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CdnSailor
01-05-2012, 01:27 PM
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/cdnsailor/KelownaRockets.gif at http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/cdnsailor/VictoriaRoyals.gif

As the Royals continue to flounder having lost 7 in a row and losing Defenceman Jesse Pauls to retirement :rolleyes:
Maybe our new screen is allowing the coach to come down a bit harder on the players as they can now see the whole picture from the tapes.
And maybe there is an ending as to when the slump will finish. Victoria and Kelowna have played 5 games with the Royals winning 4. :clap:

Kelowna has had their own problems with winning 3 of their past 10

Kelowna Rockets 39 15 19 2 3 = 35 PTS 1-0-0-0 STK 3-5-0-2 P10 686 PIM
Victoria Royals 40 13 23 2 2 = 30 PTS 0-5-1-1 STK 1-7-1-1 P10 717 PIM

pontcanna
01-06-2012, 01:47 AM
Weekend set could be key for Royals

BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMES COLONIST JANUARY 5, 2012 9:07 PM

January is the time in hockey when you begin looking at the standings with a degree of seriousness.

The Western Hockey League tables aren’t exactly imbued with a rosy glow for the Victoria Royals, not that they don’t look at them.

“We post the standings in the dressing room,” said GM and head coach Marc Habscheid, whose Royals host the Kelowna Rockets tonight and Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in what has turned into a key series.

“The standings are a reality. But it’s important that we play the game.”

In other words, look at the standings but don’t dwell on them to the point of paralysis.

Victoria (13-23-4) holds down the eighth and final playoff position in the 10-team Western Conference, but the Prince George Cougars are only two points behind with two games in hand.

Sixth-place Kelowna (15-19-5) is five points ahead of the Royals with a game in hand while the seventh-place Seattle Thunderbirds are three points up on Victoria with four games in hand.

“Kelowna is among those teams close to us, so this sets up an important weekend,” said Habscheid.

Streaks in junior hockey can just as easily start going the other way, Habscheid noted.

“Fans saw in the world tournament just how unpredictable junior hockey is. These are young guys and they make mistakes. It makes junior hockey variable.”

The Royals blueline remains an area of focus. Jesse Pauls retirement earlier this week will be offset by the return this weekend of Keegan Kanzig from the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

With Tyler Stahl still out with concussion and his return date uncertain, the Royals have six regular defenceman.

The team made no official comment on the reason for Pauls’ retirement. Pauls declined comment.

“Jesse is a good kid and a skill guy.

“This gives some of our younger defencemen a chance [for more ice time],” said Habscheid.

The Royals blueline currently consists of regulars Kanzig, Hayden Rintoul, Zach Habscheid, Jesse Zgraggen, Kade Pilton and Brett Cote with Turner Popoff available when needed.

“It will be a little tougher now because Jesse [Pauls] was a key part of our defensive corps,” said Zgraggen.

As for those standings, Zgraggen said it’s hard not to glance at them in the dressing room.

“I see them every day in the room and see that we’re not climbing the ladder like we want to be,” he said.

“But we’re confident we can climb up.”

The Royals offence has had no trouble scoring goals. But the 203 goals against — the next closest team Lethbridge is at 175 and has played two more games — remains a glaring statistic.

“We take pride in shutting teams down, but we’ve not been getting that done much lately,” said the amiable Zgraggen.

“We try not to look at those stats too much.”

This weekend’s Kelowna set represents the last home stand before the Royals embark on the longest road trip of the season — a 12-day, six-game asphalt-grinder beginning next Friday through the Eastern Conference.

CdnSailor
01-07-2012, 12:49 AM
After watching the highlights on Chek, I can see why we lost our 8th in a row. Stupid plays, lousy passes in the back causing a goal. No consistancy in anything.
At least Prince George lost as well.

CdnSailor
01-07-2012, 12:52 AM
The impressive new video screens in Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre experienced some technical glitches in the third period of Friday night’s Western Hockey League game.

But it was nothing compared to the third-period outage suffered by the Victoria Royals as the visiting Kelowna Rockets scored three unanswered goals in the final frame to steal a 5-2 victory before 6,141 fans.

It was the eighth consecutive loss for Victoria, although two of those games went beyond regulation time as the Royals have two of a possible 16 points in that stretch.

“It’s tough when you’re in a slump like this,” said Victoria leading scorer and Buffalo Sabres-signed Kevin Sundher, who assisted on both Royals goals.

“We’re disappointed. We played better, but that doesn’t make it any sweeter. It’s bitter every single game you lose. You’re at a loss for words every time saying what happened. It’s frustrating.”

It took Kelowna forward and New York Rangers fifth-round draft pick Shane McColgan just 30 seconds to open scoring, drawing even more focus to Victoria’s dubious status as the most scored upon team in the league by a Central Saanich mile.

