Times Colonist E-edition

Royals look to regroup after late-game loss to Blazers

CLEVE DHEENSAW

It wasn’t so much that the Victoria Royals lost again Sunday but the way they lost their fourth consecutive Western Hockey League game. Those sorts of defeats are not only spirit crushing but, in this case, maybe near season crushing as well.

The Blazers boast a roster including eight NHL draft picks but the Royals had them on the ropes in Kamloops, leading 3-1 in the second period and 3-2 late in the game, on power-play goals by Riley Gannon and 2023 NHLdraft ranked blue-liner Kalem Parker with the other evenstrength by Teydon Trembecky.

But a late-game Royals collapse, a season-long affliction, allowed Kamloops a 4-3 victory with Caedan Bankier scoring the tying goal on the power play with three minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the third period and blue-liner Olen Zellweger the winner with just 23 seconds remaining to deny Victoria a chance even for the single point in overtime or shootout. Bankier, who had two power-play goals, Zellweger and Logan Stankoven are the three Blazers who played for Canada’s gold-medallist team at the 2023 world junior championships in Halifax.

“I saw no space on either of their last two goals. Two world junior champion players made big time plays,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.

It couldn’t be hung on goaltender Braden Holt, who stood his ground in the Victoria crease, under a 50-shot Kamloops onslaught. The Royals got 24 shots on Dylan Ernst.

How do you come back from that, emotionally, especially in the midst of a desperately fading stretch drive where every point is precious?

“The guys are really disappointed, obviously,” said Price.

“In that case, you look for whether it is disappointment or dejection. The guys were disappointed, not dejected, because they know they played well enough to win. It gives us confidence heading into the set against Vancouver this week [Friday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and Saturday at the Langley Events Centre].”

But moral victories are hollow at this point with the P word, as in playoffs, being mentioned with more urgency. Kamloops (31-10-6) clinched a playoff berth with the victory. Yes, it has reached that juncture. With 17 games remaining, the math is closing in on the ninth-place Royals (14-32-6), who are four points behind Kelowna for the eighth and final playoff slot in the Western Conference with the Rockets holding a massive trump card with five games in hand. Catching either Vancouver, 11 points ahead with two games in hand, and Prince George, 13 points ahead with five games in hand, seems a forlorn hope at this point for Victoria.

“We are not shying away from the playoff word at all. We want it,” said Price. “We need to string some wins together in February and March.”

That is no longer just an option. It’s now an imperative. It seemed possible just over a week ago when the Royals were on a promising high after upsetting the Blazers 3-2 at the Memorial Centre. But that was four consecutive losses ago for Victoria. It seems like another world now.

Making matters worse is the Royals’ dire injury situation. Victoria’s San Jose Sharkssigned captain Gannon Laroque remains day-to-day, as he has been listed for the past three weeks, with no return yet. Price said team-leading scorer Jake Poole, forward Matthew Hodson and blue-liner and former WHL draft top-10 pick Austin Zemlak are all doubtful for this week. The only glimmer is the possible return of 2022 Canada Under-18 forward Brayden Schuurman.

The team has two affiliate players, six-foot-seven defenceman Seth Fryer from the VIJHL Peninsula Panthers and five-foot-11 forward Deegan Kinniburgh from Lethbridge Hurricanes U-18 Triple-A, skating in practice this week.

SPORTS

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2023-02-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

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