Royals vs. Winterhawks March 14 & 16

[pontcanna]

at


Royals ready for high-flying 'Hawks

BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMESCOLONIST.COM MARCH 13, 2012 10:02 PM

Perhaps it’s only appropriate the Victoria Royals’ season comes down to a final home stand against the Portland Winterhawks.

The Winterhawks provided among the liveliest rivalries in the 23 seasons the Victoria Cougars played in the Western Hockey League and they make their first visit to Blanshard Street today in 18 years.

The contrast between the Winterhawks and Royals couldn’t be more stark heading into the two-game showdown at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. Tonight’s game is sold out and Friday night’s is approaching sellout status.

While the set is crucial for Victoria (22-41-7) just to make the playoffs, Portland (48-17-4) is playing for first seed overall in the Western Conference and trails Tri-City by one point in that quest.

While the Winterhawks are the only team in the WHL to have scored more than 300 goals this season, the Royals are the only team to have allowed more than 300.

On paper, this match-up is clearly one-sided, even with the Winterhawks suddenly missing Sven Bartschi’s 94 points, recorded in just 47 games this season. The Swiss import, selected 13th overall in the first round of last year’s NHL draft, was called up to the Calgary Flames last week and has two goals in his first three NHL games.

“He can be airlifted back [to the Winterhawks] at anytime,” cautioned Royals GM and head coach Marc Habscheid.

And the Winterhawks have so many other weapons that even the loss of Bartschi won’t slow down this outfit.

“We want to make sure with our young group that we play a team game,” said Habscheid.

“When you do that, funny things happen. They [Winterhawks] are a really good opponent, but it doesn’t matter. We have to find a way to win. These kinds of situations are why you get involved in sports. The gut is turning, you can’t sleep and you’re excited to get the games going.”

The Royals hold down the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference.

Asked if he’s into keeping track of magic numbers and the like, Habscheid chuckled: “I failed math. It was optional in Saskatchewan. I worry about winning games.”

In other words, win and the magic numbers take care of themselves.

The Royals received bad news Tuesday night as ninth-place Seattle upset the Spokane Chiefs 3-1 to move to within one point of Victoria. The Thunderbirds have three games remaining to the Royals’ two. The 10th-place Prince George Cougars also upset Tri-City 5-4 in overtime to move to within three points of Victoria with two games left. Seventh-place Everett is one point ahead of Victoria with three games remaining.

Meanwhile, Royals captain Hayden Rintoul knows the Winterhawks well from meeting them in the WHL final last year as a member of the league-champion Kootenay Ice.

“The Winterhawks are really skilled and you have to play really simple and be defensive against them,” said Rintoul.

“We have to give it everything we’ve got. There is nothing left to save it for.”

Habscheid said Tuesday he had yet to decide on tonight’s starter in goal. Keith Hamilton of the Royals played as back-up goalie with the Winterhawks last season and knows them well.

“They have many really Grade A skilled offensive players and you have to be ready for them because they come in waves of attack and can score pretty much as well as anyone in the league,” said Hamilton.

Pressure? The Royals players say they know it well by now.

“Every game down the stretch has been like a playoff atmosphere for us,” said Victoria forward Brandon Magee.

“I haven’t done the math. All I know is that we’re in a playoff spot right now and hope to stay there. One win against Portland will have us sitting fairly well and two wins would be ideal.”

Magee, however, knows what the form chart says about this Victoria-Portland set.

“They [Winterhawks] have a highly-skilled team that can score.” he noted.

“We have to put the puck in dirty areas of the ice and outwork them there.”

[the Royal Flush]

we hated Portland in the 70's and 80's and it will continue starting tonight...

[pontcanna]

Wow, that was as close to a Miracle on Ice as we're likely to see here for quite some time...the tension at the end was unbearable and the "dings" of Portland shots off the posts made home supporters feel as if this win was meant to be. My partner in crime pointed out several times that the entire Portland bench was seated for most of the night whereas the Royals were up, not missing a thing. Though we couldn't match Portland for quality, we had the desperation and commitment, especially around our own net. Jones was a beast for the first time in many games - his penalty near the end seemed like a Winterhawk dive to me and I agree with his #1 star rating - Hamilton should have been recognised as well.

