Neal's Notes

[pontcanna]

Hey everyone, welcome to Neal’s Notes, a look at what’s going down with the Victoria Royals and the Western Hockey League. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Andy Neal I work with the Victoria Royals in the communications department and I also host WHL Central on Shaw TV. Prior to coming to Victoria with my family, I spent two and a half seasons working for the Prince George Cougars and last year I was the play-by-play broadcaster for the team. It is an extreme pleasure to still be involved with the Western Hockey League and a thrill to be a part of the inaugural Victoria Royals’ season.

First off, what an opening weekend in the Western Hockey League! The highlight had to be here in Victoria when 7,006 fans welcomed the WHL back to the BC Capital. I had the pleasure of working with Peter Loubardias on two Shaw broadcasts this past week and he couldn’t get over how great Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre is and the atmosphere in the rink. He was calling games for the Regina Pats when the Victoria Cougars were playing in the old Memorial Arena. He’s certain that when the Cougars won just five games in the 1989-90 season, one of those wins came against the Pats. I leaned over to Peter and said ‘this is like being in an American rink’ and it’s true. I’ve told a number of people that the intermissions in Everett are as entertaining as the game itself and there’s a real difference between watching a WHL game south of the border compared to north of it. Fortunately, the Victoria fans provided a south of the border atmosphere. Keith Hamilton was brilliant in goal and what impressed me about his play was his ability to fight for the next shot despite either being on his seat or having traffic all over the place around the Royals’ net. It makes sense that the Royals and Giants would split their weekend series since they split their 10-game regular season series in 2010-11.

Count on the Giants to not quit though. The first thing people talk about is their work ethic and despite being without their top player, Brendan Gallagher, they came very close to erasing a three goal deficit in the third period. Plenty of talk out there that Gallagher could be with the Habs for a while. However, if he comes back to the Giants, look for Gallagher to have a real solid shot of making Canada’s World Junior Team for the 2012 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton and Calgary. He has as good a work ethic as there can be on the ice, very skilled around the goal and nobody knows how valuable Gallagher can be more than Giants Head Coach Don Hay, who will be behind Canada’s bench at the WJC.

How interested were people in the Royals’ home opener? Shaw TV’s audience for Saturday’s game was bigger than any game last season.

Also, I have to mention Mark Donnelly is the first anthem singer I’ve seen in person get a standing ‘O’ before he’s even sung the anthem. He’s got a great voice and is it just me, or is it better live than on television?

I just wish the same atmosphere took place in Moose Jaw, although the Brandon Wheat Kings had plenty to do with the lack of energy throughout the game. Mosaic Place opened with close 4,500 people in attendance, but the Wheaties were in full control. Alessio Bertaggia, the third overall pick in the 2011 CHL Import Draft, made quite a splash getting a hat-trick Thursday for Brandon in the opening night win. To the Warriors credit, who missed Quinton Howden and Dylan McIlrath to NHL camps and Joel Edmundson with an injury, they pulled the same trick in Brandon with Brett Lyons getting the hat-trick in a 4-3 win.

In case you’re wondering, the “Crushed Can” still stands in Moose Jaw. The ice system was moved over to Mosaic Place and that was about it. Another thing that was pointed out by Shaw TV Senior Producer Grant Wilkins was the fact that none of the Warriors banners are up yet. Cory Nyhagen, the Warriors Director of Business Operations, said a ceremony will take place where the banners will go up.

Congratulations go out to former Royals’ Assistant GM and Ass’t Coach Pat Conacher, who began his Regina Pats coaching era with back-to-back wins over the Swift Current Broncos by scores of 5-1 and 4-2.

[CdnSailor]

Great!!! Now I have to watch my P's and Q's or Jeff will find out

[CdnSailor]

The WHL's weekly report is on the league website now and the news is not good for a couple of Royals' regulars. Defenceman Tyler Stahl is out at least a month, right now, after that wicked elbow to the head he took from Charles Inglis of the Prince George Cougars last Saturday night. The incident landed Inglis a 10-game suspension. That's a big blow to the Royals' blue line to lose a veteran like Stahl. Also, Brandon Magee is gone for three weeks with a lower body injury suffered in the Royals' 8-2 loss to the Kamloops Blazers Sunday. Magee had a four game point streak to start the season and is a real spark plug for Victoria who can provide sufficient offence for the team. His loss will force a few adjustments to the lines, no doubt.

Back-to-back games coming up with the Medicine Hat Tigers, who have won their last two games. Emerson Etem has five goals in four games and Hunter Shinkaruk is a 17-year-old forward who will be getting plenty of attention from NHL scouts this season. Shinkaruk helped Canada to a gold medal at the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in August with a goal and an assist in five games. The Tigers have one of the best goalies in the WHL with Tyler Bunz, an Edmonton Oilers prospect. The bus ride to Victoria appears to have taken something out of Bunz, though. He tweeted Wednesday morning "14 hour bus ride...Now waiting for the ferry to head to Victoria. Starbucks with the boys #givemecaffine."

Following these two games with the Tigers, the Royals will head south of the border Saturday to meet the Seattle Thunderbirds. After Saturday's game, the team will travel to Vancouver and face the Giants Monday afternoon at Pacific Coliseum.

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The CHL announced its Top 10 list and the Regina Pats, coached by former Royals' Assistant GM and Ass't Coach Pat Conacher, are the highest ranked WHL team. The Pats are ranked fourth overall with a 4-1 record. The London Knights of the OHL are the top ranked CHL team. The Tri-City Americans are ranked seventh and the Kelowna Rockets are still ranked ninth overall. The Moose Jaw Warriors got an honorable mention.

