Royals Blanked by Blazers

 After a rough start time following the John Fogerty concert last night, the Victoria Royals were shutout by the visiting Kamloops Blazers on a sunday afternoon. Jared Rathjen was given his 1st start of the season and Patrik Polivka was given a rest for the night. Rathjen stopped 36 of 39 shots and played well in between the pipes. Brady Gaudet put the Blazers up 1-0 after the 1st period, follwed by Rob Trzonkowski late in the 2nd, and Colin Smith put the nail in the coffin half-way through the 3rd. The Royals suffered their first loss of the season, but they're progress so far this season is nothing short of inspiring. Brandon Magee was all over the ice tonight, causing turnovers and having multiple chances to score. Tyler Stahl also returned to the line-up, a huge gain for our defense.

  Steven Hodges did not dress for today's game, as he is day-to-day with a lower body injury. Logan Nelson stepped up and had a lot of good chances and was making good passes on the powerplay. Although he didn't score, Joe Hicketts played very well today and is beginning to get in the groove of the WHL. The Royals will host Hunter Shinkaruk and the Medicine Hat Tigers on Wednesday night, The Tigers have won 3 straight and Shinkaruk recorded 4 points (1G, 3A) in his last game against the Regina Pats. This will be the first time we will be hosting a high draft pick for this year's NHL entry draft, as Shinkaruk is coming off a 49 goal campaign last year and even without Emerson Etem, he's still on pace for another explosive season.

-Tyler Bennett

Royals Stay Perfect

  Nobody expected this coming into the season, but there are no complaints regarding the Royals getting off to a 3-0 start to the season. The Royals knocked off the visiting Kamloops Blazers last night by a score of 4-3 in a shootout. The Blazers manhandled the Royals last year in the playoffs, sweeping Victoria in 4 straight games. This was a huge game for the returning players, a shot at redemption after last year's series. The Royals battled back from a 2-0 deficit to take the lead 3-2, before the Blazers tied up the game at 3 a piece late in the 3rd. The overtime period saw no goals, so the game was to be settled in a shootout. Logan Nelson scored the only goal in the shootout and Patrik Polivka made 3 key saves to win the game for the Royals and improve to 3-0 on the campaign.

  The Royals will defend their perfect record tomorrow night at the Barn on Blanshard once again against the Blazers, hoping to go 4-0 to end this weekend's homestand. Brandon Fushimi recorded his 1st WHL point last night on an assist to Bret Cote's PP goal and he did so in his 1st WHL game. Fushimi came out of nowhere this offseason and took over the Royals' rookie camp and battled his way onto the main roster. Fushimi along with Joe Hicketts and Jack Walker are the youngest players on the team, but Fushimi and Hicketts especially are making a huge impact to this team. I'm extremely excited to see what's in store for them in the future.

-Tyler Bennett

Royals Off On The Right Foot

 It doesn't matter what team you are and what expectations you have coming into a season, starting off 2-0 is always a delight as a player, coach, or General Manager of a team. And who else to sweep in the 2 game set than their bitter rivals in the Vancouver Giants, a team that for the most part dominated the Royals last year, especially at the Pacific Colloseum. Royals' GM Cameron Hope is looking like a stud right now, as his offseason deals and aqquisations have been a huge factor in the team's success. Newly aqquired 20 year old Russian sniper Alex Gogolev has seemed to really click with the Royals' offense, and has gelled in well with the rest of the team. Gogolev has recorded 4 points in his first 2 games as a Royal and is also a +3.

 On the back end, there are a couple of new faces worth noting. Selected 12th overall in last year's WHL Bantam Draft, Joe Hicketts has so far lived up to his expectations. Although his defensive game still needs work, Hicketts recorded his 1st WHL goal in just his 2nd game, and has 2 points in 2 games, leading the Royals' defensemen in scoring. Another rookie on the back-end, Kolton Dixon. Dixon hasn't produced much offensively, but he has been shut-down on defense, posting a plus-minus of +3. And the new man between the pipes, Patrik Polivka. Polivka has played consistently well in both the games so far this season and seems to be the bonified #1 for the rest of the season. Polivka has great latteral movement and is very agile, I love his style of play and it seems to be working for him.

As to who will be the captain of this year's edition of the Royals, my money would be on our reigning MVP Jamie Crooks, followed by our veteran defenseman Tyler Stahl and our electrifying center Brandon Magee. But with brand new management, who knows who could be given the "C" for the year. The Royals host the Kamloops Blazers for a double-header this weekend, the games will be on Friday and Sunday night and tickets are already sold out. These will be huge measuring stick  games, as the Blazers are projected to be the top team in the Western Conference this season.

-Tyler Bennett