PDA

View Full Version : Royals' opening day roster takes shape



CdnSailor
09-20-2011, 09:40 AM
As the Victoria Royals’ Western Hockey League home opener Saturday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre careens toward a sellout, with less than 500 tickets remaining, the coaching staff continued tweaking the roster.

Forward Reid Halabi was sent back to Triple-A midget in Edmonton on Monday, but maybe watch for him on Blanshard Street in future seasons.

“Reid was a later-rounds [bantam] draft pick and is a young guy who has shown well,” said Royals GM and head coach Marc Habscheid.

The move leaves the Royals with three goalies and 26 skaters, including forwards Kevin Sundher and Curt Gogol who are at NHL camps.

Habscheid said he will make no further cuts ahead of the season opener Friday night against the Vancouver Giants at the PNE Pacific Coliseum.

WHL teams don’t have to name their final 25-player rosters until Oct. 10, leaving Habscheid plenty of options.

“That’s nice to have because there are still bumps and bruises,” said Habscheid.

“The perfect roster number [once the season gets going in earnest] is 23.”

Habscheid said he will announce his goaltending decisions Thursday regarding Friday’s opener in Vancouver. It is between 20-year-old Braden Gamble, 19-year-old Keith Hamilton and 17-year-old Jared Rathjen, two of whom will dress.

n Meanwhile, the WHL announced it will broadcast 32 games live this season on the full Shaw cable network in Western Canada, beginning with the 2011-12 regular-season curtain-raiser Thursday at 6 p.m. PDT between the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Warriors from Moose Jaw’s new Mosaic Place.

The second broadcast will be Saturday evening at 7 p.m. from the Memorial Centre as the WHL returns to Victoria for the first time in 17 years when the Royals open at home against the Giants.

That will be the first of four Royals appearances on the Shaw broadcasts this season. The others are against the Oil Kings from Edmonton on Dec. 14, from the Memorial Centre against the Prince George Cougars on Feb. 17 and from Kelowna against the Rockets on March 9.



Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Royals+opening+roster+takes+shape/5427302/story.html#ixzz1YVXh2ih2