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pontcanna
02-22-2012, 01:27 AM
Veteran Royals have playoff fever

BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMESCOLONIST.COM FEBRUARY 21, 2012 11:06 PM

The post-season waltz is always the objective in sports. But it can be a capricious dance partner.

Kamloops Blazers head coach Guy Charron played 734 career NHL regular-season games over 11 years but not a single playoff game, which was the record until broken by Olli Jokinen. Last season, the luckless Charron and his Blazers missed the Western Hockey League playoffs. But this year, he has the Blazers near the top of the WHL and they have easily clinched a playoff spot.

Last year, defenceman Hayden Rintoul blazed through the playoffs with a breathless run that took the Kootenay Ice all the way to the WHL championship and Memorial Cup national tournament. This season, he is in a grim battle just to make the playoffs as captain of the Victoria Royals.

The post-season is indeed a fickle mistress, and that’s something to contemplate as the Royals are in Kamloops tonight.

“We’ve got to get every point we can,” said Rintoul, of the incredibly tight race between the Royals, Prince George Cougars, Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips for the final two post-season berths in the Western Conference.

There’s an added sense of urgency for Rintoul and Royals forward Robin Soudek, who are both 20 and in their final seasons of junior hockey.

“I try not to think about that but there is definitely pressure to make the playoffs in our last year,” said Rintoul.

“I’d like to be there and do feel added pressure to get there.”

As much as every game is a near must-win now for the Royals, Cougars, Thunderbirds and Silvertips, their head-to-head matches are potential four-point swings and especially take on added significance.

“It’s the weekend of the season for us,” said Soudek, about the Friday and Saturday games in Prince George that will close out the Royals’ three-game road trip.

“We need both games in Prince George. Getting those four points [and so thus also denying the Cougars those points] is crucial for us.”

Not that the Royals can afford to look past Kamloops to Prince George. With only 13 games remaining, any night in which points are on the table is a big night — even in games that pundits don’t expect the Royals (18-35-6) to win, such as tonight against the Blazers (41-14-4 and ranked No. 3 among major junior teams in North America).

The Royals aren’t heading to Kamloops to “lose and leave,” said GM and head coach Marc Habscheid.

“We split with Kamloops the last time they came here [Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre] so there is some confidence there,” he noted.

But the Royals have been highly erratic from night to night.

“We’re a young team that has been inconsistent,” said Habscheid.

“We need to find that consistency because these are critical points [up for grabs on this road trip], without question.”

the Royal Flush
02-22-2012, 10:19 AM
i hope we play Rathjen...our starter(cough,cough) does not have the abilities to play "big" when the need arises...we are runnin' outta time...

CdnSailor
02-22-2012, 10:22 AM
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/cdnsailor/VictoriaRoyals.gif at http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/cdnsailor/KamloopsBlazers.gif

With Seattle, Victoria, Everett and Prince George all at 59 games and 2 points between 7th and 10th spot, these last 13 games are going to be very crucial to everyone.
I suspect that the last two playoff positions will go down to the wire.

Kamloops is 7 and 3 past 10 while Victoria is 2 and 8.

fatshad
02-22-2012, 08:27 PM
i hope we play Rathjen...our starter(cough,cough) does not have the abilities to play "big" when the need arises...we are runnin' outta time...

Our goaltending has not been anything close to Major Junior level all year !! It has been our biggest weakness all year !! Defense has played well below average as a unit also !! We can score enough goals to win most games with half a dozen forwards with offensive skills !! But we sure as hell cannot keep the puck out of our net !! Having said that , I sure hope we can squeek into the playoffs !! Go Royals Go !!:clap::clap::clap:

pontcanna
02-23-2012, 01:10 AM
Blazers burn Royals with late rally


BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMESCOLONIST.COM FEBRUARY 22, 2012 11:06 PM


For a substantial part of Wednesday night’s Western Hockey League game in Kamloops, the lowly Victoria Royals (18-36-6) skated like they belonged as equals with the lofty Blazers.

Then reality set in.

A 3-2 Victoria lead late in the second period gave way to a perhaps all-too inevitable 6-3 Kamloops victory as the Blazers rattled home four unanswered goals.

The four Blazers power-play goals didn’t help the Royals’ cause, either.

“I was disappointed we didn’t get this [win]. I thought we could have had it,” said Victoria GM and head coach Marc Habscheid.

“I thought we were good over the first two periods and had urgency,” added Habscheid, who pointed to Bronson Maschmeyer’s 3-3 power-play tying goal for Kamloops late in the second period as the turning point.

Yet, maybe in the tale is a beam of hope for the Royals organization. The Blazers (42-14-4) are the top team in the WHL and ranked third in the BMO Mastercard Canadian Hockey League Top-10 poll in a dramatic swing after missing the playoffs last season.

The Royals played the first two periods like their season depended on it. Matters haven’t come to that — yet. But that point is rapidly approaching. It arrives in a not-too-subtle way on the weekend.

Only two points separate the Royals, Seattle Thunderbirds, Everett Silvertips and Prince George Cougars in their dourly-paced race for the final two playoff berths in the Western Conference. With 12 games remaining, the Royals head up Highway 97 for a critical two-game set Friday and Saturday in Prince George against the Cougars.

The first period Wednesday ended 2-2 and featured power-play goals by two WHL rookie revelations — American Logan Nelson of the Royals, the 108th-ranked North American skater in Central Scouting’s mid-season listing for the 2012 NHL draft, and the Blazers’ fast yet strong Swiss standout Tim Bozon, ranked 39th by Central Scouting.

Bozon has 30 goals and 61 points, while the six-foot-two Nelson, who has a physcial dimension to his game and is not adverse to laying on the body, is at 21 goals and 54 points in their respective breakout seasons.

Jamie Crooks, the quietly deceptive forward who has a team-leading 32 goals, gave Victoria a 3-2 lead on the power play at 4:19 of the second period. But Maschmeyer matched that with a power-play goal for Kamloops that tied it at 18:37 of the second.

Then it was Bozon again as the WHL’s leading rookie scorer pounced for yet another power-play goal to give Kamloops a 4-3 lead at 1:37 of the third period. Maschmeyer’s second power-play goal at 6:20 was followed by a Matt Needham counter at 8:52.

Austin Carroll had Victoria’s first goal.

Jared Rathjen, getting a rare start in the nets for Victoria, faced 31 shots. Kamloops starter Cam Lanigan was forced into only 15 saves.

CdnSailor
02-23-2012, 09:10 AM
i hope we play Rathjen...our starter(cough,cough) does not have the abilities to play "big" when the need arises...we are runnin' outta time...


He played and we still got trounced :groovy:

the Royal Flush
02-23-2012, 09:56 AM
Yeah...but Hamilton would have let in at least 8. Start the kid again...better a 17 year old with upside loses than a 19 year old who's career is over plays...its also time to let Soudek ride the pine...too many stupid penalties and just not a smart kid...no discipline...

fatshad
02-23-2012, 07:30 PM
He played and we still got trounced :groovy:

I watched the game and we were actually staying with the Blazers who are ranked #3 in Canada untill the latter part of the 2nd and early 3rd when they were awarded 5 straight power plays on some very borderline calls !! :mad: the refereeing in this league is as sub par as are goaltending has been !! :confused::o