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We'll find out next week which team will host and get a free berth into the 2013 Memorial Cup. The Red Deer Rebels, Saskatoon Blades and Kelowna Rockets are the final three candidates to host the CHL championship tournament, eliminating Prince George and Lethbridge earlier in the off-season. My money has been on Red Deer to get the event, especially with expansions being done to the Enmax Centrium, including 14 luxury suites and adding 1,000 seats to the 6,000 seat facility. Red Deer has hosted the IIHF World Junior Championship and is a relatively short drive between two major cities, Edmonton and Calgary. Kelowna just hosted, and won, the Memorial Cup in 2004, although it was a smashing success and gives good reason to go back to the Okanagan. Saskatoon hosted the Memorial Cup in 1989 and had the 2010 World Junior Championship, so the Bridge City is more than capable to host the event, as well. I really believe, though, that Red Deer will get the call for 2013.

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The Prince George Cougars opened their Eastern road trip with a 6-3 win over the Prince Albert Raiders. Alex Forsberg and Jordan Tkatch, a pair of 16-year-old rookies for the Cougars, both had a goal and an assist. The Cougars have six players on their roster from Saskatchewan and another from Lloydminster, the border city with Alberta. Some may feel right at home on that trip. Cougars are in Saskatoon tonight. Two other BC division teams are playing tonight; Vancouver hosts Spokane and Kelowna has a date with the Tri-City Americans in Kelowna.

[CdnSailor]

Been away from the blog the last few days, got to get caught up a little. Boy, what a big weekend for the Royals to get two wins over the Kelowna Rockets Friday and Saturday. Talked to Jesse Zgraggen and Keith Hamilton on taking down the Rockets and preparing for the Vancouver Giants and Rockets again this weekend. You can see that story here. Zgraggen scored his second WHL goal for the overtime winner Saturday night. I was in the broadcast booth for his first last year in Chilliwack when I called games for the Prince George Cougars. Jesse said this goal was definitely bigger than his first.

Great weekend again for Kevin Sundher, who had six points, five of which assists. Sundher comes out of the weekend tied for first in points with 21 and leads the league with 17 assists. I always thought because of his speed he was a finisher, but he’s pass first and dishing some nice feeds. Robin Soudek continues to light it up at home. In five games at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre this season, Soudek has six goals and four assists and had three goals and two assists this weekend and a plus-5, the best Royals’ plus/minus on the weekend. Keith Hamilton got the win in both games and although he gave up five on Friday, he made two massive saves that helped the Royals to victory. The first was his glove save on Shane McColgan in the second period that could have put the game out of reach for the Rockets, then he robbed Carter Rigby in close right after Lukas Kralik had given the Royals a 6-5 lead. He preserved the lead and then the victory. The ball is Hamilton’s in goal and hopefully he takes it and runs.

The Royals open a four game road trip this weekend against Vancouver Friday and Kelowna Saturday. The Giants have lost their last two games and three of four, while the Rockets have dropped four straight after they opened the season with three straight wins. The Giants and Rockets hook up Thursday in Kelowna. The Royals will then head south to meet the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs next Tuesday and Wednesday.

There may be some help that comes from the infirmary this weekend. Brandon Magee, who had a lower body injury early in the season against Kamloops, skated today and is hopeful he can go as early as this weekend. Last week’s injury report suggested Magee would be out for another three weeks, but he may be ahead of schedule. May being the important word there. Magee is a hard working 17-year-old who had two goals and four assists in the first four games of the season before he got hurt in Kamloops on October 2. Defencemen Zach Habscheid and Tyler Stahl, both 19-year-olds, still out with head injuries for a while yet. Good weekend for Turner Popoff, who joined the Royals’ defence this past weekend. Popoff, who is a seventh round pick of the Chilliwack Bruins in the 2009 Bantam Draft, was plus-2 in two games and threw a few solid checks along the boards. He plays for the Richmond Sockeyes of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League (PIJHL).
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Quite a bit of trade action in the WHL over the last 24 hours, with seven deals done as of 3:00pm Monday. The latest saw the Vancouver Giants acquire forward Austin Connor and defenceman Arvin Atwal from the Prince Albert Raiders for forward Teal Burns and defenceman Tyler Hart.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes, Prince George Cougars and Brandon Wheat Kings have been busy. The Hurricanes picked up forward Nick Buonassisi from the Cougars for defenceman Reid Jackson and a draft pick, then traded goalie Brandon Anderson and draft picks to the Wheat Kings for goalie Liam Liston and defenceman Spencer Galbraith. The Wheat Kings fired three draft picks to Saskatoon for forward Darian Dziurzynski. The Hurricanes also moved defenceman Derek Ryckman to Tri-City for a fourth round bantam pick. The Cougars got forward Campbell Elynuik from Regina for a conditional sixth round pick and the Everett Silvertips acquired defenceman Lucas Grayson from Red Deer for a fourth round pick in 2013.

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TSN Scout Craig Button’s October draft rankings are out on www.tsn.ca and Nail Yakupov is still ranked first among eligible players for the 2012 NHL Draft next June. The Sarnia Sting forward from Russia has seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points in only 10 games this season. There are five WHL players, all defencemen, on the list of 30 and all are in Button’s top 10: Matt Dumba (RD, #3), Morgan Reilly (MJ, #5), Ryan Murray (EVT, #7), Griffin Reinhart (EDM, #8) and Derrick Pouliot (POR, #9). Murray is a late birthday, which makes him eligible in 2012. The other four were the first four players chosen in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft.

