TRI 5 - VIC 3

ROYALS SWEPT BY TRI-CITY by Dustin Forbes, BCIT INTERN.

The second of a two-game set between the hometown Victoria Royals and the visiting Tri-City Americans went in favour of the road team once again. It was a much better effort for the Royals as they lead the game three times. But once again, the team couldn’t pull off the victory as the Americans scored twice in the third period en route to a 5-3 victory to sweep the series.

Back-up goaltender Jared Rathjen got the start in favour of Keith Hamilton for Victoria. However, Connor Rankin would score twice in the game and Mason Wilgosh chipped in three assists in the win for Tri-City.

Jared Rathjen, post game comments:

Post Game - Jared Rathjen

Victoria would get on the board first in the game. Just over five minutes in, Logan Nelson scored a power play goal with great patience walking his way in front of the net and waiting for Americans goaltender Eric Comrie to go down before sliding the puck into the open net on the Royals first shot of the game. The goal was Nelson’s 13th of the season – assists went to Zane Jones and Kade Pilton.

The lead was short-lived by Victoria as 4:10 later, Adam Hughesman beat Rathjen to tie the game at one, but the Royals would respond. Kevin Sundher scored his team-leading 19th goal of the year to put the Royals back on top. Late in the first period, Royals rookie Luke Harrison received a charging penalty on a questionable call and the Americans capitalized as Connor Rankin scored his first of two on the evening to see a 2-2 game after twenty minutes of play.

Here's Kevin Sundher's thoughts post game:

 

In the second period, Jared Rathjen came up big for the Royals keeping them in the game. Rathjen made 12 saves in the period, including two tremendous glove saves to save a goal. The teams would exchange goals in the middle stanza. Zane Jones scored his 7th of the season and now has four goals in his last five games. Ben Walker picked up an assist on the Jones goal; Walker now has a three-game point streak with one goal and two assists. With just fifty seconds remaining in the second period, Zachary Yuen scored shortly after a questionable boarding penalty to Brandon Magee expired, and it was tied at three after two periods of play.

The Royals would press early in the third period. Jamie Crooks hit a crossbar early on but was unable to capitalize, and that’s exactly what the Americans did. Connor Rankin scored his second of the game on a back in from below the goal-line to give the Americans their first lead of the night. Then just 1:26 later, Tri-City would capitalize again. Marcus Messier scored his third of the year to give the road team a two-goal cushion and the Royals would not be able to answer as the Americans would skate to a 5-3 victory at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre.

After the game, Head Coach and General Manager of the Royals Marc Habscheid said, “yeah, I thought that the last goal at the end of the second period was a tough one to give up because that’s not only a tying goal, that’s a bit of a momentum changer. So it was a tough to give that one up, especially off what we thought was a clean hit.”

Here's Habscheid's post game thoughts from the media scrum:


The Royals went 1/2 on the power play, while the Americans went 1/5. Tri-City outshot Victoria 30-18 in the hockey game and 7-4 in third period.

The Royals winless streak continues at home. They haven’t won at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre since a 4-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels on November 13th. The Royals are now 1-8-1 in their last ten games.

The Royals will have a day off on Thursday, before looking to get off the snide on Friday night when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes in their last home game before the Christmas break. The game will also be the Teddy Bear Toss night at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre.

You can catch all the action on The Zone @ 91.3.

Preview: TRI at VIC

Rathjen stops Hughesman.  Credit: Photo by Jon Howe

The Tri City Americans beat the Royals 6-2 in Victoria Tuesday night paced by Justin Feser’s 2 goals and 2 assists.  The Royals only 1 point up on Kelowna in the division look to end a 2 game slide versus the Americans tonight on home ice.

#1's: Tri Cities scored first, and are now a perfect 15-0 when doing so.  They’ve been ranked 3rd in the CHL for a second week in a row, and sit on top of the league standings with the best winning percentage.  The Americans now boast the #1 Penalty Kill, but the Royals went 1 for 7, allowing 2 on 6 against.

Credit: Bruce Stotesbury Times Colonist

SHOTS: Victoria has out shot the opposition in 4 of the last 6 periods but still have the fewest shot per game on average in the league.

HOME & ROAD: The Royals drop to .500 on Home Ice, and are winless in 4 at the SOFMC.  The Americans are 5 games over .500 on the road, now riding a 3 game win streak.

WHO'S HOT: Adam Hughesman (TRI), and Kevin Sundher (VIC) are 5th and 6th in WHL scoring with 50 and 45 points respectively.  Brendan Shinniman (TRI) has 7 points in his last 3 outings and sits 12 in scoring with 40 points.  Logan Nelson is second in rookie scoring with 30 points but pointless in his last 3.  Zane Jones has goals in back to back games, 3 in his last 4.