After killing off a lengthy two-man Kelowna advantage, the Royals struck on a power play of their own to tie it 1-1 on a shot from the point by defenceman Hayden Rintoul for this 10th goal of the season at 6:09 of the second period. But Kelowna answered less than a minute later with Myles Bell’s power-play point shot to regain the lead.

Victoria tied it again at 17:59 through Jamie Crooks’ 21st goal set up by an assist from behind the net by Logan Nelson, the Minnesotan who leads the WHL in rookie points with 40.

Rearguard Bell, in what became a refrain for him, pulled the Rockets ahead 3-2 at 1:02 of the third period. The Royals pressed in response but Kelowna goaltender Adam Brown, who was in training camp with the Edmonton Oilers, proved up to the task as Victoria held a 16-6 shots advantage in the third period and 38-28 on the game.

Rockets centre Cody Chikie’s against-the-grain goal at 12:04 pretty much rung the death knell for Victoria. Carter Rigby added an exclamation mark on the power play at 16:09.

“We played well the first two periods,” said Royals captain Rintoul.

“In the third period, a couple of mistakes cost us the game. We need to clean up some of the gray areas we had. The mood in the room is that everyone is angry because we’ve not been doing as well lately. But in practice we create good habits and work hard. It’s a matter of time until we put together some wins.”

Victoria (13-24-4) is in the eighth and final playoff position in the 10-team Western Conference but that hold is tenuous. The Royals, however, received some help Friday as the ninth-place Prince George Cougars were blanked 2-0 in Kamloops to remain two points behind Victoria with two games in hand. Another assist came from Tri-City, which defeated seventh-place Seattle 7-3 to keep the Thunderbirds three points ahead of Victoria, albeit with Seattle holding five games in hand. Sixth-place Kelowna (16-19-5) moved seven points ahead of the Royals with a game in hand.

Victoria and Kelowna meet again tonight at 7.



Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Rockets+blast+Royals+third/5960068/story.html#ixzz1ikjvRJPm

pontcanna
01-07-2012, 12:53 AM
Sitting in the no-alcohol section with a group of youngsters nearby, I couldn't give full vent to my feelings at giving up YET ANOTHER first-minute or two goal to the opposition at home. Another one of those nights, I thought.

And then the Royals began to warm up and damn it all, put on their best performance for many weeks. They came on strong, outshooting the Ogopogos by a wide margin from the second period on. I could sense a victory after the impressive 5 on 3 penalty kill followed by the tying goal shortly thereafter. But another "one minute" goal against at the start of the third, a crap own goal (will have to check the replay, because we got a bad case of the Grey Screen of Death on the video) and that was basically all she wrote. But even when it was 5-2 we still kept playing, likely thinking of tomorrow night. I don't blame Hamilton at all for this one, despite the score vs. shots quotient. Our lapses on D were immediately punished. Some dubious calls also helped the OK cause :(

I guess tomorrow will be the last we'll see of Sundher, I'm sure he'll want to pot a couple to close this chapter in his career. Could be a real rough road trip to the Frozen Flatlands...

the Royal Flush
01-07-2012, 10:59 AM
once again we get crappy goaltending and a pitiful defense...Hamilton should finish the season from the pressbox and let the young ones have a go...as for Kanzig...he needs to get MEAN...REALLY MEAN...the kid is a goddamn giant yet plays like he is 5'9" 165...finish the check and pin the man to the boards...and punish the guy he is hitting...if he lays out a couple of players with big hits and learns how to facewash them he will become a star in this league...at 6'6" 230lbs everyone should fear him...

50sWHLer
01-07-2012, 06:27 PM
Hey poncanna ! - Golly ! Gee ! - if I knew that you were in section #104, I would have come over and said “Hello”. Great Crowd with LOTS of Families in attendance. Lots of comps given out ( somebody told me 1,000+- or so??) - Way to go RG – Nice Touch !

Slow start to the Game, got it going in the 2nd, but fizzled out in the 3rd, just like the Video screens. --- Poor positional play ! -- Poor fore checking & back checking ! – Poor transition ! – Poor cycling in the corners ! – No offense ! No “D” ! – No Drive to the net ! and on & on.

In all of my years attending hockey at the SOFMC, I had never heard, until last night, the opposing Team’s Fans chanting “ Nah! Nah! Nah! Nah! - Nah! Nah! Nah! Nah! -- Hey ! Hey ! – GOOD BYE !!!! ---- IN OUR BARN !!!---- embarrassing !! -- I’m bringing my paperbag next time. :paperbag:

And whats this with hundreds of Fans walking out ‘DURING PLAY’ ( Way to go ICM Security) with over 8 minutes to go anyway?? – Real Hockey Fans EH???? --- Surely, they must have ALL been Comps. A ‘Real’ hockey Fan would never leave, especially with there still being LOTS of time to catch up and even possibly WIN!!