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The WHL’s Player of the Week is Sven Bartschi of the Portland Winterhawks. Bartschi, the 13th overall pick by the Calgary Flames in the 2011 NHL Draft, had three goals and four assists in two games and was a plus-4. On the season, Bartschi has 14 points (5g-9a) in seven games since he returned from Flames’ training camp.

[CdnSailor]

The Victoria Royals face the Tri-City Americans tonight at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Washington. For those of you who aren’t aware of the Tri-City reference for the Americans, they play in Kennewick, with Pasco and Richland in Southeastern Washington nearby. The three cities either border each other or one of the surrounding rivers in the area.

The Toyota Center is one of the loudest buildings in the WHL. It seats 5,734 loud fans. This is a tough two game stretch on the road for the Royals, with the Americans the top seed in the Western Conference with 20 points (also tied with the Kootenay Ice for first overall), and the Spokane Chiefs tomorrow night on a six game win streak. The Royals look to make it back-to-back wins, after a 3-2 decision over the Rockets in Kelowna Saturday.

A few game notes for tonight’s match-up:
- Tonight is the first of four meetings this season between the Royals and Americans. They square off again December 6 & 7 in Victoria, with a final encounter on February 4 in Kennewick.
- The Chilliwack Bruins were 1-3-0-0 against the Americans last season. The Bruins defeated Tri-City 4-3 on November 19, but the Americans won the next three games.
- Over the last five seasons, the Bruins went 1-6-1-0 at the Toyota Center, with their last regular season victory in Tri-City on February 12, 2010, 6-3.
- The Bruins also defeated the Americans in Kennewick in the 2010 WHL playoffs, 4-3 in overtime in game 5 of the best of 7 Western Conference Quarter Final. Current Royals’ forward Kevin Sundher scored the game winner. The Americans won the series in six games.
- The Royals go into the game with a record of 7-6-0-0 for 14 points, second in the BC division. The Royals trail the Kamloops Blazers by four points for first in the division. The Royals are 3-5-0-0 on the road
- The Americans have a 10-4-0-0 record, first in the US division and Western Conference. The Americans are 6-1-0-0 at home.
- Both teams have scored 47 goals this season, tied with the Edmonton Oil Kings for sixth overall in the WHL.
- Both teams’ next game is against the Spokane Chiefs. The Royals’ end their four game road trip in Spokane Wednesday and the Americans host the Chiefs on Saturday.
- The Royals’ power play is ranked 17th overall in the WHL at 19.1% (13-for-68). Victoria is 5-for-34 (12.0%) on the road with the man advantage.
-The Americans’ power play is 14th overall in the WHL at 20.0% (15-for-75). Tri-City is ranked third at home on the power play at 28.6% (10-for-35).
-The Royals are ranked 18th in the WHL on the penalty kill, as they’ve gone 54-for-72 (75.0%) while short-handed. On the road, the Royals are 35-for-46 (76.1%) on the penalty kill.
-The Royals have scored two short-handed goals this season from Robin Soudek and Steven Hodges.
- Tri-City boasts the top penalty kill unit in the WHL as they have allowed 11 goals on 70 short-handed situations (84.3%). The Americans are 19-for-25 (76.0%) while short-handed at home
-The Royals are one of six teams in the WHL to have at least two victories when trailing after 40 minutes this season. Victoria trailed Medicine Hat 3-2 after two periods on October 7, but rallied for a 5-4 victory. On October 14, Kelowna had a 5-3 lead over Victoria after the second period, but the Royals came back to win 7-5. Spokane (3), Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Portland and Red Deer are the other teams to come back when trailing after two periods more than once this season.
- Steven Hodges has a goal in each of the last two games for Victoria.
- Kevin Sundher has eight points (1g-7a) in his last four games. Robin Soudek has six points (4g-2a) and Jamie Crooks has four points (2g-2a) over the last four games.
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I thought it would be interesting to look at how teams do on special teams at home and on the road and there were some interesting finds thus far in the season:
- Brandon not only has the best power play overall (35.3%), but the Wheat Kings are tops at home (40.0%) and on the road (33.3%).
- 21 of the Swift Current Broncos 46 goals have been scored on the power play.
- Prince George has the lowest ranked power play at home at 8.3% and Lethbridge is the most weak on the road at 11.8%.
- The Saskatoon Blades are at 94.7% on the penalty kill at home, but 70.4% on the road, which is the largest differential between home and road efficiency on the PK in the WHL.
- The Broncos have the lowest PK percentage at home at 59.3%. The Broncos are also third worst on the PK on the road at 69.2%. Their 64.2% PK efficiency overall is by far the lowest in the league.
- The Vancouver Giants have the biggest differential of PP success at home compared to on the road. The Giants are 30.8% at home, but just 12.0% on the road.
- On the other side, the Everett Silvertips have clicked on 29.4% of their power plays on the road, compared to 16.7% at home, the biggest spread of success on the road compared to at home.
- The Hurricanes are way better on the PK on the road than at home. They are 84.2% away from Lethbridge compared to 60.0% at home, the largest spread for a team having more success on the PK on the road.
- The Tri-City Americans have the best road penalty kill at 88.9%, which means both the teams with the best overall special teams records have the best road record in each category.
- The Kootenay Ice has 22.2% efficiency on the PP at home and on the road.
- The Red Deer Rebels are 83.3% at home and on the road on the PK.
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Regan Bartel, the Kelowna Rockets’ voice, tweeted today that forward Brett Bulmer was getting second power play practice time for the Minnesota Wild. Not likely to see the 19-year-old back with the Rockets anytime soon, with his ninth game on Thursday in Minnesota against Anaheim.
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Hockey Canada unveiled its 30th anniversary third jersey today. The anniversary celebrates the Program of Excellence, with three steps involved: the regional under-17 program, the National Men’s under-18 team and the National Junior Team. This is also the 30th anniversary of the Canada’s first gold medal victory at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, a team that Victoria Royals’ General Manager and Head Coach Marc Habscheid was a member of.
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Aside from the Royals at Tri-City, there are two other games. The Portland Winterhawks play the third of nine straight games on the road in Calgary. They are 0-1-0-1 on the trip. Prince George is in Vancouver to face the Giants. The Cougars haven’t scored since the 16:01 mark of the second period in their 5-4 loss to the Swift Current Broncos on October 12. That was the second game of a five game losing streak and the only game in that stretch that the Cougars have scored a goal in. On the internet, the WHL game summaries go as far back as the 1996 playoffs, which would make this scoreless drought the longest in Cougars’ history in Prince George, which is currently 203 minutes and 59 seconds, barring they did not go through this in the first two years in PG. Jake Mykitiuk is the last Cougars’ player to hit the score sheet. However, the last time the Cougars were in Vancouver, at the end of last season, they won 8-0.