Adam Hughesman.  Credit: Photo by Jon Howe

SERIES: The season series sits tied at a game a piece, Victoria won in Tri Cities 5-4 on Oct 25th and will meet there one final time on February 4th.

2 GAME MINI SETS: Victoria has not been shut out in 2 game sets this season.  8 times they’ve faced the same opponent on back to back nights, sweeping Kelowna and Prince George, picking up splits against Seattle, Medicine Hat, Red Deer and twice Vancouver, plus taking a single point in an overtime loss to Kamloops.

Up Next:  It's Teddy Bear Toss night on Friday when the Lethbridge Hurricanes come for their first meeting of the season.  The Hurricanes have won 4 in a row, play Kelowna tonight.  Then the Royals head off to play in Seattle Saturday, wrapping up 4 games in 5 nights for a second week in a row.  The road trip continues to Edmonton, a rematch in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat a week Saturday before the Christmas Break.

Catch all the action at The Zone @ 91.3 FM / www.thezone.fm

TRI 6 - VIC 2

ROYALS DROPPED ON HOME ICE BY TRI-CITY

by Dustin Forbes BCIT INTERN

The Victoria Royals opened up a two game set on Tuesday night at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre against the Tri-City Americans, but the result was a familiar one; the Royals were defeated 6-2 by the Americans in front of 4,600 spectators at the barn on Blanshard. Brendan Shinnimin and Justin Feser lead the Americans, each scoring twice in the game.

Despite the 6-2 loss on the scoreboard, the play wasn’t as indicative, as the Royals outshot the Americans 32-27 and 13-6 in the third period. The Americans capitalized on their scoring opportunities, while the Royals did not. In the game, the Royals had three two-on-ones and two breakaways – combined resulted in one shot on goal and one goal post.

Marc Habscheid Coach / GM of Victoria thoughts post game:

 

It was a carbon-copy start for the Royals; they found themselves down a pair just 9:27 into the hockey game as Mason Wilgosh and Justin Feser scored for the Americans early in the game. Zane Jones cut the Tri-City lead to one, when he chipped in his sixth goal of the season with 1:23 remaining in the first period – Austin Carroll and Ben Walker picked up assists on the goal; Walker's first WHL assist.

Just over four minutes into the second period, Brendan Shinnimin scored his 12^th of the year to chase Royals netminder, Keith Hamilton – Jared Rathjen came in to relieve Hamilton. Tri-City would add two more in the period. Tyson Dallman scored his first of the season before Justin Feser added his second of the game to make it a 5-1 Americans lead after forty minutes of play. 

Early in the third, Robin Soudek notched his 17^th goal of the year on the powerplay. Brandon Magee and Kevin Sundher drew assists on the goal that made it 5-2. That would be all the Royals would get on the scoreboard. Brendan Shinnimin added insult to injury when he scored his second of the evening to seal a 6-2 victory for the visiting Americans.

Following the game, Head Coach and General Manager of the Royals, Marc Habscheid said, “The last five or six games we could’ve easily have won all those games. We haven’t one time it’s this, next time it’s that. But our shots have been down and our chances against have been down and that’s good.”

With the loss, the Royals drop to .500 on home ice, and are winless in 4 at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. The Royals have a chance at redemption Wednesday night as the two teams do things over in the second of the back-to-back at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. Puck drops at 7:05 Pacific Time.

Assistant Coach Enio Sacilotto's post game comments:

 

You can catch all the action on The Zone @ 91.3

Preview: vs Tri City

The Victoria Royals picked up a split in the Okanagan on the weekend, snapping a 6 game winless skid in Kelowna Friday night 2-1, then falling to the Blazers in Kamloops 4-2 on Saturday.

The Royals remain in 3rd spot in the BC Division one point up of the Rockets and now return home for a pair against the Tri City Americans tonight and tomorrow.

It's another 4 game in 5 night stretch after only a 2 day break versus Tri-City, who are ranked 3rd in Canada. The Americans own the best win percentage in the league, sitting first in the conference. 

The Royals were victorious in Tri Cities 5-4 on Oct 25th in their only meeting of the season.  It was 2 point nights for Jamie Crooks, Robin Soudek, Steven Hodges and Kevin Sundher as they chased Eric Comrie from the net.  Keith Hamilton made 41 saves for the win. 

Tri is coming off wins against Everett and Seattle, winning 8 of their last 10.  They boast the 2nd best Penalty Killing and have given up the 2nd fewest goals in the league.  On the road, the Americans are only 4 over .500, while the Royals are one over .500 at home but winless there in 3.

Former Bruin Mitch Topping will face his former club tonight, while N. Saanich product Sam Grist returns to play infront of friends and family.  Marcus and Jordan Messier’s father is Mitch who played for Minnesota in the 80’s and is a second cousin of Mark.

