Recap: PORT 3 - VIC 4

Brad Ross faces Keith Hamilton in a 4-3 Royals win.

Steven Hodges broke a 3-3 tie at 13:14 of the third period to give the Victoria Royals a 4-3 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks Wednesday night.

Austin Carroll opened the scoring on the power play, but a pair of Winterhawk goals :19 seconds apart by Ty Rattie (55th) and Taylor Leier put Portalnd up 2-1 after 20.

Victoria added a pair in the middle frame by Jamie Crooks (36th) and Zane Jones (1g 1a) on a breakaway to take a 3-2 lead heading into the third.  After Portland’s Oliver Gabriel tied it just 2:26 into the final frame, Steven Hodges (1g 1a) converted on a 2 on 1 with Logan Nelson for the eventual winner.

The Winterhawks hit 2 posts in the third, both on one shift and pulled the goal tender late while on the power play, but were unable to draw even.

Keith Hamilton made 32 saves to earn his 19th win and a first against his former club.  Mac Carruth who leads the league in wins with 42, stopped 15 pucks for his 16th loss.

The Royals power play struck once on three opportunities against the 3rd best penalty kill, while Victoria was a perfect 2 for 2 – now 37 for 39 over their last 11.

Steven Hodges had a goal and assist including the winner.

 Royals Assistant Coach Enio Sacilotto following the win:

 
It was Victoria’s 6th sell out of the season, and the Royals first win against the Winterhawks (1-2).  They’ll play each other Friday night in Victoria to close out the Royals regular season.

The win moves the Royals into 7th spot in the West with 53 points and one game remaining.  Everett is in 8th with 52 points and 2 games left. 

Victoria has yet to clinch as Seattle is within stricking distance just 3 points back in 9th and 3 games left. 

Any combination of points gained by Victoria or points dropped by Seattle totaling 4 will guarantee the Royals a playoff spot.   (Example, Victoria wins 1, Seattle loses 1).

With the win, Prince George can no longer catch Victoria.

Victoria entertains Portland for the final regular season game on Friday night.

Defenseman Jesse Zgraggen comments on the win:
 
 Portland Winterhawks 3 at Victoria Royals 4 - Status: Final
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Portland 2 0 1 - 3
Victoria 1 2 1 - 4

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Carroll 8 (Jones, Walker), 4:45 (PP).
2, Portland, Rattie 55 (Noebels), 9:26.
3, Portland, Leier 13 (De Leo), 9:45.

Penalties-served by Petan Por (too many men), 3:03; Leipsic Por (roughing), 19:31; Ross Por (inter. on goaltender), 19:31; Stahl Vic (roughing), 19:31.

2nd Period-
4, Victoria, Crooks 36 (Hodges, Stahl), 7:23.
5, Victoria, Jones 14   13:23.

Penalties-Rutkowski Por (hooking), 0:51; Cote Vic (high sticking), 8:52.

3rd Period-
6, Portland, Gabriel 17 (Rutkowski, Pouliot), 2:36.
7, Victoria, Hodges 21 (Nelson), 13:14.

Penalties-Leipsic Por (roughing), 6:06; Noebels Por (10-minute misconduct), 6:06; Magee Vic (roughing), 6:06; Rintoul Vic (10-minute misconduct), 6:06; Jones Vic (tripping), 18:30.

Shots on Goal-
Portland 11-11-13-35.
Victoria 8-9-2-19.

Power Play Opportunities-
Portland 0 / 2;
Victoria 1 / 3.

Goalies-
Portland, Carruth 42-16-2-0 (19 shots-15 saves).
Victoria, Hamilton 19-31-1-4 (35 shots-32 saves).

A-7,006
Referees-Ryan Benbow (62), Trevor Hanson (19).
Linesmen-Bevan Mills (98), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).

Preview: Portland at Victoria (Wed Mar 14)

The Victoria Royals (22-41-3-4, 51 pts) entertain the Portland Winterhawks (48-17-3-1, 100 pts) for the final two regular season games Wednesday and Friday.

Pregame show both nights at 6:45 on The Zone at 91.3 FM.

PAST 10:     Portland: 7-2-1-0     Victoria: 4-5-1-0

LAST GAME: Victoria is coming off a 5-4 overtime loss in Vancouver Sunday, Portland riding a two game win streak after an 11-3 win at Seattle Saturday.