[CdnSailor]

The rosters for Team WHL for the fifth and sixth games of the six-game CHL SUBWAY® Super Series were announced this morning in Moose Jaw, SK, the home of the final game of the event. Royals’ forward Kevin Sundher will play in the fifth game on Wednesday, November 16, in Regina. The spot on Team WHL is well earned by Sundher this season as he leads the league in assists with 20 and is third overall in points with 25 through 15 games. Sundher reached the 200 point plateau in his WHL career with an assist on Robin Soudek’s ninth goal of the year in the second period of the Royals’ 3-2 victory over the Rockets’ Saturday in Kelowna. All the games will be broadcast on Sportsnet and you can see the entire roster here.
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The Victoria Royals returned home after their four game road trip, going 2-and-2. The bus pulled up to the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre just after 9:00am. On road trips of at least three games or more, the Royals have a record of 4-3-0-0. They took two of three to start October in Prince George and Kamloops. The Royals are now 8-7-0-0 for 16 points, still second in the BC Division and two back of Kamloops for first. The Blazers, though, have three games in hand. Vancouver, with one game in hand, is a point back of Victoria. As for the conference standings, Victoria is seeded fourth and I realize it’s way, way too soon to look at playoff match-ups, but they’d face Portland if the post-season started today. Just so you know.
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Steven Hodges is the hottest Royals’ player right now, with a goal in four straight games and five points over that span. With three games to go before Victoria hits the quarter poll for the season, Hodges has already surpassed his goals, assists and points output from last season when he had five goals and six assists for 11 points in 58 games. In 15 games, Hodges has posted six goals and eight assists for 14 points and he’s a plus-1 on the season. Hodges is one of four players in the WHL with the longest current goal streak, tied with Vancouver’s Brendan Gallagher, Dominik Uher of Spokane and Medicine Hat’s Emerson Etem. Etem had an eight game streak to start the year.

Forward Logan Nelson takes a three game point streak into the weekend, with four assists over that stretch.
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With injuries to the back end for the Royals, a few rookie blueliners have stepped up nicely on defence. Brett Cote of Oakbank, MB, had three assists in the four game road trip and was +2. Cote, who was drafted by the Chilliwack Bruins in the third round of the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft, has four assists on the season and is +4, which has him tied for the team lead with Forward Jamie Crooks. Keegan Kanzig, the Bruins first pick in the 2010 Bantam Draft from Athabasca, AB, is +2 on the season through 13 games and Turner Popoff, the seventh round pick of the Bruins in 2009, earned his first WHL point with an assist against the Tri-City Americans Tuesday in a 5-4 Royals’ win. Popoff has played five games for the Royals this season. He has spent the majority of the young season with the Richmond Sockeyes of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League.

The Royals will get some help soon, with 19-year-old Zach Habscheid anticipated to return in early November, but Habscheid, Tyler Stahl and Jesse Pauls are all out for this weekend’s double-header at home against the Seattle Thunderbirds.
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Keith Hamilton’s 41 save victory over the Americans Tuesday was his seventh win of the season and third when he makes at least 40 saves. He made 48 saves in back-to-back wins over Vancouver and Prince George in September. 17-year-old Jared Rathjen made his first career WHL start yesterday in Spokane and stopped 27 of 33 Chiefs’ shots.
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With their win over Victoria last night, Spokane just completed a perfect seven-game home stand. In fact, all of the Chiefs’ wins this season have been at home and they are 8-0 in Spokane. Although they face the Americans Saturday in Kennewick, five of their next seven after that will be at home.

Prince George dropped its seventh in a row, 2-1 in Kelowna last night to the Rockets. Lethbridge owns the longest losing streak at 11, which they’ll look to end tomorrow at home to the Portland Winterhawks. In fact, the Hurricanes need to win either tomorrow or Saturday to avoid going 0-for-October. Their last win came September 30 against Calgary.

Swift Current faces Prince Albert tonight in the only Thursday night game. This is the second straight game for the Broncos in PA after they lost in overtime to the Raiders, 5-4, last Friday for their third straight loss. This is the first of three games in three nights for the Broncos, who have a home-and-home with Medicine Hat tomorrow and Saturday. The Raiders have lost three straight since that win over the Broncos and tonight is the start of a four game home stand.

