CdnSailor
09-10-2011, 07:41 AM
The Victoria Royals, which played in Chilliwack the last five years as the Bruins, were welcomed to Island life Friday.
Missing a ferry sailing meant their Western Hockey League exhibition game against the Vancouver Giants in Ladner started a half hour late. The game was tied 3-3 midway through the third period.
Both clubs were missing key players to NHL rookie camps. Third-round unsigned NHL draft pick Kevin Sundher is at Buffalo Sabres camp and fellow Royals forward Curt Gogol, a free agent signing of San Jose, at Sharks camp.
The Giants (1-0-1) were even more hard hit with Montreal Canadiens draft pick Brendan Gallagher, Detroit Red Wings selection Marek Tvrdon and Edmonton Oilers pick David Musil off to pro camps along with freeagents Nathan Burns, Brendan Jensen and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen in the Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks and Oilers camps, respectively. None of those Giants players have yet signed pro contracts.
While the pros look over the WHL prospects, it gives younger junior players those exhibition roster spots to state their cases in the WHL.
"We're still at the evaluation stage," said Royals GM and head coach Marc Habscheid, before the game.
"We want to play our younger players to see what they can do but still want to get some of our veteran players into the mix and rounding into form.
The exhibition season in junior hockey is always a bit of a balancing act.
Junior hockey is far more cyclical than the pros."
The Royals (0-2) brought 22 skaters and three goaltenders with them to the Lower Mainland.
First-period goals by Tyler Hart and Dalton Sward gave Vancouver a 2-0 lead before winger Austin Carroll of Scottsdale, Ariz., brought the Royals to within one in the second period.
Hayden Rintoul then showed why Habscheid gave him the captain's 'C' to wear for the night as he tied ti 2-2 in the second. The 20year-old, acquired by Victoria over the summer, went to the Memorial Cup last spring with the surprise WHL champion Kootenay Ice and will be relied on this season for his experience.
Royals forward Steve Hodges, a 17-year-old with a big upside who was an assistant captain during the game, put Victoria ahead 3-2.
Hart, a blue-liner from Spruce Grove, Alta., tied it 3-3 with a Vancouver power-play goal with less than two minutes remaining in the second frame.
Veteran Braden Gamble started in net for Victoria and had 19 saves after two periods.
The Royals and Giants meet again tonight in Maple Ridge before the Royals conclude their preseason next Friday against the Kelowna Rockets at Saveon-Foods Memorial Centre.
Victoria, which anticipates an intense rivalry against Vancouver, opens the regular season Sept. 23 against the Giants at the Pacific Coliseum, before raising the curtain at home the following night against - yes - the Giants
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Time+Royals+hopefuls/5382432/story.html#ixzz1XYa8gWCk
Missing a ferry sailing meant their Western Hockey League exhibition game against the Vancouver Giants in Ladner started a half hour late. The game was tied 3-3 midway through the third period.
Both clubs were missing key players to NHL rookie camps. Third-round unsigned NHL draft pick Kevin Sundher is at Buffalo Sabres camp and fellow Royals forward Curt Gogol, a free agent signing of San Jose, at Sharks camp.
The Giants (1-0-1) were even more hard hit with Montreal Canadiens draft pick Brendan Gallagher, Detroit Red Wings selection Marek Tvrdon and Edmonton Oilers pick David Musil off to pro camps along with freeagents Nathan Burns, Brendan Jensen and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen in the Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks and Oilers camps, respectively. None of those Giants players have yet signed pro contracts.
While the pros look over the WHL prospects, it gives younger junior players those exhibition roster spots to state their cases in the WHL.
"We're still at the evaluation stage," said Royals GM and head coach Marc Habscheid, before the game.
"We want to play our younger players to see what they can do but still want to get some of our veteran players into the mix and rounding into form.
The exhibition season in junior hockey is always a bit of a balancing act.
Junior hockey is far more cyclical than the pros."
The Royals (0-2) brought 22 skaters and three goaltenders with them to the Lower Mainland.
First-period goals by Tyler Hart and Dalton Sward gave Vancouver a 2-0 lead before winger Austin Carroll of Scottsdale, Ariz., brought the Royals to within one in the second period.
Hayden Rintoul then showed why Habscheid gave him the captain's 'C' to wear for the night as he tied ti 2-2 in the second. The 20year-old, acquired by Victoria over the summer, went to the Memorial Cup last spring with the surprise WHL champion Kootenay Ice and will be relied on this season for his experience.
Royals forward Steve Hodges, a 17-year-old with a big upside who was an assistant captain during the game, put Victoria ahead 3-2.
Hart, a blue-liner from Spruce Grove, Alta., tied it 3-3 with a Vancouver power-play goal with less than two minutes remaining in the second frame.
Veteran Braden Gamble started in net for Victoria and had 19 saves after two periods.
The Royals and Giants meet again tonight in Maple Ridge before the Royals conclude their preseason next Friday against the Kelowna Rockets at Saveon-Foods Memorial Centre.
Victoria, which anticipates an intense rivalry against Vancouver, opens the regular season Sept. 23 against the Giants at the Pacific Coliseum, before raising the curtain at home the following night against - yes - the Giants
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Time+Royals+hopefuls/5382432/story.html#ixzz1XYa8gWCk