PLAYOFF PICTURE:  The Royals in 8th are fighting to clinch a playoff birth with 51 points and 2 games remaining.  Seattle is 9th with 50 points and 3 games left.  Prince George is 10th, with 48 points and 2 games left. 

Any combination of points gained by Victoria or points dropped by Seattle totaling 6 will guarantee the Royals a playoff spot.   (Example, Victoria wins 1, Seattle loses 2).  The number is 2 points in respect to Prince George.

Portland in 3rd with 100 points is fighting for the title in the West and the League, 2 points back of top seed Tri City.  Kamloops with 97 points has clinched the BC Division and therefore they will finish no lower than second in the conference.

SEASON SERIES: Victoria fell in Portland in their previous two meetings 7-6 Dec 30th, and 6-3 Dec 28th.

STATS:  Victoria’s penalty kill has stopped 35 of 37 over their last 10 outings.  Portland has scored the most goals for (4.58) and taken the most shots for (41.32) on average per game.  Goal differential by period (+30, +25, +38).  When the Winterhawks score the first goal, they are (35-5-2-1).

WHO TO WATCH:  Portland’s Ty Rattie is 2nd in league scoring with 116 points, 3rd in goal (54), and tops in power play markers (26).  Sven Bartschi who scored his first 2 NHL goals this week with Calgary, is 9th in scoring with 94 points, but is averaging exactly 2 points per game.  Joseph Morrow is 2nd in defenseman scoring (64), top prospect Derrick Pouliot is 4th among defenseman in scoring (56).

LEADING SCORERS:

Rattie (54-62-116)    
Bartschi (33-61-94)
Ross (42-40-82)
Morrow (17-47-64)
Leipsic (28-30-58)

Crooks (35-30-65)
Nelson (23-37-60)
Soudek (27-30-57)
Rintoul (17-34-51)
Magee (23-24-47)

DRAFTED/NHL SIGNED PLAYERS: For Victoria: D Tyler Stahl (Carolina, 6th rd 2010), D Jordan Fransoo (Ottawa, 7th rd 2011). 

For Portland: F Ty Rattie (St. Louis 2nd rd ‘11), F Brad Ross (Tor 2nd rd ‘10), F Cam Reid (Nash ’09), F Marcel Noebels (PHI ’11), G Mac Carruth (Chi ’10), D Troy Rutkowski (Col ’10), D Joseph Morrow (Sign Pitt 1st rd 23rd overall ‘11), F Tyler Wotherspoon (Cgy 2nd rd ’11), F Sven Bartschi (1st rd 13th CGY ’11) and D William Wren (SJ ’09).

TOP PROSPECTS:  Central Scoutings mid-term rankings of North American players positions Victoria’s Steven Hodges (55), and Logan Nelson (108).  For Portland: D Josh Hanson (149), F Taylor Leir (117), D Derrick Pouliot (10).

INJURIES:

For Portland: None to report

For Victoria:
#3, Zach Habscheid, Lower body, 1 month
#25 Robin Soudek, Upper

SELL OUT!:  Their game versus the Portland Winterhawks on March 14th is the Royals 6th sell-out of the season. 

Friday’s game is quickly approaching a capacity crowd as well.

Only tickets to the first two home games of the playoffs will be made available at this time.  The Royals’ single-game tickets for the 2012 WHL Playoffs are on sale at the Select Your Tickets box office, online at selectyourtickets.com or over the phone at (250)220-7777.
Group rates for playoff tickets are also available, starting as low as $10 per ticket.

With 2 home games left and a capacity of 7006, the Royals have an opportunity to eclipse the 200,000 mark in total attendance this season.  So far 189,746 spectactors have taken in the Royals games at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

7th - EVERETT 52 Points REMAINING: (3)
                            
Mar. 14     at Kelowna                                 
Mar. 16     at Tri-City     
Mar. 17     at Seattle

8th - VICTORIA 51 Points REMAINING: (2)

Mar 14   vs Portland
Mar 16   vs Portland

9th - SEATTLE 50 Points REMAINING: (3)

Mar. 16    at Spokane
Mar. 17    vs Everett
Mar. 18    at Portland

10th - PRINCE GEORGE 48 Points REMAINING: (2)

Mar. 16    at Kamloops
Mar. 17    vs Kamloops

If Victoria and Seattle end up tied in points, the league states:

c)  In the event two Clubs are tied in points for the last playoff position, then these Clubs will play a sudden-death game in the home arena of the Club having won the most games in WHL standings.  If the Clubs are tied in wins, (a) will be used to select the home site.