Noticed again last night, that Habshied continues to be out coached. What can be done to ‘ Right the Ship’ ??? ----- :brickwall:

rednex50
01-07-2012, 07:15 PM
Everyone better have their last pics with Sundher. Pretty much for certain this will be the last time you'll see him in Victoria as a Royal.

Sundher buddy, wish you all the best, miss the hell out of you guys here in Chilli, and go raise a little hell and chase that Memorial Cup. You've earned your shot.

Wonder if this is the last time you'll see Soudek and Rintoul in a Royal uni as well. For the first time in the Bruins/Royals franchise, I can see the major pieces on the team who will not be returning being auctioned off to the highest bidder and re-stock for next season. Maybe by purging everything that was left over from the Bruins will help Victoria set up their future, and totally seperated from its past...but I don't think they'll be quite that drastic. IMO just 4 or 5 players will be moved, concieding this season but better preparing for next season.

rednex50
01-07-2012, 11:50 PM
well, another loss (although via Shoot Out)...so with no more games until after the trading deadline, Habby has no choice but to sit down and evaluate the offers on the table and make the decisions to what will help hte club out next season and the season after that.

If they manage to make the playoffs, its not because of the team...but how lousy PG was to not overtake them.

We should begin to see the Royals transactions either overnight or tomorrow (I would think) unless Habby decides to try to make all his deals in the 11th hour.

pontcanna
01-08-2012, 12:10 AM
Well it certainly would have been a romantic finish for Sundher to put away his clear chance in the last two minutes - he rippled the twine on (not in) the back of the net, making half the rink think he'd won it with his last goal for the franchise. Then he gets goaded into a ridiculous double minor for attempted head-butting in OT (helmet tapping would have been more like it) meaning he was unavailable for the shootout - and as we were shut out, we could have used him. A very entertaining game, especially the last two periods, and people certainly get loud when told to to do by the video graphics. Heard a lot of kids saying how much they liked the screen.

I'm a fan of Zane Jones - I think he'll be a beast next season - but his penalties basically cost us the game. No fans b****ed about his 5 + game misconduct after they saw the appalling check from behind. I think he'll have a few games off during this roadtrip courtesy of the Dub Disciplinary folk. Earlier, another offensive zone Zanebrain penalty cost us a goal against.

A point and we actually had the lead for a while. At this point you look for positives anyplace (and it's rather fun listening to the Zone folk digging up positive statistics and brief moments of glory on the radio).

I'm thinking our already young team will be a lot younger when we next see them on the 27th.

Thanks for the classy playmaking, Kevin.

CdnSailor
01-08-2012, 12:25 AM
If this is Kevin's last game this video will be his claim to fame from us.
Overtime headbutt getting a 4 minute penalty, game misconduct and then not being able to shoot in the shootout. :burningmad::burningmad::burningmad:


http://youtu.be/8nW9UMo3V-Q

pontcanna
01-08-2012, 01:34 AM
Royals lose ninth straight game

BY MARIO ANNICCHIARICO, TIMES COLONIST JANUARY 7, 2012 11:07 PM

Well, if that was Kevin Sundher’s final game as a Victoria Royal, it was certainly not the way he wanted to go out.

The team leader in points extended his scoring streak to 12 games, but the Royals lost for the ninth straight outing, this time in a 4-3 shootout to the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday before 6,355 fans at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

Rumoured to be traded by Tuesday’s Western Hockey League deadline, Sundher gave his usual rock solid performance, but made the critical error of attempting to head butt an agitating Shane McCologan at the end of overtime and wasn’t around for the shootout.

At least that’s how the referee saw it as the two players had something going for most of the night. They had clashed at the buzzer in regulation and again after overtime.

That’s when Sundher whacked McCologan’s shield as he pulled back, earning a double minor and 10-minute misconduct.

“I can’t comment on it,” Sundher said of the call.

As for the trade deadline, he admitted that the situation was on his mind and he hopes he remains in Victoria.

“You just never know. In hockey, in this business, things change pretty fast. It’s my fourth year so I’ve seen a few deadlines and a few trades. It’s always interesting and it’s tough to see teammates go. We’ll see what happens.”

What happened Saturday was three straight saves by Kelowna netminder Jordan Cooke on Robin Soudek, Logan Nelson and Brandon Magee in the shootout. Zach Franko, meanwhile, beat Keith Hamilton, who had stopped 32 in regulation. Cooke made 23 saves for Kelowna.