Tomorrow night, the Regina Pats host the Everett Silvertips on pink ice. The Brandt Centre ice surface in Regina got the make-over in preparation for Breast Cancer Awareness night.

[CdnSailor]

Back in Victoria today after spending yesterday at the SHAW Tower in Vancouver. It was my first time doing a WHL on Shaw broadcast in the studio and I can understand if employees there enjoy heading to the office. It's a fantastic structure on West Cordova Street, with a Starbucks at the bottom and I understand a couple Vancouver Canucks such as Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows live in the upper condos. The studio is awesome and it was a great to be in there.

Shaw's game last night featured Saskatoon's 4-1 decision over the Calgary Hitmen. Andrey Makarov, who was recently added to Russia's World Junior Team roster, was terrific in net with 39 saves. He got some help from the iron, especially in the second period. The Hitmen dinged either the cross bar or the goal posts three times, but Makarov shut the door on anything that was headed for the net aside from one that got by him in the third. Saskatoon is an impressive 7-0 at home this season. Calgary has managed to get themselves near the .500 mark of late, but dipped back below with the loss last night.

Also last night, Sven Bartschi returned the Portland line-up after missing six games with a hip injury and scored the winner to help Portland to a 4-2 win in Kamloops in the seventh game of their nine game road trip. Two games left to go for the Winterhawks on this marathon journey and both are against the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Place. Kamloops, meanwhile, saw the end of their four game win streak.

Lethbridge finally got off their losing streak, which had reached 13 games, with a 4-3 shoot-out win over the Everett Silvertips in Lethbridge. After going throug the month of October without a win, the Hurricanes start November on the right foot. The Hurricanes had to fight back from a 3-0 second period deficit. Everett has now lost three games in a row and five of the first seven games of their nine game road trip. They still have to play Kootenay and Spokane before they get back home to take on Prince George next Friday.

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The Victoria Royals are one sleep away from facing the Vancouver Giants at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. The home team has won each of the first four games of the season series, and the Giants have had three of those at home. The teams will hit the quarter pole mark of the season tomorrow and have identical 9-7-0-1 records.

Special teams will be an interesting game within the game for the two contests. The Royals and Giants are close in both categories. Vancouver is sixth on the power play at 23.3% and the Royals are eighth at 22.4%. The Royals have a better penalty kill record, currently 15th overall at 77.6%, just ahead of the Giants 77.0%. It's hardly a surprise that Brendan Gallagher leads the Giants with six power play goals, which is tied for second most in the WHL. The Royals' leading power play sniper, however, may surprise you. Five of defenceman Hayden Rintoul's six goals this season have come on the power play, which leads the Royals in that regard. Rintoul's five power play goals is two more than leading goal-scorers Kevin Sundher and Robin Soudek, and Jamie Crooks, all of which have three on the man-advantage. The Royals have scored three short-handed goals this season from Sundher, Soudek and Steven Hodges, while the Giants have notched four while down a man. Jordan Martinook leads Vancouver with two short-handed goals, while Marek Tvrdon and Dalton Sward have the others.

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Team WHL has added some players to the roster for the 2011 CHL SUBWAY® Super Series, to be played in Regina and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, November 16 and 17. Two Edmonton Oil Kings, two Kelowna Rockets, a Moose Jaw Warrior and Kamloops Blazer have been added to either of the two teams. Everett Silvertips' defenceman and high NHL draft prospect Ryan Murray will not play because of injury for the game in Regina on November 16. The Oil Kings' Griffin Reinhart will take his place, another draft prospect that is high on many radars. Forwards Brett Bulmer and Zach Franko from the Rockets and Colin Smith of the Blazers will also play against Team Russia in the fifth game of the six game series. That is also the game that Royals' forward Kevin Sundher will take part in. Murray is out with a lower body injury and he is expected to be out of the line-up for a month.

The Oil Kings' Michael St. Croix and the Warriors Cody Beach, the current WHL Player of the Week, will suit up the next night in Moose Jaw. With Colin Smith now on the team, the Blazers replace the Silvertips as one of 18 WHL teams to have a player represent them in the SUBWAY® Super Series. Only Calgary, Everett, Lethbridge and Prince George do not have a player that will suit up for Team WHL. It's a shame all teams can't be represented at this event, with all the games broadcast on Sportsnet, but this is far more than an exhibition. The Super Series is part of Hockey Canada's steps to determine its invites to the World Junior team selection camp in December.

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It's not determined yet on how many games the Brandon Wheat Kings will be without one of their leading goal scorers. Darian Dziurzynski, who has nine goals on the season and six in seven games since he joined the Wheat Kings from Saskatoon, is suspended for a charging major he took against Swift Current Tuesday. The league is still reviewing the hit and has not yet made a verdict.

Calgary's Brady Brassert served his one game suspension last night after a check from behind major against Prince Albert Tuesday.

The Royals' Austin Carroll will miss the first game of the Royals' two game set with the Giants after he was called for charging Friday against Seattle. Carroll was handed a two game suspension.

[CdnSailor]

November 07, 2011

The Victoria Royals went through their paces this morning for a mid-week show down with the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, which starts at 7:05pm Tuesday. Tomorrow will be the third game against a Central division rival for the Royals at home after they split two games with Medicine Hat last month. The Royals sit at 10-8-0-1 through 19 games this season, tied with the Vancouver Giants for second in the BC division, three points back of Kamloops. The Royals have gone 2-1-0-1 to start their current seven game home stand.