The Americans big threats include Adam Hughesman who’s fourth in league scoring with 50 points, Brendan Shinnimin who spent part of the season playing for Phoenix’s AHL affiliate the Portland Pirates and Patrick Holland, the Flames draft pick.  On the back end Zachery Yuen is a recent Jets draft selection while Grist attended Flyers training camp.  Between the pipes, Ty Rimmer has the second best goals against average and save percentage in the league – while rookie Eric Comrie has 9 wins in 14 games.

This evening the Royals face an Americans club looking for revenge while boasting the #1 win percentage in the league in Victoria tonight.  Pregame show start at 6:45 on The Zone @ 91.3 FM.

VIC 2 - KAM 4

Hamilton stops Ranford, by Andrew Snucins, the Daily News

The Victoria Royals picked up a split in the Okanagan on the weekend, snapping a 6 game winless streak in Kelowna Friday night 2-1, then falling to the Blazers in Kamloops 4-2 on Saturday.

The Royals remain in 3rd spot in the BC Division one point up of the Rockets and return home for a pair against the Tri City Americans on Tuesday on Wednesday. 

Saturday night, the Blazers jumped ahead 2-0 on goals 13 seconds apart.  The first a power play goal by Dylan Willick, that drew offside arguments.  Lipon scoring his 10th moments later.  Robin Soudek was stopped by Cheveldave on a penalty shot with 4:51 left, after defenseman Tyler Bell  covered the puck in the crease.

The Royals responded with a pair in the second as Zane Jones tapped in his 5th after a hard forecheck from his linemates Austin Carroll and Mike Forsyth who drew assists.  Minnesota High School product Ben Walker playing in his 5th game with club ripped home a shot from just inside the blueline for his 1st point in the WHL to tie the game a 2.

In the third Kamloops added a pair from Ryan Hanes and Matt Needham by the 11:49 mark.  The Royals pushed late but fell short.  They outshot the Blazers 31-29 on the night and had their highest first period shot output in 8 games, with 11.

Keith Hamilton stopped 25 shots in the loss, in his 15 straight start.  Cole Cheveldave, after taking Friday night off, was back between the pipes for his 5th straight win - now 4-0 against Victoria.  Jamie Crooks had his 4 game point streak snapped.

Kamloops scored once on three power play chances, while Victoria was unable to capatalize on their three man advantages.

The Blazers pick up their 6th straight win, which hasn’t been done since ‘06-07.  All wins versus clubs with under .500 records (Seattle, Prince George and Victoria four times). The Blazers are 12-2 against B.C. Division opponents, with both losses by the hands of the Prince George Cougars.  They’ve only played Vancouver once and won, and sit one point up on the Giants for top spot in the BC Division with 3 in hand.

Victoria is now winless in 5 in the 8 game season series, picking up a single point in the 6-5 overtime loss on Wednesday.  They’ll meet next on the Island January 27th and 28th for a double header.  Both clubs were playing 4 games in 5 nights, after meeting each other for a 4th time in 9 nights.  The trip also wraps up a 6 game stretch for Victoria versus BC Division opponents, with a record of (1-4-1).

Last back to back road wins happenend October 25th, with a 5-4 victory in Tri Cities, after defeating the Rockets 3-2 in Kelowna.

Victoria’s next opponent, the Americans are ranked 3rd in Canada, with the Royals defeating them in Tri Cities 5-4 on Oct 25th in their only meeting of the season.

VIC 2 - KEL 1

Sundher stopped by Cooke.  Photo by Marissa Baecker

Robin Soudek scored twice to lead the Victoria Royals to a 2-1 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna Friday night, kicking off December with a win.

The Royals end a 6 game winless streak, take sole possession of 3rd in the BC Division, and have 3 points in their last 2 outings.   They snap a 4 game road slide, and scored the first goal of the game after allowing it in 9 straight.

Robin Soudek scored his 15th of the season with a drive from the point to opening the scoring in the 2nd. 

Defenseman Keegan Kanzig would draw his first WHL point, assisting on the play.  Colton Scissons would even the score on the power play, converting a pass from Minnesota draft pick Brett Bulmer.

Jesse Zgraggen, was able to return to the ice in the third after taking a check to the head from Jessey Astles who received 5 and a game misconduct.  Bulmer would take a high sticking penalty and on the ensuing 5 on 3, Soudek would score his second of the night, the eventual game winner.

Photo by Marissa Baecker

It was another 4 fight affair, as the Royals played without captain Hayden Rintoul for a stretch as he picked up 17 minutes in penalties, by sticking up for Jamie Crooks.

Kevin Sundher had 3 breakaways, unable to beat the sprawled out pad of Jordon Cooke in the first while short handed, hit the post on his second attempt and stopped again in the third.  Kevin assisted on the 2nd goa, but the helpers were credited to Jesse Pauls and Jamie Crooks.  Sundher was riding a 5 game point streak.  Brandon Magee was also not credited on the play, robbing him of his 50th career point.

