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CdnSailor
12-04-2011, 11:37 PM
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/cdnsailor/Tri-CityAmericans.gif at http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/cdnsailor/VictoriaRoyals.gif

Victoria's win streak was short lived after losing 6 straight, winning against Kelowna Friday and then losing to Kamloops on Saturday.
The Royals have lost all four to the Blazers so far this season.

Tri-City is currently first place over all in the Western Division and has a 2 game winning streak. Royals are currently in third place.

Victoria and Tri-City have played once this season in Tri-City. Victoria took the game by a 5-4 win.

Tri-City Americans 28 21 7 0 0 = 42 PTS 2-0-0-0 STK 8-2-0-0 P10 473 PIM

Victoria Royals 30 12 16 1 1 26 = PTS 0-1-0-0 STK 2-7-1-0 P10 550 PIM

pontcanna
12-06-2011, 09:36 AM
Americans soaring under Hiller

CLEVE DHEENSAW

It’s a little-known piece of Vancouver Island sporting trivia that Jim Hiller was the first coach ever to lose a hockey game in Save-onFoods Memorial Centre.
The pro Victoria Salmon Kings had yet to play their first game in the new rink when on Sept. 10, 2005, Hiller’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs were defeated 3-1 by the Victoria Salsa (now Grizzlies), who had to relocate their BCHL season opener to the Memorial Centre because the Mann Cup national lacrosse championship had taken over Bear Mountain Arena.

Hiller will be looking for a better result tonight and Wednesday when his TriCity Americans take on the Victoria Royals (12-16-2) in Western Hockey League games at 7 p.m. both nights at the Memorial Centre.

And the Ams head coach looks well positioned to get those results. His dartquick Tri-city squad is 21-7 and was the third-ranked club in the latest Canadian Hockey League BMO Mastercard top-10 poll of major-junior teams, behind only the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and St. John Sea Dogs of the Quebec league.

“It’s great to be back on the Island because I have a lot of family here,” said Hiller, who was born in Port Alberni and raised in Tahsis and Nelson.
“And I had two great years coaching in Port Alberni, where the atmosphere for games is so tremendous and you are surrounded by a wonderful group of people.”

Hiller’s connections to this week’s Victoria set don’t stop there. He didn’t lose much that BCHL season after the initial Memorial Centre loss to the Salsa in the fall of 2005 as he guided Alberni Valley to a 43-12-2 record, which got him the gig the following season as the original head coach of the WHL expansion Chilliwack Bruins. The latter, of course, are now the Royals.

Hiller coached the Bruins to three losing seasons before being replaced by Marc Habscheid, the current GM and coach of the Royals. Hiller, meanwhile, became head coach of the Americans in 2009 and immediately took them to the 2010 WHL final.

“It’s been long enough now that this [Bruins-royals franchise] is a whole new team. The only remaining player from my time with the franchise is [forward] Kevin Sundher,” noted Hiller, himself an NCAA Northern Michigan grad and former German league pro who got in 63 NHL games.

Mitch Topping would have been another. Although Victoria fans never got to know the current Americans defenceman, Hiller certainly remembered Topping as a young Chilliwack prospect. As a first-round bantam draft pick taken eighth overall, Topping figured large in the Bruin’s plans. Topping, however, was traded to Hiller’s TriCity club last summer for 16-year-old forward Justin Spagrud just after the Bruins became the Royals and moved from the Fraser Valley to the Island.

Spagrud is young and has yet to play for the Royals, so the winner of this deal is not yet known. But Topping has become a mainstay of the Tri-city defence.
“Mitch is a quality person who has played big minutes for us and is part of our top pairing,” said Hiller.

Another impactful player on the Americans’ defence is Victoria-raised Sam Grist, the Peninsula minor hockey product and Parkland High grad who began his junior career in the BCHL with the hometown Grizzlies. His is a story of perseverance after being overlooked in the WHL bantam draft. But the late bloomer has grown from six-feet into a pounding six-foot-four frame and provides an ample presence on the Americans blue-line.

“Sam was not a big star in minor hockey but he’s taken it to another level with his steady progression,” said Hiller.
“Maybe there is something about Tri-city and Island defencemen like Sam and Clayton Stoner [the latter from Port Hardy and in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild]. Sam plays an important role for us.”

You just know Grist had these Victoria dates circled when the season began.
“For me to come back home and play is a really cool experience,” he said.
“I haven’t played in my hometown since my 16-year-old season when I was the youngest player on the Grizzlies.”

Grist and Topping were ranked by Central Scouting for the 2011 NHL draft, 90th and 191st respectively, but were not selected.

pontcanna
12-07-2011, 12:11 AM
Well, that was about the most enjoyable 6-2 loss I can remember witnessing. We get one early in the third and then a post and missed Sundher breakaway (he's making a habit of those) could have made it a real game. But the Ams are snipers and for all our effort (and it was one of the Royals' more committed games) a litany of mistakes doomed us.

I give you, as one of the accused in the prisoner's dock, Habby Junior. His shorthanded blast into section 103 was a classic, could have brained somebody and resulted in a powerplay goal for the Ams (he put us two men short). Didn't see much of him later in the game.

Bit surprised by Daddy Habby putting Rathjen in when it was only 3-1, I imagine that was to wake up the D. I don't blame Hamilton for the three he let in, didn't have much chance on them.

Outshot the Ams and had the balance of play. Hope it spills over to tomorrow night with a few more awake defencemen. Good to see Soudek return from what looked like a serious injury in the first minute of the game. Think we deserved one of the three stars, maybe Jones?