[Victoria has 22 wins thus far, Seattle 24]
[Victoria record vs Seattle (1-1-0-2) ]

a) In the event two Clubs finish tied in total points in WHL standings, the edge goes to the Club with the most victories.  If that is a tie, it will go to the Club with the most points in games between the two Clubs during the regular schedule.  If the two Clubs are still even, the edge goes to the Club with the highest ratio when taking goals for and subtracting goals against in regular season play.  If it is still a tie, the edge will go to the Club with the highest ratio when taking goals for and subtracting goals against in games played between the two Clubs in regular schedule play.

Recap: VIC 4 - VAN 5 OT

The Victoria Royals earned a much needed point in a 5-4 overtime loss in Vancouver against the Giants Sunday night.

Hayden Rintoul scored with 22.2 seconds left to force overtime, but Jordan Martinook scored his 2nd of the game in the extra frame to give the Giants sole possession of 4th in the West.

Both teams played 3 games in 3 nights, with the Royals wrapping up 4 games in 5 with a record of (1-2-1-0) and 3 points.

Victoria remains in 8th with 51 points and have 2 games left.  Seattle with 48 points is 9th, with 4 games remaining.  The 10th place Cougars have 46 points with 3 left.

The Royals need a combination of 6 points derived from Victoria wins and / or Seattle losses to eliminate the Thunderbirds.  They now need to two points in the same manner to eliminate the Cougars.  (For the teams remaining schedule, scroll down)

Trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, the Royals scored 3 in a row to take a 3-1 lead.  The Giants cut the lead to 3-2 before the 2nd was over.  Vancouver added 2 more in the third to retake the lead 4-3, before Rintoul’s dying seconds heroics.

Adam Morrison made 25 saves for his 35th victory as Jared Rathjen who made timely saves on Brendan Gallagher and Marek Tvrdon on a breakaway – stopped 34 in the overtime loss.

Victoria went 0 for 5 on the power play, while stopping all 3 Vancouver man advantages.

The Royals got a pair of goals from Brandon Magee, and singles from Hayden Rintoul (1g 1a), and Logan Nelson - who moves into 3rd in rookie scoring.  Zane Jones had a pair of assists.

Jordan Martinook and Marek Tvrdon had a 2 goals and an assist each, with Tvrdon taking over the top spot in the rookie scoring race.  Riley Kieser added a single for the Giants.

There were 3 fights in the game, two in the first.  Logan Nelson landed the decision against Scott Cooke, while Austin Carroll took on Taylor Makin.  In the 2nd, Tim Traber fought Wes Vannieuwenhuizen.

Victoria has two home games remaining, Wednesday and Friday against the Portland Winterhawks who are 2nd overall with 100 points.

Their game versus the Portland Winterhawks on March 14th is the Royals sixth sell-out of the season.

There is only one way left to get tickets to the game, and that is to get your hands on some of the limited number of $5 Mad Monday tickets. These hot tickets will be available Monday, March 12th at 9:30 a.m. at the Select Your Tickets Box Office at the SOFMC.

With 2 home games left and a capacity of 7006, the Royals have an opportunity to eclipse the 200,000 mark in total attendance this season.  So far 189,746 spectactors have enjoyed the Royals games at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

7th - EVERETT 52 Points REMAINING: (3)
                           
Mar. 14     at Kelowna                                
Mar. 16     at Tri-City    
Mar. 17     at Seattle

8th - VICTORIA 51 Points REMAINING: (2)

Mar 14   vs Portland
Mar 16   vs Portland

9th - SEATTLE 48 Points REMAINING: (4)

Mar. 13    vs Spokane
Mar. 16    at Spokane
Mar. 17    vs Everett
Mar. 18    at Portland

10th - PRINCE GEORGE 46 Points REMAINING: (3)

Mar. 13    at Tri City
Mar. 16    at Kamloops
Mar. 17    vs Kamloops

Victoria Royals 4 at Vancouver Giants 5 (OT) - Status: Final OT
Sunday, March 11, 2012 - Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC

Victoria 0 3 1 0 - 4
Vancouver 1 1 2 1 - 5

1st Period-
1, Vancouver, Tvrdon 28 (Martinook, Gallagher), 11:58.

