Pregame show at 6:40 on The Zone @ 91.3 fm or online at cjzn.streamon.fm
The game was previously scheduled for Wednesday, but due to impassable road conditions for the travelling Tigers, it was postponed and moved to Thursday, Jan. 8th.
@Mark_Rassell tweeted: “55 hours, 3 days, 2 nights, 1 Avalanche and 1 ferry ride. The Tabbies finally made it to Victoria.” #buslegs
In their second and final meeting, Victoria looks to avenge an 8-2 loss in Medicine Hat back on October 11th.
The contest features the top 2 scoring leaders among defenseman for Victoria in Joe Hicketts (38pts) and Travis Brown (38pts), against two of the leagues top 3 scorers for Medicine Hat in Trevor Cox (65pts) and Cole Sanford (60pts).
Brown is the WHL reigning Player of the Week with 5 points (1g-4a), while posting a plus-6 rating in 2 games over the past week leading the Royals to two straight victories in that span.
Cox is the CHL Player of the Month for December, and Sanford a recent Player of the Week in December.
Both clubs feature the debut of recently acquired players ahead of the Jan. 10th trade deadline.
Medicine Hat made a deal with Regina Monday, acquiring 19 year old defenseman Kyle Burroughs a NYI draft pick, and veteran forward Dryden Hunt, who’s 12th in league scoring with 47 points in exchange for D Connor Hobbs, a 3rd round in 2015 and 2nd round in 2016.
Tuesday, Victoria acquired forward Alex Forsberg (1995) along with a third round pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft and a fourth round pick in the 2016 draft from the Saskatoon Blades. In exchange the Royals sent their first round pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft and the rights to forward Brayden Dunn (1998) to the Blades.
Later that day, the Royals acquired Russian defenceman Alexey Sleptsov and goaltender Justin Paulic, along with a sixth round draft pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft from the Moose Jaw Warriors. In exchange the Royals have sent import forward Axel Blomqvist, a third round pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft and a fifth round pick in the 2017 draft to the Warriors.
Thursday, Victoria sent F Mitch Skapski to Saskatoon along with a 5th round pick in 2015 for a 5th round pick in 2016. They also traded G Jayden Sittler to Lethbridge for a 7th round selection in 2016.
The Royals are riding a 3 game win streak after sweeping the visiting Chiefs by 8-1 and 4-2 scores last weekend.
The Tigers are also on a 3 game win streak after a 2-1 home win over the Broncos, and winners of 7 of their past 10.
Victoria welcomed back Joe Hicketts and Head Coach Dave Lowry from the World Junior Championships after winning Gold for Canada.
Medicine Hat saw the return of Markus Eisenchmid after playing for Germany.
Instead of playing three games in four nights in the B.C. Division, both clubs begin 3 in 3.
The Tigers are scheduled to meet the Giants in Vancouver on Friday and the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday. The Royals face the Cougars for a pair of back to back games Friday and Saturday to close out a 7 game homestand.
For Saturday night’s contest Vancouver based hockey entertainers, the Green Men will be in attendance as part of their farewell tour. When the doors open at 6:00pm the Green Men will be on hand at Gate 1 to take photos and autographs by donation. Victoria is the first stop on the Green Men Farewell Tour presented by Pacific Coastal Airlines.
- Marlon Martens
Victoria Royals vs Medicine Hat Tigers: Head To Head Stats Summary
How the 2 teams match up
Description
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Result
| |
| Head to Head Record 2014-15 Regular Season | Victoria 0-1-0-0 | Medicine Hat 1-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular Season | Victoria 1-0-0-1 | Medicine Hat 1-1-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Victoria 5-4-0-1 | Medicine Hat 5-4-1-0 |
| Victoria vs. Medicine Hat Last 5 Years record at Victoria | Victoria 3-1-0-0 | Medicine Hat 1-2-1-0 |
| Victoria vs. Medicine Hat Last 5 Years record at Medicine Hat | Victoria 2-3-0-1 | Medicine Hat 4-2-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Victoria 2 @ Medicine Hat 8 (Oct 11 2014) Final |
How the 2 teams match up
Medicine Hat
|
Victoria
| |
| Team Record | 27-9-1-1 -- 56 points | 20-18-2-1 -- 43 points |
| Division Ranking | 1st Central | 2nd B.C. |
| Conference Ranking | 2nd Eastern | 5th Western |
| League Ranking | 3rd | 11th |
| Past 10 Games | 7-3-0-0 | 5-4-0-1 |
| Streak | 3-0-0-0 | 3-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 2-1 W vs Swift Current (Jan 3 2015) Final | 4-2 W vs Spokane (Jan 3 2015) Final |
| Home Record | 17-4-1-0 | 13-6-2-0 |
| Away Record | 10-5-0-1 | 7-12-0-1 |
| GF | 153 | 140 |
| GA | 101 | 138 |
| PP (Overall) | (36/179) 20.1 | (38/176) 21.6 |
| PP (Home) | (24/110) 21.8 | (21/79) 26.6 |
| PP (Away) | (12/69) 17.4 | (17/97) 17.5 |
| PK (Overall) | (24/143) 83.2 | (40/175) 77.1 |
| PK (Home) | (10/78) 87.2 | (15/79) 81.0 |
| PK (Away) | (14/65) 78.5 | (25/96) 74.0 |
| Leading Rookie | Bradley (8-14-22) | Nagy (4-6-10) |
| Most PIM | Lewington - 74 | Carroll - 76 |
| Team PIM/GM | 13.1/Game | 15.5/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Cox (14-51-65) | Carroll (26-23-49) |
| Sanford (31-29-60) | Brown (15-23-38) | |
| Hunt (14-33-47) | Hicketts (8-30-38) | |
| Owre (13-21-34) | Forsberg (13-20-33) | |
| Vannelli (12-15-27) | Soy (13-20-33) | |
| Last 5 Games | 2-1 W vs Swift Current (Jan 3 2015) Final | 4-2 W vs Spokane (Jan 3 2015) Final |
| 5-4 W vs Kootenay (Dec 30 2014) Final SO | 8-1 W vs Spokane (Jan 2 2015) Final | |
| 8-4 W vs Lethbridge (Dec 28 2014) Final | 4-0 W vs Prince George (Dec 28 2014) Final | |
| 6-5 L @ Lethbridge (Dec 27 2014) Final | 4-3 L vs Prince George (Dec 27 2014) Final | |
| 7-3 W vs Kamloops (Dec 17 2014) Final | 7-6 L @ Everett (Dec 17 2014) Final SO | |
| Leading After 1st | 16-4-0-0 | 8-2-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 19-1-0-0 | 13-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 6-1-0-1 | 7-5-0-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 6-3-0-1 | 3-1-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 5-4-1-0 | 5-11-2-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 2-5-1-0 | 4-16-1-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 20-8-1-1 | 11-5-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 7-1-0-0 | 8-12-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 7-2-1-1 | 7-5-2-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 7-3-0-0 | 5-6-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 3-2-0-0 | 2-3-0-0 |