Tonight it’s the 4th meeting in 9 nights against the Blazers in Kamloops.  The Royals fell 6-5 it overtime Wednesday and 4-3 Tuesday at home, while last Friday dropping a 4-1 decision in Kamloops.  It’s the 5th meeting of the season, with Victoria picking up a single point thus far.

Riding a season high 5 game win streak, Kamloops is tops in the BC Division, one ahead of the Giants.  They have points in 8 of the their last 10, coming off a 5-4 win versus the Prince George Cougars last night.

After tonight, Victoria returns home for a pair against the Tri City Americans, ranked 3rd in the CHL.  The Ams were the Royals last road victim defeating Tri 5-4 back on October 25th.

The Royals in December play 9 games in 17 nights before the Christmas break.  3 at home and 6 on the road.  They’re playing their last of 6 in a row vs the BC Divison, collecting 3 points thus far.

Preview: at Kelowna

The Royals are coming off a pair of losses to the Kamloops Blazers 4-3 on Tuesday and 6-5 in Overtime Wednesday night in Victoria.

Royals pregame practice at Prospera in Kelowna Friday

Winless in 6, they pick up a much needed point in the BC division, as Kelowna has jumped ahead of them by one point in the standings with 2 in hand, and face the 3rd place Rockets tonight.
 
The Rockets look to build on a 2 game win streak, coming off an impressive 6-2 win over the top team in the conference, the Tri City Americans.  They held the Ams to 2 power play chances, scoring twice on theirs, and chased Ty Rimmer from the nets while outshooting them 33-22.  Minnesota Draft pick Brett Bulmer led the way with 2 goals.  

The Rockets are 6-3-1-1 with Bulmer in the fold.  He’s received an invite to the WJ training camp, while Filip Vasko will attend the Slovak's camp.
 
Kelowna now has won 5 of their last 6, 3 however versus the 5th place Cougars and once versus Victoria last Saturday 6-5.  The Rockets offense has been heating up as of late, scoring 6 or more goals in 3 of the their last 4, the only blemish being shut out by the Kootenay Ice.  They’ve been strong in their current 7 game home stand with 3 wins, tonight playing game number 5.

Victoria pregame skate in Kelowna today

SEASON SERIES:  In their last meeting, the Royals came from behind twice to tie and almost three times, but time expired on Crooks’ attempt, falling 6-5.  Robin Soudek and Kevin Sundher had a goal and assist each, while Hayden Rintoul and Jamie Crooks picked up a pair of helpers each.  

It was Brett Bulmer’s first contest of the season against the Royals and he made it count, scoring a hat trick, while linemate Shane McColgan chipped in with 3 assists.  Victoria leads the series 3 games to 1 and have out scored Kelowna 19-16 in four games.  There were 4 fights in the game, with Rockets Tyrell Goulbourne involved in two.  

The Royals won back-to-back games at home against the Rockets on October 14 and 15, and then handed the Rockets a 3-2 loss in Kelowna on October 22.  Sundher has 10 points versus the Rockets this season, in only four games.

JUST A GOAL:  With 8 wins in 13 one goal games, the Royals have been edged in their last 3 by just a single score.  One glaring statistic is how the oppostion has scored the first goal in 9 straight, Victoria drawing points in 2 of those, a shoot out win and an overtime loss.

MOVEMBER:  The Royals close out the month of November picking up 5 points in 11 games, and now will play 9 games in 17 nights before the Christmas break in December.  3 at home and 6 on the road.  They’re playing their 5th of 6 in a row vs the BC Divison, collecting a single point thus far.

COMING UP:  After a 4th meeting in 9 nights in Kamloops tomorrow, Victoria returns home for a pair against the Tri City Americans, ranked 3rd in the CHL.  The Ams were the Royals last road victim defeating Tri 5-4 back on October 25th.  Victoria looks to snap a 4 game road slide tonight in Kelowna.
 
WHO'S HOT:  Kevin Sundher has returned to form with 8 points in his 5 game point streak, now 6th in league scoring.  Rookie Logan Nelson is 2nd among freshman in points with 30 and looking to improve on a his 3 game point streak where he's collected 7 points.  Captain Hayden Rintoul coming off a 3 point night, now leads all defenseman in power play goals with 6.  In the 2 game series versus the Blazers, the line of Sundher, Nelson and Jamie Crooks have combined for 13 points, scoring 5 of Victoria’s 8 goals.

By starting off December with a win tonight in Kelowna, the Royals would leap frog past the Rockets for sole possesion of 3rd place.  Catch the pregame show at 6:45 on The Zone @ 91.3 FM, or online at www.thezone.fm.