Penalties-Nelson Vic (major-fighting), 4:10; Cooke Van (major-fighting), 4:10; Stahl Vic (roughing), 4:41; Carroll Vic (major-fighting), 7:17; Makin Van (major-fighting), 7:17; Traber Vic (charging, roughing), 14:35; Martinook Van (roughing), 14:35; Cooke Van (interference), 17:04; Makin Van (roughing), 18:35.

2nd Period-
2, Victoria, Magee 22 (Jones, Rintoul), 1:37.
3, Victoria, Nelson 23   5:36.
4, Victoria, Magee 23 (Jones, Walker), 8:46.
5, Vancouver, Kieser 6 (Vanscourt, Burns), 14:32.

Penalties-Traber Vic (major-fighting), 0:45; Vannieuwenhuizen Van (major-fighting), 0:45; Rintoul Vic (roughing), 1:37; Vanscourt Van (roughing), 1:37; Tvrdon Van (interference), 10:05; Jones Vic (checking from behind), 11:26; Burns Van (slashing), 17:38.

3rd Period-
6, Vancouver, Tvrdon 29   0:56.
7, Vancouver, Martinook 36 (Bellerive, Orban), 5:03.
8, Victoria, Rintoul 17 (Fransoo, Hodges), 19:38.

Penalties-Stahl Vic (slashing), 13:30; Gallagher Van (roughing), 13:30; Musil Van (roughing), 15:16.

OT Period-
9, Vancouver, Martinook 37 (Tvrdon), 2:50.

Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 7-9-11-2-29.
Vancouver 18-12-7-2-39.

Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 0 / 5; Vancouver 0 / 3.

Goalies-
Victoria, Rathjen 3-9-2-0 (39 shots-34 saves).
Vancouver, Morrison 35-17-2-1 (29 shots-25 saves).

A-6,983
Referees-Chris Crich (80), Pat Smith (12).
Linesmen-Ron Dietterle (121), Tim Digby (75).

Preview: Victoria at Vancouver (Sun Mar 11)

The Victoria Royals (22-41-2-4, 50pts) wrap up 4 games in 5 nights on the road against the Vancouver Giants (38-26-2-3, 81pts) Sunday evening.

Past 10 Games: Victoria: 4-6-0-0 Vancouver: 3-5-1-1

SERIES:  It’s the final meeting of the season, the Royals with a 3-6 record thus far, falling 6-0 last Sunday at home to the Giants after defeating them 5-2 the night before.

Both teams are playing 3 in 3 nights. 

LAST GAME:  Victoria suffered a 3-0 loss in Everett Saturday.  Vancouver is coming off a 3-2 victory in Kamloops, after falling 6-3 to the same Blazers in Vancouver on Friday.

ROAD / HOME:  Victoria is 1-2 on the road trip, with the win coming in Kelowna 3-1 Friday night.  They started the road trip with a 3-2 loss in Everett on Wednesday.  Vancouver is 10 over .500 at the Pacific Coliseum with 21 wins, they are however, winless in their last 5 games at home.

STANDINGS: Victoria is in 8th with 50 points, 4 ahead of Seattle and Prince George. The Royals have 3 games remaining, the Thunderbirds 5, and Cougars 4.

Victoria now needs a combination of 7 points derived from Royals wins and / or Thunderbird losses to eliminate Seattle from playoff contention.  They need 5 points in relation to Prince George.

Vancouver is tied with Spokane for 4th in the West, but the Chiefs have a game in hand.

UP NEXT:  The Royals wrap up the regular season with a pair of home games next Wednesday and Friday against the Portland Winterhawks.

LEADING SCORERS:
Crooks (35-30-65)
Nelson (22-37-59)
Soudek (27-30-57)
Rintoul (16-33-49)
Magee (21-24-45)/

Gallagher (40-35-75)
Tvrdon (27-39-66)
Martinook (35-22-57)
Franson (26-30-56)
Manning (7-33-40)

