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View Full Version : Victoria's new WHL era begins Friday with Royals opener in Vancouver



CdnSailor
09-23-2011, 04:03 PM
Victoria Royals 16-year-old defenceman Keegan Kanzig wasn't even born the last time a Victoria team played a regular-season game in the Western Hockey League.

He will be part of history Friday night when the capital returns to the WHL for the first time in 17 years with the Royals meeting the Vancouver Giants in the 2011-12 season opener for both clubs. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at the PNE Pacific Coliseum.

The Cougars skulked out of town to Prince George following the 1993-94 season after 23 WHL seasons in Victoria, the last five in which the hapless club consecutively missed the playoffs.

A new WHL era begins for Victoria on Friday night.

"It's exciting," said Kanzig, the mammoth six-foot-five man-child whose exterior calm doesn't betray a hint of opening-night nerves.

"Maybe I'm a little nervous on the inside but you can't worry about the pressure. I focus on the little things I need to do as a player instead of the opening-game issue."

The Royals operated the last five seasons as the Chilliwack Bruins before being bought in the off-season for a reported $5.5 million by RG Properties owner Graham Lee of Vancouver. As well as owning the Royals, and previously the now-defunct professional Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL, Lee's RG Properties also operates the city-owned Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

The home opener Saturday evening at the Memorial Centre against the Giants (broadcast live at 7 p.m. on Shaw cable) is listed as a sellout, although small numbers of additional tickets have been made available throughout the week as seats previously reserved for dignitaries and the like have opened up.

A sellout for hockey in the Memorial Centre is 7,006.

"Motivation is not going to be a problem this weekend," said Royals GM and head coach Marc Habscheid.

"I'm not going to need to pump these players up. It's an exciting time because it's a new city with new fans and we have a lot of new players."



Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Victoria+begins+Friday+with+Royals+opener+Vancouve r/5444552/story.html#ixzz1YoczD0vh