 teams match up
Kelowna
Victoria
Team Record14-1-1-0 -- 29 points9-7-2-0 -- 20 points
Division Ranking1st B.C.3rd B.C.
Conference Ranking1st Western4th Western
League Ranking1st8th
Past 10 Games8-1-1-06-3-1-0
Streak4-0-1-01-0-1-0
Last Game5-3 W @ Vancouver (Nov 2 2014) Final5-4 L vs Tri-City (Nov 2 2014) Final OT
Home Record6-0-0-05-2-2-0
Away Record8-1-1-04-5-0-0
GF80 56 
GA38 61 
PP (Overall)(26/84) 31.0(21/87) 24.1
PP (Home)(9/32) 28.1(11/36) 30.6
PP (Away)(17/52) 32.7(10/51) 19.6
PK (Overall)(11/66) 83.3(17/86) 80.2
PK (Home)(3/27) 88.9(7/37) 81.1
PK (Away)(8/39) 79.5(10/49) 79.6
Leading RookieDube (0-0-0)Hannoun (1-2-3)
Most PIMBowey - 26Crunk - 49
Team PIM/GM13.2/Game18.3/Game
Leading ScorersMerkley (5-22-27)Carroll (11-12-23)
Chartier (14-10-24)Hicketts (5-15-20)
Bowey (6-16-22)Blomqvist (7-9-16)
Baillie (11-8-19)Brown (6-9-15)
Glover (6-10-16)Walker (5-8-13)
Last 5 Games5-3 W @ Vancouver (Nov 2 2014) Final5-4 L vs Tri-City (Nov 2 2014) Final OT
3-2 L @ Portland (Nov 1 2014) Final OT4-1 W vs Tri-City (Nov 1 2014) Final
5-0 W @ Portland (Oct 30 2014) Final3-2 L vs Brandon (Oct 28 2014) Final
6-1 W vs Brandon (Oct 25 2014) Final3-2 W vs Vancouver (Oct 25 2014) Final
4-0 W vs Tri-City (Oct 22 2014) Final2-1 W vs Vancouver (Oct 24 2014) Final
Leading After 1st8-1-0-04-1-0-0
Leading After 2nd10-0-0-05-1-0-0
Tied After 1st5-0-1-03-1-0-0
Tied After 2nd2-1-1-02-1-1-0
Trailing After 1st1-0-0-02-5-2-0
Trailing After 2nd2-0-0-02-5-1-0
Out Shooting Opponents11-1-0-05-1-1-0
Out Shot by Opponents3-0-1-03-6-1-0
1-Goal Games2-0-1-05-2-2-0
2-Goal Games5-0-0-01-2-0-0
3-Goal Games0-1-0-01-1-0-0