Royals general manager and head coach Marc Habscheid obviously couldn’t go to Sundher in the shootout.

“It was unfortunate. They had something going at the end of regulation and it carried into overtime. He got frustrated, made a bad decision and we lost him,” said Habscheid, who has had a tough week with trade speculation.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s become a bit of a distraction for all the players and Kevin himself. But that’s hockey,” he admitted. “It’s a part of the game. We know it’ll pass on Tuesday and we move forward from there.”

Sundher had a chance to win it late in regulation, but just couldn’t finish. It came off one of his patented end-to-end darts, one of several on the evening.

Magee, Hayden Rintoul and Mike Forsyth, with his first of the year, scored for Victoria (13-24-2-3). Carter Rigby, Myles Bell and Brett Bulmer had the Kelowna goals.

CdnSailor
01-08-2012, 02:00 AM
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/cdnsailor/KelownaRockets.gif 4 http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/cdnsailor/VictoriaRoyals.gif 3 (SO)

Highlights
http://youtu.be/X5wRSFsfhmU

1st Period

No Score

2nd Period

Royals 1st goal by Brandon Magee (PP)
Rockets 1st goal by Shane McColgan (SH)
Royals 2nd goal by Hayden Rintou (PP)
Rockets 2nd goal by Myles Bell (PP)

3rd Period

Rockets 3rd goal by Brett Bulmer (PP)
Royals 3rd goal by Mike Forsyth

Overtime

No Goal

Shootout won by Rockets

Attendance
6355

SCORING 1 2 3 OT SO Total
Kelowna Rockets 0 2 1 0 1 4
Victoria Royals 0 2 1 0 0 3

SHOTS 1 2 3 OT SO Total
Kelowna Rockets 11 12 9 3 1 36
Victoria Royals 7 13 4 2 0 26

3 STARS
1. VIC - 2 Hayden Rintoul
2. VIC - 18 Brandon Magee
3. KEL - 18 Shane McColgan


Game Schedule
http://www.whl.ca/schedule/show/game/59837

The Wheatiemaniac
01-08-2012, 03:15 AM
Royals lose ninth straight game

BY MARIO ANNICCHIARICO, TIMES COLONIST JANUARY 7, 2012 11:07 PM

Well, if that was Kevin Sundher’s final game as a Victoria Royal, it was certainly not the way he wanted to go out.

The team leader in points extended his scoring streak to 12 games, but the Royals lost for the ninth straight outing, this time in a 4-3 shootout to the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday before 6,355 fans at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

Rumoured to be traded by Tuesday’s Western Hockey League deadline, Sundher gave his usual rock solid performance, but made the critical error of attempting to head butt an agitating Shane McCologan at the end of overtime and wasn’t around for the shootout.

At least that’s how the referee saw it as the two players had something going for most of the night. They had clashed at the buzzer in regulation and again after overtime.

That’s when Sundher whacked McCologan’s shield as he pulled back, earning a double minor and 10-minute misconduct.

“I can’t comment on it,” Sundher said of the call.

As for the trade deadline, he admitted that the situation was on his mind and he hopes he remains in Victoria.

“You just never know. In hockey, in this business, things change pretty fast. It’s my fourth year so I’ve seen a few deadlines and a few trades. It’s always interesting and it’s tough to see teammates go. We’ll see what happens.”

What happened Saturday was three straight saves by Kelowna netminder Jordan Cooke on Robin Soudek, Logan Nelson and Brandon Magee in the shootout. Zach Franko, meanwhile, beat Keith Hamilton, who had stopped 32 in regulation. Cooke made 23 saves for Kelowna.

Royals general manager and head coach Marc Habscheid obviously couldn’t go to Sundher in the shootout.

“It was unfortunate. They had something going at the end of regulation and it carried into overtime. He got frustrated, made a bad decision and we lost him,” said Habscheid, who has had a tough week with trade speculation.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s become a bit of a distraction for all the players and Kevin himself. But that’s hockey,” he admitted. “It’s a part of the game. We know it’ll pass on Tuesday and we move forward from there.”

Sundher had a chance to win it late in regulation, but just couldn’t finish. It came off one of his patented end-to-end darts, one of several on the evening.

Magee, Hayden Rintoul and Mike Forsyth, with his first of the year, scored for Victoria (13-24-2-3). Carter Rigby, Myles Bell and Brett Bulmer had the Kelowna goals.

Was Sundher's incident at games end serious enough that they might suspend him?

CdnSailor
01-08-2012, 02:02 PM
Having a look at the video he may get something for it.
If he is traded the new team he goes to will have to leave him on the bench for one or two games.

pontcanna
01-09-2012, 10:47 PM
Jones got a two game suspension for the boarding major/game misconduct Saturday night.