pontcanna
10-03-2011, 11:37 PM
Royals banged up, but confident
Cleve Dheensaw, Times-Colonist
The Victoria Royals are bumped and bruised but unbowed at 3-2.
“We’re not 5-0 to start, but we can’t complain too much,” said Marc Habscheid, the Western Hockey League club’s GM and head coach.
“Only one of those five games has been at home. And it is a young group that we have chosen this year . . . they really hung in there on the road.”
A three-game swing, that began with two victories in Prince George against the Cougars, ended with an 8-2 loss Sunday night in Kamloops that in many ways seemed almost inevitable coming as it did as the back end of a long bus trip and three-games-in-three-nights stretch.
“They [Blazers] caught us at the right time [tail end of the road swing],” said Habscheid of Sunday’s blowout defeat despite two goals by American rookie Logan Nelson.
The Royals haven’t come off the bus healthy, either, with defenceman Tyler Stahl suffering a concussion in Prince George and energy-forward Brandon Magee a lower-body injury and scoring-centre Kevin Sundher the flu in Kamloops.
By far the worst off of the ailing group is Stahl, who took an elbow to the head from Charles Inglis of the Cougars on Saturday night and had to be helped off the ice.
Inglis received a five-minute major and match penalty and could be suspended for a number of games for taking out Stahl.
“Tyler is not good,” said Habscheid.
“It’s a concussion and who knows with that. It’s going to be assessed one day at a time.”
That’s a big loss on the back end because Stahl, a 19-year-old sixth-round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, is a blue-line leader for the Royals.
Magee is questionable for the home set Thursday and Friday against the Medicine Hat Tigers at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, while the greyhound-like Sundher, who co-leads the team in scoring with eight points along with Nelson, should be good to go.
Finally back skating today in practice will be forward Brendan Persley, who missed training camp and the start of the season with mono.
“He’s got a long way to go to get back into game shape,” said Habscheid.
The wild card remains rugged 20-year-old San Jose Sharks-signed forward Curt Gogol, currently assigned to the Worcester Sharks of the AHL. Pro-signed 19-year-olds, if cut from their NHL teams, must return to junior but not 20-year-olds. The Royals hold Gogol’s junior rights but as a 20-year-old, Gogol can be assigned by the Sharks to the AHL or ECHL and doesn’t have to be returned to junior.
“We should hear soon,” said Habscheid.
“It comes down to how many guys they’ve got in Worcester, how many are under contract, and if the Sharks think he will develop better in the AHL or East Coast [ECHL] or if it’s better for him to play a final year in junior. All these factors come into play.”
Cleve Dheensaw, Times-Colonist
The Victoria Royals are bumped and bruised but unbowed at 3-2.
“We’re not 5-0 to start, but we can’t complain too much,” said Marc Habscheid, the Western Hockey League club’s GM and head coach.
“Only one of those five games has been at home. And it is a young group that we have chosen this year . . . they really hung in there on the road.”
A three-game swing, that began with two victories in Prince George against the Cougars, ended with an 8-2 loss Sunday night in Kamloops that in many ways seemed almost inevitable coming as it did as the back end of a long bus trip and three-games-in-three-nights stretch.
“They [Blazers] caught us at the right time [tail end of the road swing],” said Habscheid of Sunday’s blowout defeat despite two goals by American rookie Logan Nelson.
The Royals haven’t come off the bus healthy, either, with defenceman Tyler Stahl suffering a concussion in Prince George and energy-forward Brandon Magee a lower-body injury and scoring-centre Kevin Sundher the flu in Kamloops.
By far the worst off of the ailing group is Stahl, who took an elbow to the head from Charles Inglis of the Cougars on Saturday night and had to be helped off the ice.
Inglis received a five-minute major and match penalty and could be suspended for a number of games for taking out Stahl.
“Tyler is not good,” said Habscheid.
“It’s a concussion and who knows with that. It’s going to be assessed one day at a time.”
That’s a big loss on the back end because Stahl, a 19-year-old sixth-round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, is a blue-line leader for the Royals.
Magee is questionable for the home set Thursday and Friday against the Medicine Hat Tigers at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, while the greyhound-like Sundher, who co-leads the team in scoring with eight points along with Nelson, should be good to go.
Finally back skating today in practice will be forward Brendan Persley, who missed training camp and the start of the season with mono.
“He’s got a long way to go to get back into game shape,” said Habscheid.
The wild card remains rugged 20-year-old San Jose Sharks-signed forward Curt Gogol, currently assigned to the Worcester Sharks of the AHL. Pro-signed 19-year-olds, if cut from their NHL teams, must return to junior but not 20-year-olds. The Royals hold Gogol’s junior rights but as a 20-year-old, Gogol can be assigned by the Sharks to the AHL or ECHL and doesn’t have to be returned to junior.
“We should hear soon,” said Habscheid.
“It comes down to how many guys they’ve got in Worcester, how many are under contract, and if the Sharks think he will develop better in the AHL or East Coast [ECHL] or if it’s better for him to play a final year in junior. All these factors come into play.”