'Tips losing tonight in K-Town is a positive...but it's still a complex formula with Seattle playing three in three nights beginning Friday. I'll make sure the CrackBerry is fully charged for Friday, as the scoreboard on the whl.ca website will be carrying important news.

The emotion of this game was so overwhelming that I wonder what we'll have on Friday - I'm VERY glad that for once we don't have to go straight back at them tomorrow night.

[CdnSailor]

4 3

What a heck of a nail bitter this evening. I think there was 4 goal posts hit in a matter of minutes by the WinterHawks in the third.
Boys did well. Everett lost placing the Royals back in 7th place.

SCORING 1 2 3 Total
Portland Winterhawks 2 0 1 3
Victoria Royals 1 2 1 4

SHOTS 1 2 3 Total
Portland Winterhawks 11 11 13 35
Victoria Royals 8 9 2 19

3 Stars
1. VIC - 14 Zane Jones
2. VIC - 11 Steven Hodges
3. POR - 8 Ty Rattie

Attendance
7006 (did not look like a sell out though)

Game Summary
http://www.whl.ca/schedule/show/game/60159

[CdnSailor]

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

VICTORIA, BC – In a Wednesday night matchup in front of a sold-out crowd at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Royals faced off against the Portland Winterhawks in the first of a two-game set. In net for the Royals was Keith Hamilton while Portland gave the nod to Mac Carruth.

Victoria opened the scoring on the powerplay after Ben Walker and Zane Jones played give-and-go behind the Winterhawks’ net. Jones then dished the puck to Austin Carroll in front who shoveled home his eighth goal of the season at 4:45. Portland made it 1-1 following a turnover in the Royals’ zone which landed on the stick of Ty Rattie. Portland’s forward made a quick move to his right and slipped the puck through the legs of Hamilton. The Winterhawks would add to their lead just 19 seconds later when Taylor Leier collected his own rebound and poked the puck up over the right shoulder of Hamilton. After 20 minutes the WInterhawks led 2-1.

Victoria made it 2-2 on an individual effort when Steven Hodges stickhandled his way through the offensive zone and fired a backhand on net. Jamie Crooks jumped on the rebound and slapped the loose puck short side and over the right shoulder of Carruth. At 13:23 of the middle frame, Victoria’s Jones took advantage of a turnover on the Portland blueline and broke in all alone on Carruth. The forward made no mistake when he fired the puck over the right shoulder of the Winterhawks’ netminder. The Royals held a 3-2 lead heading into the final period of play.

Portland tied the game when Troy Rutkowski centered a shot from the right corner that deflected off of Oliver Gabriel and into the back of the net at 2:36 of the third period. Victoria regained the lead at 13:14 after Logan Nelson stole the puck at the Portland blueline. On a two-on-one, Nelson crossed a pass to Hodges, who finished off the play to make it 4-3. The Royals held off a furious late period push by the Winterhawks to seal the victory. Royals 4 Winterhawks 3.

Victoria went 1/3 = 33.3% on the power play, while Portland was 0/2 = 0.00%. The Winterhawks outshot the Royals 35-19.

[CdnSailor]

The Victoria Royals turned in a tenaciously clutch performance Wednesday night to record a potentially season-saving 4-3 Western Hockey League victory over the imperious Portland Winterhawks.

“The real winners were the fans,” said Victoria GM and head coach Marc Habscheid. “It was a knock ’em down, drag ’em out, intense game.”

With the season hanging in the balance and the tension ratcheting with each passing moment in a tie game, Steven Hodges took a pass from Logan Nelson for the winning goal at 13:14 of the third period.

“It was a must-win game,” said Hodges.

“It was a great pass [from Nelson], right to the stick,” he added, about the winning goal.

Portland rang the puck off the post three times after Hodges’ goal and five times total in the game.

“We definitely needed that [post luck],” said Victoria goaltender Keith Hamilton, who was solid against his old club in making 32 saves. “When things go right, they go right.”

