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View Full Version : Royals' 'next ones' have arrived



CdnSailor
09-16-2011, 01:26 PM
Informing a player his dream is probably over is one of the toughest things for a coach to do.

Victoria Royals GM and head coach Marc Habscheid made one cut Thursday, telling three-season Chilliwack Bruins veteran forward Blair Wentworth that his Western Hockey League career will not continue in Victoria with the Royals.

“Our young guys have really made progress and worked themselves into positions where they can play,” said Habscheid.

“And Blair is 19.”

In terms of junior hockey, that’s ancient.

“We have a lot of 16 and 17 year olds and we’re building with those young guys. Our strength is in our youth,” added Habscheid.

“This [cutting a veteran like Wentworth] is one of the most difficult things to do. But it’s part of the business. And the only constant in this business is change. Blair is a great kid and hopefully he can catch on with another [WHL] team or with a team in Junior A.”

Wentworth had four goals and 10 assists in 156 games for the Bruins, who have been relocated to Victoria as the Royals.

The move leaves 22 skaters and three goaltenders for Habscheid to choose from for tonight’s final pre-season game against the Kelowna Rockets at 7 p.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

The Royals have two forwards away at NHL rookie camps — third-round draft pick Kevin Sundher with the Buffalo Sabres and free-agent signing Curt Gogol with the San Jose Sharks. Forward Brendan Persley is out with mono. Defencemen Zach Habscheid and Carolina Hurricanes sixth-round draft pick Tyler Stahl are nursing injuries, but there was good news on that front Thursday.

“Tyler is coming along and getting closer while Zach’s injury was been re-evaluated and is not as bad as originally thought and both could be ready for the opening regular-season weekend [next Friday at Vancouver against the Giants the following night at home against the Giants],” said Habscheid.

Habscheid is allowed to carry 25 players in the regular season.

“We will re-evaluate and get down in numbers after [tonight’s] game,” he said, without giving a precise timeline into next week.

The Royals are 1-3 in the preseason. Kelowna, among the more successful WHL franchises on and off the ice, is 4-0.

The Rockets have eight players away at NHL rookie camps. Of the draft picks, Victoria-native Tyson Barrie is at Avalanche camp, Brett Bulmer in the Wild camp, Mitchell Callahan with the Red Wings and Shane McColgan with the Rangers. Among the free-agents, Jessey Astles is in the Penguins rookie camp, Adam Brown in the Oilers camp, Zach Franko with the Red Wings and Colton Jobke with the Wild rookies.

Barrie, Callaghan and Jobke have signed NHL contracts from that group.

The Rockets player to watch this year, in his NHL draft season, is the slithery six-foot forward Colton Sissons, the former Westside Warriors BCHL player who skated across town into a Rockets WHL jersey last season and recorded 20 goals with 27 assists in the regular season and playoffs.

The Royals answer with a young and hard-working group without a lot of established individual stars. The team’s logo shouldn’t be a heraldic lion but a heraldic lunch bucket.

“The guys are coming together,” said Royals second-year forward Steven Hodges.

“The practices are getting more crisp.”

Admission for tonight’s exhibition contest is $5.



Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Royals+next+ones+have+arrived/5410553/story.html#ixzz1Y94CY0G7