Kelowna at Victoria Nov 29/30

[pontcanna]

Red-hot Blazers burn Royals again

By Cleve Dheensaw, timescolonist.com November 29, 2011 10:27 PM

Not even the B.C. Lions’ flag that mascot Marty the Marmot skated out with at the start of Tuesday night’s Western Hockey League game could provide the requisite inspiration for the home side.

The Victoria Royals (11-15-1) slid to their fifth consecutive loss, and eighth in nine games, after a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Kamloops Blazers (17-7-1) before an announced crowd of 4,400 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

The Royals were not necessarily deserving losers on this night against the team with the best winning percentage in the B.C. Division, but suffered the kind of defeat that happens to a team when the puck just isn’t sliding its way.

“It’s frustrating,” said Royals GM and head coach Marc Habscheid. “I felt we played a pretty good game. But we need a save and need a break going the other way.”

The Royals’ perhaps fragile psyche wasn’t helped when an own goal, awarded to Chase Schaber, glanced in off the skate blade of Victoria defenceman Jesse Pauls at 9:52 of the first period.

Jamie Crooks’ 11th goal of the season, his 100th career WHL point, at 14:48 was much needed on several levels by Victoria.

The undrafted Schaber, a free-agent invitee to Edmonton Oilers training camp this fall, again pulled Kamloops into the lead with a power-play goal at 7:31 of the second period.

But Victoria rearguard Pauls, an effective performer of late, answered by deftly moving the puck low from the blue line and setting up Crooks at 12:08 to tie it 2-2.

Royals forward Kevin Sundher picked up the second assist on the goal to become the franchise leader in career points with 218 to surpass American Hockey League pro Ryan Howse’s previous franchise standard of 217 points from when the six-year-old team was located in Chilliwack.

But Schaber’s big night continued with his hat-trick goal on a breakaway at 5:33 of the third period to make it 3-2. Brendan Ranford, a seventh-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, recorded his fourth assist of the night on the play.

The Royals pressed but JC Lipon’s rather quiet against-the-grain goal at 14:54 proved the winner. Victoria forward Logan Nelson counted at 15:55 to close out the scoring on an assist from Sundher.

“We played hard but got some bad breaks,” said two-goal Royals scorer Crooks.

“I thought it would come tonight. It’s tough in a slump like this when you can’t get the breaks. There were a few lulls in the game that we need to clean up.”

The game ended with some theatrics, with Kamloops shorthanded for the final 1:29 of the third period and Victoria pulling goaltender Keith Hamilton for a two-man advantage.

The Royals, however, ended the evening 0-3 on the power play, while the Blazers were 1-4.

“We’re not helping ourselves and moved the puck into traffic many times [on the power play],” noted Habscheid. “That is [about] reads. Individually, there are some guys who can bring a little bit more.”

But there were flashes of promise on a lost night.

“For the most part, that was a better game,” said Habscheid.

Both goaltenders — Hamilton of Victoria and Cole Cheveldave of Kamloops — made 26 saves. There was only a narrow difference in the game but in the end, it was a not-in-top-form Kamloops squad almost soundlessly sneaking away with two points.

“We’re working our way to coming out of it [losing streak],” said Crooks, selected second star of the game behind Schaber and ahead of third-star Ranford.

The two teams go at it again tonight at 7 in the Memorial Centre.

[CdnSailor]

Sundher becomes franchise’s all-time point leader in 4-3 loss to Kamloops.

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Victoria, BC – In a Tuesday night affair at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Royals faced off against the visiting Kamloops Blazers in the first of a two-game series. Victoria gave Keith Hamilton the start in net while Kamloops countered with Cole Cheveldave.

The scoring opened at 9:52 of the first period when Kamloops Blazers’ forward Chase Schaber threw the puck towards the front of the net, the pass redirected off a Royals’ skate and into the back of the net. Victoria responded at 14:48 of the frame to knot the game at one. Logan Nelson took a shot on the left side of the Blazers’ goaltender who kicked the rebound out into the slot. The puck came to Jamie Crooks who wristed home his 11th of the year over the right pad of Cheveldave. Both teams exchanged power plays late in the first but were unable to capitalize leaving the score at 1-1 after 20 minutes.