PAST MEETINGS:
Vancouver 6 @ Victoria 0 (March 4 2012)
Vancouver 2 @ Victoria 5 (March 3 2012)
Victoria 3 @ Vancouver 11 (Nov 18 2011)
Vancouver 5 @ Victoria 3 (Nov 5 2011)
Vancouver 1 @ Victoria 2 (Nov 4 2011)
Victoria 1 @ Vancouver 8 (Oct 21 2011)
Victoria 1 @ Vancouver 5 (Oct 10 2011)
Vancouver 3 @ Victoria 5 (Sep 24 2011)
Victoria 2 @ Vancouver 5 (Sep 23 2011)

DRAFTED/NHL SIGNED PLAYERS: For Victoria: D Tyler Stahl (Carolina, 6th rd 2010), D Jordan Fransoo (Ottawa, 7th rd 2011).  For Vancouver: F Marek Tvrdon (DET 4th rd 2011 ), F Brendan Gallagher (MTL 5th rd 2010 ), D David Musil (EDM 2nd rd 2011)

TOP PROSPECTS:  Central Scoutings mid-term rankings of North American players positions Victoria’s Steven Hodges (55), and Logan Nelson (108).  For Vancouver: D Brett Kulak (67), F Dalton Sward (188),

INJURIES:

For Vancouver:
#14, Austin Vetterl, Lower body, 1 month+
#18, Anthony Ast, Lower body, 2 weeks
#16, Austin Fyten, Lower body, 1 month+

For Victoria:
#3, Zach Habscheid, Lower body, 1 month

EVERETT 51 Points REMAINING: (4)
                            
Mar. 11     at Seattle                                 
Mar. 14     at Kelowna                                 
Mar. 16     at Tri-City     
Mar. 17     at Seattle

VICTORIA 50 Points REMAINING: (3)

Mar 11    at Vancouver
Mar 14   vs Portland
Mar 16   vs Portland

SEATTLE 46 Points REMAINING: (5)

Mar. 11    vs Everett
Mar. 13    vs Spokane
Mar. 16    at Spokane
Mar. 17     vs Everett
Mar. 18    at Portland

PRINCE GEORGE 46 Points REMAINING: (4)

Mar. 11    at Tri City
Mar. 13    at Tri City
Mar. 16    at Kamloops
Mar. 17    vs Kamloops

Recap: VIC 0 - EVT 3

Cody Fowlie scored twice, while Kent Simpson stopped 26 shots to lead the Everett Silvertips to a 3-0 victory over the visiting Victoria Royals Saturday night.

Royals Tyler Stahl blocks a Silvertip shot in a 3-0 loss in Everett.

Leading 1-0 after 40 minutes, Joshua Winquist scored short handed just 1:23 into the final frame.  Cody Fowlie added his second of the game on the power play at 5:05 of the third.  Brennan Yadlowski chipped in with 3 assists. 

Keith Hamilton stopped 24 of 27 in the defeat, while Simpson earned his 2nd shut out of the season.  The Royals were edged in shots 27-26.  Victoria’s power play went 0 for 4, while the Silvertips went 1 for 5. 

Everett sweeps the four game season series, and conclude their 7 game homestand with 5 wins.  Victoria is now (1-2) on their 4 game in 5 night road trip.  Royals forward Robin Soudek played in his 250th career game.

Everett bounces back into 7th spot with 51 points, 1 up on Victoria.  With a Seattle loss to Portland, Victoria now needs a combination of 7 points derived from Royals wins and / or Thunderbird losses to eliminate Seattle from playoff contention.

With 3 games remaining, Victoria has a 4 point lead on Seattle and Prince George.  The Thunderbirds have 5 games left to play.  Prince George has 4 games remaining.

The Royals wrap up 3 in 3 nights with a 5pm game in Vancouver Sunday night.  The Giants are coming off a 3-2 victory in Kamloops Saturday, while falling 6-3 in Vancouver the night before.  The Royals have a 3-6 record against the Giants, falling 6-0 last Sunday at home after winning 5-2 the night before.

Victoria Royals 0 at Everett Silvertips 3 - Status: Final
Saturday, March 10, 2012 - Comcast Arena - Everett, WA

Victoria 0 0 0 - 0
Everett 1 0 2 - 3

1st Period-
1, Everett, Fowlie 11 (Murray, Yadlowski), 3:19.

Penalties-Grayson Evt (cross checking), 5:51.

2nd Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Yadlowski Evt (cross checking), 8:54; Soudek Vic (holding), 9:40; Nelson Vic (high sticking, high sticking), 13:01; Petryk Evt (roughing), 19:55.