The Oil Kings will come to town with a 10-5-1-1, but are still only fourth in the deep Central division. The Oil Kings are in their sixth season in the WHL and have never finished above .500, but it appears that won’t be the case this season. The Oil Kings’ 31 wins last season set a team record and they are already a third of the way to getting there this season, with Tuesday the quarter pole mark for the Oil Kings.

The Royals’ leading scorer is easily the hottest in recent play. Kevin Sundher, who is third in WHL scoring with 36 points, has eight goals and 11 points over a four game point streak. Robin Soudek, who is tied with Sundher for the team lead in goals with 13, has a goal in three straight games and eight points over that time.

Edmonton, meanwhile, is led offensively this season by defenceman Martin Gernat. The 18th overall pick in the 2011 CHL Import draft from Slovakia, is an Edmonton Oilers fifth round draft pick this past June. Gernat is a 6’5” blue liner that is another fine piece on a back end that includes Mark Pysyk (1st rnd, Buf, ’10), Keegan Lowe (3rd rnd, CAR, ’11) and Griffin Reinhart. Reinhart is expected to be a high 2012 NHL draft pick.

Michael St. Croix has been the most productive Oil Kings’ player recently, as he currently holds a 10 game point streak. St. Croix has posted four goals and 11 assists over that time. The streak came after St. Croix had started the season without a point in six of the first seven games. He’s a very skilled forward who the NY Rangers drafted in the fourth round this past June. Kristians Pelss, a Latvian forward who the Oil Kings drafted in the 2010 Import Draft, is on a tear with goals in four of his last five games.
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The Victoria Royals got one defenceman back in the line-up last weekend against the Giants with the return of Zach Habscheid. Don’t expect the Royals to have Jesse Pauls back in this weekend. Although he is skating in practice, he still wears the yellow jersey indicating no contact. Pauls has been out of the line-up with an upper body injury and has not played since October 10, a span of 10 games. His return is still a couple weeks away.

As for Tyler Stahl, he hasn’t been on the ice since the head injury he suffered when he took an elbow from the Prince George Cougars’ Charles Inglis.

Up front, Taylor Crunk is on the ice, but like Pauls, Crunk still has a yellow jersey on. Crunk hasn’t played since October 14.

So in other words, nothing has changed on the injury front for the Royals.
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Hunter Shinkaruk of the Medicine Hat Tigers is the WHL’s Player of the Week. The second year star from Calgary posted back-to-back hat-tricks in Tigers’ victories over Everett last Tuesday and in Brandon Saturday. During his current four game point streak, Shinkaruk has seven goals and five assists for 12 points. Shinkaruk’s 18-goals in 19 games this season is already past the 14 he posted in 2010-11 during a very solid rookie campaign for the Tigers.

The WHL nominee for CHL Goalie of the Week is Portland’s Mac Carruth, who 3-0 this past week with a 1.50 goals against average and save percentage of .949.
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Speaking of Tigers’ snipers, the Regina Pats were able to hold Emerson Etem off the scoresheet yesterday in a 4-3 overtime win. The Pats are the first team to do so this season, which ends Etem’s point streak at 17 games and his goal streak at 8, which he has done twice this season. Mark Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings has had a point in each of the Wheat Kings’ first 18 games this season and owns the longest current goal streak, which is at eight. Stone and the Wheat Kings are in Saskatoon tomorrow night. Jordan Weal of the Regina Pats has the longest current assists streak at 7 games, half of Stone’s league high assists streak of 14 games from September 22 – October 29.

Back to the Pats’ victory yesterday over the Tigers, defencemen Brandon Davidson and Brandon Underwood not only had three assists, but they were the assist combo on three of Regina’s four goals, including the game winner by Morgan Klimchuk.
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The Saskatoon Blades are the last perfect team on home ice in the WHL. The Blades are 8-0 at the Credit Union Centre as they head into their division tilt with Brandon tomorrow. The Blades have provided their fans with a bunch of offence at home this season as they have scored at least 4 goals in each of their eight home wins. Matej Stransky has provided the last two game winning goals for the Blades and has four on the season, tied with the Tigers’ Emerson Etem for the league lead.

The Spokane Chiefs suffered their first home loss Saturday against Tri-City with a 4-1 setback. They quickly rebounded by throttling Everett 8-1 yesterday to go to 9-1 at home this season.

Should be a great meeting between the Blades and Wheat Kings tomorrow since Brandon has a 7-3 road record this season. Kamloops’ 6-2 road record gives the Blazers the best win percentage away from home at .750 and the Tigers have the second best road win percentage in the WHL at .722 with a 6-2-1-0 mark.

[CdnSailor]

Back from Vancouver and the WHL on Shaw broadcast last night from Pacific Coliseum. The home rink for the Giants is one of my favourites in the WHL to visit. Giants played very well last night and were full value for their 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. Bill Wilms, who handles color commentary duties for many of Shaw’s broadcasts, had the perfect description of Giants’ goaltender Adam Morrison’s night for the Giants; very efficient. Morrison faced 23 shots, including a number of good Oil Kings scoring chances. But he never got himself into trouble, with strong clearance of the puck from around the Giants goal.

Good to see Taylor Makin have a solid game for the Giants. Makin spent the past two seasons with the Prince George Cougars while I was there. The 19-year-old from Blairmore, Alberta, posted his first 3 assist game in the WHL and first three point game since December 2009. He’s a great young man and I’m glad I got a chance to catch up with him for a few moments after the game. Nice to see he landed on his feet in Vancouver after the Cougars released him early this season.