The second period began with a series of penalties for both teams. While on the power play the Blazers’ Brendan Ranford carried the puck through the Royals’ zone before sending a cross-ice feed to Schaber, who hammered in a one-timer past Hamilton. At 12:08 of the second, the Royals equaled the score when Jesse Pauls skated down the right side and feathered a backhand on net that was kicked aside by Cheveldave. The rebound came straight out front to Crooks who shoveled in his second of the night past a large crowd in front. Kevin Sundher picked up the second assist on the play and with that point claimed top spot in Royals/Bruins’ franchise all time scoring. The score was 2-2 after two periods.

At 5:33 of the third, the Blazers’ Schaber broke in alone on the left side and slipped a backhand through the legs of Hamilton to take a 3-2 lead. The goal was Schaber’s third of the night. J.C. Lipon then picked up a loose puck on the Royals’ side boards, deked past the Royals’ defender and snapped a shot over the glove side of Hamilton to extend Kamloops’ lead to two. Less than a minute later on a face off in the Blazers’ zone, Logan Nelson stole the puck off the draw at the hash marks, slipped past the defensemen and went upstairs with a backhand to bring Victoria within a goal. Late in the third the Royals were awarded a power play when Sundher was interfered with in the offensive zone. With 90 seconds left to play, the Royals pulled Hamilton for a 6-on-4 advantage. Victoria pressed hard for the tying goal and had several quality scoring chances, but were unable to find the equalizer. Blazers 4 Royals 3

Victoria went 0/3= 0.0% on the power play, while Kamloops was 1/4= 25.0%. The Blazers outshot the Royals 30-29.

The Royals finish up their two-game set with the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday night in Victoria, BC. Game time is at 7:05 p.m. Victoria will then head back on the road for a pair of weekend games against the Kelowna Rockets on Friday Dec 2nd, and the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday Dec 3rd. Game time for Friday is 7:05, followed by 7:00 start on Saturday. For further details or to purchase your tickets today, visit the Victoria Royals Ticket Office, www.victoriaroyals.com, or call 250-220-7889.

[fatshad]

I cant believe that forwards Kevin Sundher of the Royals , Jordan Weal of the Pats and the best goaltender in the Dub Calvin Pickard were left off the list for this camp. It is a tryout camp so what bloody difference does it make if there are 44 players there as opposed to 41. What a slap in the face ! Mark McNeil who was picked by the Blackhawks in last years draft ( 1rst round ) was supposed to be a big leader for the Raiders and dominate point wise. Mark and the Raiders have been struggling from the get go ! Meanwhile Sundher and Weal have been leaders and having great years. Sundher for example has 42 points to McNeils 21 ! Ouch !! Once again Hockey politics and BS shows its ugly head !!!!

Continue to have great seasons Kevin , Jordan and Calvin.

Go Canada Go !!!

[fatshad]

Royals need to find a 20 year old stay at home defenseman like Einhorn was for Chilliwack last year. Kanzig needs some seasoning in Junior A . He cannot skate well enough yet for this league. There has got to be a good d-man in the USHL or jr A somewhere that that has decent size and can play well in his own zone.

[CdnSailor]

Kamloops at Victoria 29 Nov 11
4 3
Game Highlights

Chek TV
http://youtu.be/xedV9_EDnyg

A Channel News
http://youtu.be/ey1wbyIl-FQ


Attendance
4400

SCORING 1 2 3 Total
Kamloops Blazers 1 1 2 4
Victoria Royals 1 1 1 3


SHOTS 1 2 3 Total
Kamloops Blazers 10 11 9 30
Victoria Royals 9 10 10 29


3 Stars
1. KAM - 10 Chase Schaber
2. VIC - 15 Jamie Crooks
3. KAM - 19 Brendan Ranford


Game Summary
http://www.whl.ca/schedule/show/game/59680

[pontcanna]

Based on the first period, I was expecting another 8-2 home debacle. But Habby must have lit a fuse under 'em during the intermission, cause there was a burst of the Royals we knew from October and we had a game on our hands. I still rue the habit of this team to get caught flatfooted on the first few shifts of any period. That we had so many terrible mistakes and damn near won the game is remarkable. I doubt the Blazers were happy with the way things went after they seemed to have the game in hand, but it made for good entertainment all the way around. Sundher played a fine game, Jones is improving by leaps and bounds...they seem to be playing their way out of the slump, but it's going to be tough pulling out a couple of wins on the trot while on the road. From my section the OT penalty looked lame and 4 on 3's are notoriously difficult to defend. Another Tuesday/Wednesday home double header next week. Ick.

