Calgary Hitmen at Victoria Royals 03 Jan 12

[CdnSailor]

at

As the New Year begins for everyone around us maybe there is a new hope in store for the Royals. After starting off to a roaring beginning the Royals have slowly dropped to last position in the Western Conference (8th).

Victoria and Calgary play twice this season with both times in Victoria.
Both teams are 4th in their division and 8th in their conference.

Calgary Hitmen 38 19 16 2 1 = 41 PTS 2-0-0-0 STK 4-5-1-0 P10 717 PIM

Victoria Royals 39 13 22 2 2 = 30 PTS 0-4-1-1 STK 1-7-1-1 P10 690 PIM

Here is a few pictures of our new board. Apparently it will be replaced again in July with something else.

[The Wheatiemaniac]

You're still 10 points up on them. You're not in last place.

[CdnSailor]

You're still 10 points up on them. You're not in last place.

8th spot with PG on our heals knipping away

[The Wheatiemaniac]

8th spot with PG on our heals knipping away

you mentioned that Curtis Honey was traded already and he knew. Where to, for who, and where did you get the info? Because nothing here is pointing to anyone being traded.

[fatshad]

If the Royals would have filled there last 20 year old spot with a solid defensive defenseman when it was apparent that Gogol was not coming back they would not be in this situation. This dman would have ate up a lot of valuable minutes that are currently going to 16 and 17 year old dmen that are being thrown in the fire and rushed way to fast !!

[The Wheatiemaniac]

If the Royals would have filled there last 20 year old spot with a solid defensive defenseman when it was apparent that Gogol was not coming back they would not be in this situation. This dman would have ate up a lot of valuable minutes that are currently going to 16 and 17 year old dmen that are being thrown in the fire and rushed way to fast !!

You will be in the playoffs. PG will do their usual disappearing act. But we sure need a guy like Sundher. We have prospects that are promising and one is right from Victoria. I would love to see Sundher centering our top line.

[pontcanna]

Glover aims to be hit at home

19-year-old Saanich product making his mark as Calgary Hitmen goaltender

BY MARIO ANNICCHIARICO, TIMES COLONIST JANUARY 2, 2012 11:10 PM

Brandon Glover is itching for the opportunity to slide between the pipes tonight as the Calgary Hitmen come calling on the Victoria Royals.

It’s been a while since the Saanich product has played in a game before friends and family and the 19-year-old is hoping for that chance against the Royals at 7 p.m.

“The only time I’ve actually played in Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre is in the playoffs, of ball hockey,” Glover said with a chuckle. “It’ll be different to be on the ice there in front of everyone.

“I don’t think anyone has seen me play at this level before, outside of my closest family and friends,” added Glover, who drew starting assignments in a

3-1 loss in Prince George last Wednesday and came back two days later with a 6-3 win in Kamloops, where the Blazers rarely lose.

Goaltending partner Chris Driedger won 2-0 in Kelowna on Sunday, so where the Hitmen turn tonight is unknown. Either way, Glover is happy with his recent performances.

“I feel pretty good about where my game is right now. I feel comfortable and I’m trying to build off that,” said Glover, the Western Hockey League goaltender of month in November in which he posted a 6-1 record. That included a solid 1.96 goals-against average and .933 save percentage during the month.

Having returned home to Victoria for Christmas for seven days, the former South Island Thunderbird — who was a B.C. Major Midget Hockey League all-star back in 2009 — headed back to Calgary before the Hitmen set out on a five-game road trip.

“It’s going to be different, for sure,” he said of playing in Victoria, where his parents Rod and Ellen will be among the crowd, along with younger brother Cole, the captain of this year’s Thunderbirds, who leads the team in scoring. “It’s going to be exciting. I saw my family at the Christmas break and a lot of my friends said they were coming to see me play.”

Glover is 9-8 so far this season with a 3.20 goals-against-average and an .880 save percentage. He came to the Hitmen in a trade after he left the Moose Jaw Warriors’ organization and was briefly sent to Cowichan Valley of the B.C. Hockey League.

“I’ve had a good season so far, I’ve improved a lot from last year,” he said. “I’ve had stretches where I’ve played very well, tried to find some consistency in my game and lately I’ve been doing that.”