3rd Period-
2, Everett, Winquist 18 (Yadlowski), 1:23 (SH).
3, Everett, Fowlie 12 (Harrison, Yadlowski), 5:05 (PP).

Penalties-Rintoul Vic (high sticking), 4:06; Bittner Evt (hooking), 5:52; Kanzig Vic (tripping), 10:14.

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 13-8-5-26.
Everett 10-8-9-27.

Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 0 / 4;
Everett 1 / 5.

Goalies-
Victoria, Hamilton 18-31-1-4 (27 shots-24 saves).
Everett, Simpson 19-29-1-5 (26 shots-26 saves).

A-7,963
Referees-Trent Knorr (42), Brett Montsion (54).
Linesmen-Ryan Gibbons (73), Chris Sweeting (137).

Preview: Victoria at Everett (Sat Mar 10)

The Victoria Royals look for back to back road wins against the Everett Silvertips Saturday night.  Pregame show 6:45 on The Zone @ 91.3 FM, or online at www.thezone.fm

STANDINGS:  The Royals are back in 7th with 50 points, one ahead of Everett, 4 up on Seattle and 6 on Prince George.  Victoria needs a combination of 9 points derived from Royals wins and / or Thunderbird losses to eliminate Seattle.  Victoria has 4 games left, Everett 5, Seattle 6, and Prince George 1.

SERIES:  It’s the final meeting of the season, with the Silvertips winning all 3 meetings by 3-2 scores.  They last meet this past Wednesday in Everett.

Victoria 2 @ Everett 3 (Mar 7 2012)
Everett 3 @ Victoria 2 (Feb 8 2012)
Everett 3 @ Victoria 2 (Feb 7 2012)

LAST GAME:  The Royals earned a valuable 2 points in Kelowna Friday night by scoring the only 3 goals in the third in a 3-1 win.  The Silvertips fell at home to the Winterhawks 4-3, snapping Everett’s 3 game win streak.

HOME & AWAY:  Victoria has won 3 of their last 4 on the road, while Everett wraps up their 7 game home stand with a 4-2 record thus far.  The Silvertips play their last 4 games on the road.  The Royals are in the middle of 3 in 3, part of 4 games in 5 nights.  They conclude the trip Sunday at 5pm in Vancouver.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Royals penalty killers have stopped 28 of 29 over their last 8 games (ranked 13th overall).  Victoria went 0 for 6 on the power play at Kelowna (ranked 13th best).  Everett’s power play went 1 for 4 against Portland (ranked 18th), their penalty kill went a perfect 5 for 5 vs the Winterhawks (ranked 17th).

STATS:  Victoria has only allowed 3 goals against in their last 2 games.  The Royals have peppered the oppostion with 37 shots in each of the last 2 games, for a combined 74-40 shot advantage.

MILESTONES:  Robin Soudek has played 249 career games, earlier this week earned career points 150 and 151.  Equipment Manager Matt Auerbach worked his 500th WHL game Friday night in Kelowna.

LEADING SCORERS:
Crooks (35-30-65)
Nelson (22-37-59)
Soudek (27-30-57)
Rintoul (16-33-49)
Magee (21-24-45)

Birkholz (28-27-55)
Harrison (19-29-48)
Winquist (17-21-38)
Petryk (17-21-38)
Bauml (13-24-37)

DRAFTED/NHL SIGNED PLAYERS: For Victoria: D Tyler Stahl (Carolina, 6th rd 2010), D Jordan Fransoo (Ottawa, 7th rd 2011).  For Everett: Josh Birkholz, (Florida 2009), Ryan Harrison, (Vancouver, F/A), Kent Simpson, (Chicago 2nd rd 2010).

TOP PROSPECTS:  Central Scoutings mid-term rankings of North American players positions Victoria’s Steven Hodges (55), and Logan Nelson (108).  For Everett: D Ryan Murray (3), D Nick Walters (68).

INJURIES:

For Victoria:
#3, Zach Habscheid, Lower body, 1 month

For Everett:
#4, Evan Morden, Lower body, week to week
#9, J.T Barnett, Lower body, week to week

With 2 home games left and a capacity of 7006, the Royals have an opportunity to eclipse the 200,000 mark in total attendance this season.  So far 189,746 spectactors have enjoyed the Royals games at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Their game versus the Portland Winterhawks on March 14th has already sold out!  This is the team’s sixth sell-out of the season. 