[pontcanna]

Blazers burn Royals in OT

By Cleve Dheensaw, timescolonist.com November 30, 2011 10:35 PM

A five-game Western Hockey League losing skid became a six-game winless streak for the Victoria Royals on Wednesday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Semantics? Maybe. But when a team is struggling, that’s at least something and little things matter.

“We got a point . . . we haven’t had one of those in awhile,” said Royals forward Kevin Sundher, after he scored two goals in the Kamloops’ Blazers 6-5 overtime victory against the hosts before 4,612 fans.

The game was decided on a borderline penalty call against Victoria defenceman Jesse Pauls in overtime as Blazers forward Chase Schaber took advantage for the winning goal at 2:30 of extra time.

“That’s a tough call in overtime,” said Royals head coach Marc Habscheid, who wasn’t happy with it.

“It was a game changer.”

Three Victoria turnovers equated to a 3-1 Kamloops lead after the first period as Colin Smith, Matt Needham and Landon Cross took advantage of glaring Royals’ miscues.

The opening period was punctuated by Victoria captain Hayden Rintoul’s bullet power-play goal from the point.

“Our starts haven’t been very good,” said Sundher.

“But we played well in the second and third periods. I thought we outplayed them, to be honest.”

The second period opened with Sundher showing why he was a third-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2010. His 17th goal of the season pulled Victoria to within one at 1:34 of the second period then he lit up the crowd with an electric 18th goal at 6:16.

Royals forward Steven Hodges made it 4-3 at 14:30 of the second period but the Blazers tied it moments later through Chase Souto.

Then yet another Victoria defensive-zone giveaway allowed Tim Bozon to put Kamloops ahead 5-4 just 32 seconds into the third period. Zane Jones, this time on a Kamloops turnover, got that back with a short-handed goal for the Royals at 3:51.

Victoria forward Logan Nelson had a fine outing with four assists.

“We had a bad first period but bounced back in the second and third periods,” he said. “We have to keep our heads up and keep thinking of the upside.”

Habscheid echoed those same thoughts.

“At least we got a point and broke that streak,” said the Royals boss.

“Our first period was horrendous but the last two periods were pretty good. Structurally, we’ve been a much better team than we have been over the past two weeks. It’s coming.”

B.C. Division-leading Kamloops (18-7-1) is 4-0 against Victoria (11-15-2) on the season and having a strong showing after missing the playoffs last season.

“We have a good team,” said Blazers team president Tom Gaglardi, who last week purchased the Dallas Stars of the NHL.

“When I came in in 2007, we decided to rebuild. It was a painful process but now we’re seeing the results of that. I like our team.”

Habscheid knows he has a young team that could be framing to such a turnaround in the years ahead.

“Championships are built through adversity,” he said. “You have to go through times like this in order to win.”

[CdnSailor]

Kamloops at Victoria 29 Nov 11
6 5 (OT)

Game Highlights

A Channel News
http://youtube.com/#/watch?v=fhLhuilCOHg

Chek TV
http://youtube.com/#/watch?v=x0SHTN2TCK4


Attendance
4612

SCORING 1 2 3 OT Total
Kamloops Blazers 3 1 1 1 6
Victoria Royals 1 3 1 0 5

SHOTS 1 2 3 OT Total
Kamloops Blazers 13 5 8 4 30
Victoria Royals 5 12 12 1 30

3 Stars
1. VIC - 9 Kevin Sundher
2. KAM - 15 Tim Bozon
3. VIC - 19 Logan Nelson

Game Summary
http://www.whl.ca/schedule/show/game/59687

[50sWHLer]

Props to Referee Ryan Benbow for gaving the Gonads to call the vicious Slashing Penalty in OT.

Habshied said that - " It was a tough call in overtime", -- By now he's got to be aware that a penalty should be a penalty whether in Regulation Time or Extra time.

-- Dheensaw said that " It was a marginal call" !! --- Check the replay video, and see if you think it was marginal-

[the Royal Flush]

he chopped him down like a tree...it was definitely a penalty...