More so than the competition he could face tonight as the Royals return home on a six-game losing streak, hoping to turn it around.

“We can’t be accepting losses. We’ve lost too much,” said Royals’ leading scorer Kevin Sundher. “I think it’s enough and we have to do something about it. We’re working hard on and off the ice to make sure we’re ready. I know we’re going to be ready to compete the next game.

“We’re not liking the way things are going right now,” Sundher added of the string of defeats. “Our record isn’t where we like it.”

GAME NOTES: The new video replay screen is expected to be in use tonight with several players confirming the high-definition eight-sided monitors were in operation on Sunday.

[pontcanna]

Excruciatingly dull and sloppy. I can't remember a game with 13 goals so lacking in interest, even allowing for a couple of fights. The Royals now own full patent rights to slow starts (2-0 in less than 3 minutes when you haven't played at home in a month is a sin). Rathjen made a couple of nice glove saves but couldn't save anything else and he was hung out to dry on countless occasions.

On the upside the video display was nice and my wife's Android phone streamed the exciting final period of the World Junior game rather well.

[pontcanna]

Hitmen stay hot at Royals' expense


BY MARIO ANNICCHIARICO, TIMESCOLONIST.COM JANUARY 3, 2012 10:28 PM

A message declaring “Game days just got even better” stretched across the swank new video screens that help keep fans entertained at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

That’s more than you can say for the Victoria Royals, who baptized their new scoreboard screens with a 9-4 thumping by the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Tuesday night — the seventh straight loss for Victoria.

“Not to make excuses, but it just seems that that first game back from a road trip is always and adventure and this was an adventure,” Royals head coach Marc Habscheid said of what is now his team’s longest losing skid of the season. “We just didn’t have energy tonight. We were a step behind, made mistakes and they took advantage of it.”

Having the errors enlarged on the giant screens above the scoreboard only enhanced how bad the Royals have been defensively, especially in opening periods. The team has now been outscored in first periods this season by a staggering 72-38 mark, falling behind 4-1 after 20 minutes against Calgary.
It was a performance unworthy of stage or screen.

“We’ve talked about it. We get on our heels and go from there. Our first periods haven’t been good to us, for sure,” added Habscheid.

Chase Clayton got the Hitmen going early, burying a rebound after a Kenton Helgesen breakaway was initially stopped by Royals netminder Jared Rathjen at 3:04. Cody Sylvester made it 2-0 just 16 seconds later.

Logan Nelson replied on a Victoria power play at 7:39, but Jimmy Bubnick finished off a sweet passing play on a Calgary man advantage at 13:15. Joe Kornelsan bagged the fourth on a wild scramble with 12.5 seconds to go on another messy night defensively, following a 7-6 Royals’ defeat in Portland on Friday.

“It’s getting very frustrating and I don’t think we’re giving ourselves a chance to win games,” said Royals captain Hayden Rintoul.

Meanwhile, the Hitmen claimed their third straight win on the road with Victoria native Brandon Glover collecting the victory in net, playing before boisterous friends and family. They were especially happy after he collected an assist on one of the goals.

Fans were kept entertained by the impressive screens with cameras catching them during breaks in play. Replays were also a hit for the announced crowd of 5,204.

The Royals also switched over to the final 24.2 seconds of the Canada vs. Russia world junior semifinal after their second period ended. It brought on cheers of “Let’s go Canada,” throughout the arena.

But on the ice, Calgary received three goals from Clayton, two from Bubnick and singles from Brady Brassart and Alex Gogolev. Nelson had three for Victoria as the Royals rookie now leads the league in scoring among first-year players with 39 points. A positive to take out of the result.

Zane Jones had the other and Victoria’s Kevin Sundher, expected to be traded by the WHL deadline next Tuesday, extended his point-scoring streak to 10 games with an assist. But the last time the Royals won was back on Dec. 9 against Lethbridge. They still gave up five goals that night and have now allowed a league worst 203 this season.

Victoria remains three points behind Kelowna for seventh in the Western Conference and play host to those Rockets on Friday and Saturday. They also have the Prince George Cougars clawing at their backsides, just two points in arrears, but with two games in hand.

[the Royal Flush]

ouch...that hurt...