Brendan Gallagher didn’t get a point in the game, but was still unbelievable. You know what you’re going to get with Gallagher shift in-shift out. He’s one of the hardest working players I’ve ever seen and it’s easy to lose count on how many races and battles he wins. It would seem he would be a lock for Team Canada at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton and Calgary. Giants Head Coach Don Hay, who will coach Team Canada in Alberta, raved about Gallagher’s game in an interview I did with him prior to puck drop last night.

This will be Hay’s second time coaching Team Canada at the World Junior’s and he’s got quite a standard to meet after his first time through with the program. Hay led Canada to a 7-and-0 record when the event was held in Red Deer in 1995. That took place during the NHL lock-out, which gave Hay a phenomenal team to work with. Team Canada’s 1995 entry included up front Ryan Smyth, Jason Allison, Jeff O’Neill, Darcy Tucker and Eric Daze. On defence, Canada had Bryan McCabe, Wade Redden and Ed Jovanovski. Dan Cloutier and Jamie Storr were the goaltenders.

As for the Oil Kings last night, only one goal after lighting up the Royals for eight on Tuesday. Michael St. Croix extended his point streak to 12 with an assist on a goal from Griffin Reinhart in the second period. 12 games is now the longest current streak in the WHL, which is shared by Regina’s Jordan Weal. Weal has six goals and 11 assists during the streak and has a chance to make it 13 games tonight with the Pats at home to Moose Jaw. The Warriors have quietly won their last five games, while the Pats have alternated wins and losses over their last seven games, going 4-and-3.

I’m headed back to Vancouver tomorrow night for the Seattle Thunderbirds and Calgary Hitmen showdown on Shaw, which starts at 6:00pm pacific time.
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The CHL SUBWAY® Super Series resumes tonight with Team OHL trying to get the CHL teams on the board. For the second straight year, Team Russia took both games against Team QMJHL after a 5-4 shoot-out win last night in Quebec City. The Russians opened the six-game series with a 2-0 victory Monday in Victoriaville. Ottawa and Sault Ste. Marie play host to games 3 and 4. The OHL has dominated this series, going 18-0 against the Russian squad.

There was a roster change for Team WHL for the sixth and final game of the SUBWAY® Super Series in Moose Jaw next Thursday. Ryan Pulock, a 17-year-old defenceman from the Brandon Wheat Kings, will replace Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Morgan Reilly, who is forced out of playing because of a lower body injury that is expected to sideline Reilly for a month. Pulock leads all WHL defencemen in scoring with 22 points (6G-16A) and because of an October birthday, will not be eligible for the NHL draft until 2013. He was among the top 16-year-old point producers last season with 42 points (8G-34A). He was a 7th round pick of the Wheat Kings in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft and I’d be curious to see where he would stack up with Matt Dumba, Griffin Reinhart, Ryan Murray, Derrick Pouliot and Reilly if he was eligible for the ’12 NHL Draft.

Regina will host the fifth game of the series on Wednesday, which will see Royals’ forward Kevin Sundher.
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Speaking of Sundher, the Royals’ leading point producer left Tuesday’s game against Edmonton in the second period and did not return. Sundher crashed into the boards and was down on the ice for a while. Not much has been said about the injury, but Head Coach Marc Habscheid told Victoria media today that Sundher is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and that’s about it. Sundher did not practice today, but day-to-day is promising, you would think. The team has not confirmed what his playing status is for this weekend when the Royals host Red Deer Saturday and Sunday.

Sundher, when he does get back in the line-up, is poised to go past Ryan Howse as the all-time leader in Victoria Royals’/Chilliwack Bruins’ career scoring. Sundher is at 213 career WHL points (81G-132A); four points off Howse’s all time record of 217. Sundher surpassed Mark Santorelli’s assists record of 127 on October 22 in Kelowna.
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18-year-old Logan Nelson got out of a scoring funk Tuesday for the Royals’ with a goal and an assist against Edmonton. Those two points ended a four-game drought for Nelson, whose last point came in Spokane October 26. Lukas Kralik also got on the scoresheet for the first time in a while. Kralik earned an assist Tuesday after no points in the previous seven games. Meanwhile, Brandon Magee got another assist, which gives him six in the last five games. Since he returned from a lower body injury that kept him out of the line-up for six games, Magee has seven assists in nine games.
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The Red Deer Rebels will come to town this weekend with four straight wins, with the last two to kick off a six game road trip. Tomorrow they face the Kamloops Blazers at 2:00pm, and then come to Victoria for back-to-back games. The Rebels are 12-4-0-1 and their .735 win percentage is the best in the league. On the way to the Pacific Coliseum yesterday, WHL on Shaw Producer Grant Wilkins and I talked about how good the Rebels would be if they had you-know-who back; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Also keep in mind that Byron Froese could have been back as a 20-year-old this season. Froese had 43 goals last season and 81 points for the Rebels a season ago and is in the WHL media guide for the Rebels projected line-up for this season. However, the 4th round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2009 is with the Hawks’ AHL team, the Rockford IceHogs. Froese has been held without a point in eight games with Rockford.

19-year-old John Persson of Sweden leads the Rebels in scoring this season with eight goals and 20 points, including a goal last night in the Rebels' 6-4 win in Kelowna. Defensively, the Rebels have been very good, tied with Kootenay for second in fewest goals allowed with 42. Spokane has allowed 36 A strong defence unit with sure-fire first round pick Matt Dumba on the blue-line, but the story has also been Patrik Bartosak. The Rebels took Bartosak 59th overall in the CHL Import Draft and the rookie from the Czech Republic has gone 12-3-0-0 with a 2.04 goals against average and .934 save percentage, both stats ranked third overall among WHL goaltenders. He's filled in admirably in the shoes of Darcy Kuemper, the 2010-11 WHL Player of the Year and CHL Goalie of the Year.