Should have known the omens weren't good when the anthem singer butchered The Star Spangled Banner. One of those moments when you don't know where to look.

pontcanna
12-07-2011, 12:18 AM
Also, cheers to the sizeable contingent of Ams fans who made the trek to the Island for mid-week games :)

pontcanna
12-07-2011, 12:43 AM
Lack of finish haunts Royals

BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMESCOLONIST.COM DECEMBER 6, 2011 10:27 PM

There was a bit of a hiccup in the singing of the Star Spangled Banner at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Tuesday night. But that was the only thing red-white-and-blue related that didn’t fare well.

The Tri-City Americans continued apace atop not only the U.S. Division at 22-7, but the entire Western Hockey League, with a 6-2 victory over the Victoria Royals (12-17-2) before an announced crowd of 4,600.

The most noise was provided by a busload of Tri-City fans from the Americans booster club, not that the Royals didn’t apply some pressure in outshooting the Americans 32-27.

“We had a lot of chances but were not able to bury,” said Victoria captain Hayden Rintoul. “And we didn’t play as well defensively as we’d like to. They are a good offensive team and you have to limit your mistakes against them because they can bury their chances.”

And did.

“We have good forwards and they bury the puck and get the job done,” said Americans defenceman and Victoria product Sam Grist, who was backed by a personal cheering section of nearly 40 family and friends, many wearing Tri-City jerseys with the Grist name-bar emblazoned on the back.
“It was really exciting but I was nervous at the start.”

A familiar problem — slow starts — came back to haunt the Royals as Tri-City took a 2-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old with captain Mason Wilgosh counting at 6:52 and Justin Feser on a two-man penalty advantage at 9:27. Zane Jones pulled the Royals to within one at 18:37.

Brendan Shinnimin made a sharply-executed move to the net on an Americans power play to make it 3-1 at 4:02 of the second period. That was the third goal allowed by Victoria starter Keith Hamilton on 10 shots. Head coach Marc Habscheid had seen enough, sending in 17-year-old backup Jared Rathjen.
But that didn’t stop the onslaught as further second-period goals by Tyson Dallman and Feser put the Americans ahead by four.

Victoria second-leading scorer Robin Soudek, hobbled in the first period before returning in the second, brought Victoria to 5-2 on the power play at 2:07 of the third period. The Royals then hit the post and Kevin Sundher was denied on a shorthanded breakaway in the third period in close misses that could have continued turning the tide. The Royals had several other good chances in the third but Americans goaltender Ty Rimmer stood his ground before Shinnimin sealed it with an against-the-grain goal at 13:51.

It’s been that kind of season for the Royals. The push has been there but not the finish.

“It could have been 6-2 the other way,” said Habscheid.
“But we made some bad reads and the puck ends up in our net. They scored on their chances and we didn’t on ours. We’re young and know that. I saw some good signs tonight but we made mistakes. Yet we’re working hard and caring.”

pontcanna
12-08-2011, 01:06 AM
Good effort for the most part until the legs stopped moving in the third...but a definite power outage overall. Best thing was Rathjen hearing a lot of cheers for what he did to keep the Royals in the game in the second period. One save in particular should make the WHL weekly highlights. Hopefully it'll be on Sailor's highlights as well. Another own goal at a crucial time and the defence leaving Rathjen unprotected. All these "close but no cigar" games are getting a bit depressing. I'm still annoyed over Soudek's suspension from last night (over a minor penalty) and we could have used him at crucial moments tonight. Grrr. Lethbridge aren't reckoned to be too good and Kelowna beat them tonight, so hopefully we can see a victory in our last home game of 2011 this Friday.

pontcanna
12-08-2011, 09:28 AM
Top-rated Tri-city sweeps Royals

CLEVE DHEENSAW Times Colonist

There is probably no shame in being swept at home back-to-back by the Tri City Americans, as the Victoria Royals were Wednesday and Tuesday at Save-on Foods Memorial Centre.

The Americans lead the Western Hockey League at 23-7 and only the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and St. John Sea Dogs of the Quebec league are ranked higher in this week’s top-10 poll of North American major-junior teams.

Tri City, a sound squad with few apparent weaknesses, defeated Victoria 5-3 Wednesday night to add to Tuesday’s 6-2 victory as the Royals (12-18-2) spiralled to their fourth consecutive loss.

“We did some good things and we’re coming along,” said Victoria forward Kevin Sundher, the Buffalo Sabres draft pick who scored his 19th goal of the season.

“We worked hard but made some key mistakes and they cost us some goals.”
While the crease story for Wednesday’s game was supposed to be all about 16-year-old wonder rookie Eric Comrie of the Americans, who is 10-3 with two shutouts, a funny thing happened on the way to the Memorial Centre.

Victoria’s 17-year-old back-up Jared Rathjen, making only his second start of the season in place of Keith Hamilton and with a whopping 7.00 goalsagainst average in mostly mop-up duty heading into Wednesday, stole the show over two periods with a splendid display that kept Victoria in the game as the Amerks outshot the Royals 30-18 overall.

“I felt very confident and calm,” said Rathjen.
“We’re making little mistakes out there right now. When we eliminate those little mistakes, we’re going to be a good team.”

Connor Rankin banked in the winning goal off a Victoria skate blade at 7:59 of the third period as the Americans took their first lead at 4-3 after Victoria held advantages of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2. Marcus Messier put the Amerks ahead by a deuce at 9:25 of the third.

Zane Jones put Victoria ahead 3-2 at 15:58 of the second period with his seventh goal of the season. Defenceman Zachary Yuen, fourth round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in the 2011 NHL draft, leveled for the Americans with a wrap-around at 19:10 of the second. The goal came just after Victoria forward Brandon Magee had stepped back onto the ice after serving a hotly debated boarding penalty as the Royals took the brunt of the infraction calls on the night.

“That [Yuen’s goal] was a tough one to give up,” said Victoria head coach Marc Habscheid. “Especially coming off what we thought was a clean hit [by Magee].”