There is only one way left to get tickets to the game, and that is to get your hands on some of the limited number of $5 Mad Monday tickets. These hot tickets will be available Monday, March 12th at 9:30 a.m. at the Select Your Tickets Box Office at the SOFMC.

VICTORIA 50 Points REMAINING GAMES (4)

Mar 10    at Everett
Mar 11    at Vancouver
Mar 14   vs Portland
Mar 16   vs Portland

EVERETT 49 Points REMAINING GAMES: (5)
                           
Mar. 10     Victoria                                
Mar. 11     at Seattle                                
Mar. 14     at Kelowna                                
Mar. 16     at Tri-City    
Mar. 17     at Seattle

SEATTLE 46 Points REMAINING GAMES: (6)

Mar. 10    vs Portland
Mar. 11    vs Everett
Mar. 13    vs Spokane
Mar. 16    at Spokane
Mar. 17     vs Everett
Mar. 18    at Portland

PRINCE 44 Points GEORGE REMAINING GAMES: (5)

Mar. 10    at Kelowna
Mar. 11    at Tri City
Mar. 13    at Tri City
Mar. 16    at Kamloops
Mar. 17    vs Kamloops

Recap: VIC 3 - KEL 1

The Victoria Royals retake 7th spot in the West with a 3-1 road victory against the Kelowna Rockets.

The Line of Magee, Hodges & Crooks where buzzing around the Rocket net.

The Royals inch closer to a playoff berth, needing a combination of 9 points dervied from Victoria wins and/or Seattle losses.

The Royals celebrate a 3-1 win in Kelowna.

Trailing 1-0 going into the 3rd, the Royals scored 3 unanswered to snap a 2 game skid.

Victoria got goals from Logan Nelson, Jamie Crooks team leading 35th, and Brett Cote’s 1st in the WHL.  The last two came just 35 seconds apart.  Myles Bell had the lone tally for Kelowna who saw their 3 game win streak come to a halt.

Keith Hamilton in his hometown made 26 saves for his 18th win, while Adam Brown made 34 saves in the defeat.

Victoria wins the season series with a record of (5-2-0-1).

Assistant Coach Craig Didmon of the Royals post game:

 

Robin Soudek fights Carter Rigby

The Royals power play went 0 for 6, while stopping all 3 Rockets man advantages.  Victoria has now only allowed one goal while short handed over their last 8 games (28 for 29).

With a Silvertips loss to the Winterhawks, the Royals leap frog back into 7th spot with 50 points, 1 ahead of Everett (49), 4 up on Seattle (46) and 6 on Prince George (44).  Victoria has 4 games remaining, Everett and Prince George have 5, Seattle 6.

Victoria continues their 4 game in 5 night road trip in Everett Saturday, and wrap up 3 in 3 nights in Vancouver on Sunday.





Victoria Royals 3 at Kelowna Rockets 1 - Status: Final
Friday, March 9, 2012 - Prospera Place - Kelowna, BC

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

1st Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Carroll Vic (major-fighting), 12:36; Heffley Kel (major-fighting), 12:36; served by Baillie Kel (too many men), 16:16; Rintoul Vic (checking from behind), 19:38.

2nd Period-
1, Kelowna, Bell 14 (Johnston), 9:51.

Penalties-Zgraggen Vic (major-fighting), 6:27; Astles Kel (charging, major-fighting), 6:27; Bulmer Kel (boarding, unsportsmanlike cnd.), 16:25; Soudek Vic (boarding), 17:55; McColgan Kel (holding), 18:48.

3rd Period-
2, Victoria, Nelson 22 (Carroll), 1:42.
3, Victoria, Crooks 35   6:22.
4, Victoria, Cote 1   6:57.

Penalties-Carroll Vic (holding), 4:07; McColgan Kel (checking from behind), 7:24; Soudek Vic (slashing), 7:45; Soudek Vic (major-fighting), 19:58; Rigby Kel (major-fighting), 19:58.

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 7-17-13-37. Kelowna 11-7-9-27.

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

Goalies-
Victoria, Hamilton 18-30-1-4 (27 shots-26 saves).
Kelowna, Brown 21-23-1-3 (37 shots-34 saves).

A-6,037
Referees-Steve Papp (17), Derek Zalaski (8).
Linesmen-Ron Dietterle (121), Tim Digby (75).