[CdnSailor]

Team Pacific’s roster was announced this morning for the 2012 World Under-17 Challenge in Windsor, Ontario, and Royals’ defenceman Keegan Kanzig will suit up for the squad. The tournament runs December 29 – January 4, 2012. Kanzig was the Chilliwack Bruins first round pick in 2010, going 7th overall. The towering defenceman is 6’5”, 229 pounds and has been a constant in the Royals’ line-up after not playing in the club’s first two regular season games. In 20 games this season, Kanzig has 36 penalty minutes on the season and is at -3 in the +/- category, which is a stat that often looks much worse for 16-year-old defencemen.

Team Pacific earned a bronze medal last year in Winnipeg and Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, with Royals’ forwards Steven Hodges and Brandon Magee in the line-up. Magee was the hero of their bronze medal game victory over Team Quebec when he scored the overtime winner. Kevin Sundher, meanwhile, played for Team Pacific in 2009 in Port Alberni. It was a silver medal performance for the host region that year, but Team Pacific has never won the event. Maybe this will be the year in Windsor.
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Kanzig is the lone Royals’ player to take part in the World U-17 event this season, with no Royals selected for Team West. It would not be a surprise at all next year if the Royals send two, if not three, players to the 2013 event. Defencemen Joe Hicketts and Ryan Gagnon, along with Michael Bell, would certainly be players that would get a long look at playing for Team Pacific, a squad of 11 players from Alberta and BC, each. All three played for Team BC at the Western Canadian Under-16 tournament in Moose Jaw and earned a bronze medal.

The Prince George Cougars and Kootenay Ice led the way with four selections each for the World Under-17 Challenge for Team Pacific and Team West. Both squads were announced today.
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Royals’ leading scorer Kevin Sundher is in Regina now and will suit up for Team WHL for the CHL SUBWAY® Super Series tomorrow night. Sundher leads the Royals with 13 goals and 36 points in 20 games, but missed both games against Red Deer on the weekend with an upper body injury. Good news, he’s been cleared to play tomorrow. The advantage Sundher has playing in Victoria is that he gets to play in front of Team Canada World Junior Coach Don Hay and Assistant Coach Ryan Huska. Six meetings already with Hay’s Vancouver Giants and three goals and seven points for Sundher in those games, with another match-up coming Friday in Vancouver. Sundher also has a goal and seven assists in only three games against Huska’s Kelowna Rockets. Sundher now gets a shot to really put a stamp on at least getting an invite to Canada’s World Junior selection camp, which runs December 11-13 in Calgary.

Sundher comes back to Victoria Thursday and will be ready to go for the Royals’ games against Vancouver Friday and at home against Kootenay Saturday. That means three games in four nights for Sundher.
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Another switch to the Team WHL roster today. Joel Edmundson of the Moose Jaw Warriors will take the spot of injured defenceman Griffin Reinhart for Thursday’s game in Moose Jaw. Edmundson started the year with an ankle injury while with the St. Louis Blues at their training camp. Edmundson was selected by the Blues in the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. The Warriors now have four players that will hit the ice for the final game of the series at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw Thursday.

Team WHL will try to re-claim the series for the CHL squads after they lost last year for the first time to Team Russia. Ontario, like they have every year, won both games to tie the series at two wins a piece. The Russians won both games against Team WHL last year and the series is up for grabs with the next two games in Southern Saskatchewan.
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Back to Royals’ injuries, forward Taylor Crunk and defenceman Jesse Pauls are getting very close to a return to the line-up. Both are day-to-day with upper body injuries. Pauls has been out of the line-up since October 10 and Crunk hasn’t played since October 14. The good news for the Royals is there has been no yellow jersey sighting at practice this week for non-contact.
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Brandon Magee has been the hottest of all Royals’ players statistically lately. The Edmonton, Alberta, product, in his second WHL season, has a four game point streak, with three goals and four assists in that time. Magee missed six games earlier this season with a lower body injury and has played 11 games since his return and has really turned it up a notch over the last seven games. Magee started the season with a four game point streak before he was injured in his fifth game in Kamloops on October 2.

Steven Hodges has scored a goal in back-to-back games, Austin Carroll has a goal and an assist in the last two games and Robin Soudek has three assists in the last pair of games. Mike Forsyth also has a two game assist streak, with an assist in each of the last two outings, which came against Red Deer on the weekend.
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Couple days left in Victoria before I head to Brandon Thursday for the WHL on Shaw broadcast Friday. I’ve been looking forward to this game for a couple weeks now between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Wheat Kings with the league’s top two scorers facing off. Emerson Etem for the Tigers leads the league with 25 goals in 21 games and is second in points with 44. Tigers’ 17-year-old forward Hunter Shinkaruk is second in goals with 21 in 22 games. Mark Stone, who had 106 points last season, is on pace right now for 150, but will miss a chunk of time for the Wheat Kings with Canada’s Junior Team (assuming he makes both the selection camp and final roster.). Stone leads the league with 27 assists and 46 points. Both teams are in the chase for division crowns in the East and Central divisions and it should be a great show-down Friday. The Tigers have won both games between the two this season by scores of 5-2 and 4-3 in overtime. The latter happened on November 5 in Brandon