Victoria also survived a late penalty, which with the goalie Mac Carruth pulled, gave Portland a two-man advantage for the final hairy minute.

The result, combined with the Everett Silvertips’ 4-2 loss in Kelowna, moved Victoria into seventh place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of eight-place Everett and three points up on the ninth-place Seattle Thunderbirds.

Victoria closes out the regular season at the Memorial Centre on Friday against Portland, while Seattle has three games remaining and Everett two.

Victoria is facing a tough task in closing out the regular season. The Winterhawks roster is loaded. Lose Swiss import Sven Bartschi to a call-up last week to the Calgary Flames? Not to worry, there are nine more NHL draft picks where that came from, including first-rounder Joe Morrow and second-rounders Ty Rattie, Brad Ross and William Wrenn. So there is no underestimating the enormity of the task the Royals faced Wednesday before an announced capacity crowd of 7,006.

“We followed the system and cut down on turnovers because Portland lives off turnovers,” said Hodges.

The game was crucial for both clubs, but at different ends of the standings with Victoria (23-41-7) looking just to make the playoffs and Portland (48-18-4) vying for first seed overall in the Western Conference.

“This is the evolution of our team,” said Habscheid.

“They have grown and are a lot more cohesive.”

The Royals had several excellent chances in the opening period, connecting once through Austin Carroll on the power play at 4:45. A glaring Victoria turnover, however, allowed Rattie to score his 55th goal of the season and knot matters at 9:26. Taylor Leier put the Winterhawks ahead 19 seconds later. Jamie Crooks, with his team-leading 36th goal, pulled the Royals level at 7:23 of the second period. Then Zane Jones broke in for a breakaway to score unassisted at 13:23 to give Victoria a 3-2 lead. But an Oliver Gabriel tip-in, on a pass from the side boards by Troy Rutkowski, tied it 3-3 at 2:36 of the third period, setting up Hodges’ heroics to come.



Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Royals+...#ixzz1pA87gsHH

[the Royal Flush]

we got lucky as Portland owned us the entire game...Hamilton had a very good game and deserved 1st star...

[CdnSailor]

He was also very very lucky with the goal post. It could have easily been 8 - 4 Portland with all the dings. Some of the goals that went in were very soft and should have been stopped.
Firday they will be coming back at us with a vengance. I just hope we still have our lucky charms about us

[the Royal Flush]

insert horseshoe in rectum now!!! (5 goal posts)

[pontcanna]

Royals take aim at Hawks again


BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMESCOLONIST.COM MARCH 15, 2012 10:01 PM


When Victoria Royals forward Zane Jones turned on his phone after recording a goal and an assist in Wednesday night’s 4-3 Western Hockey League victory, he found awaiting a congratulatory text message from his great-uncle and former NHL great Lanny McDonald.

“He told me to keep it up,” beamed Jones, who has four points in the last two games.

Jones will need to if the Royals hope to sweep the powerful Portland Winterhawks (48-18-4), ranked No. 4 among North American major-junior teams, as Victoria closes out the regular season tonight at a sold-out Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. He is among the unsung Royals who have the team on the verge of the playoffs, although nothing is clinched yet.

Victoria (23-41-7) can only answer Portland’s immense talent with verve, hard work and tenacity, which it did well enough in Wednesday’s upset.

“You look at Portland’s roster and half the team is drafted into the NHL. We have to hit them and be physical and be smarter with decisions because they can punish your mistakes,” said Jones.

The Royals leading lights on offence — Steven Hodges, Jamie Crooks, Logan Nelson — can’t do it all. So the ample support received the last two games from role forwards Jones, Austin Carroll, Mike Forsyth and Luke Harrison was more than welcome in Wednesday’s win and Sunday’s overtime loss in Vancouver that netted an important point.

That’s become even more imperative with 20-year-old Czech import forward Robin Soudek, who missed Wednesday’s game, day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Soudek did not skate in practice Thursday.

“We can’t rely on one line. Other guys have to pick it up,” said Jones. “Especially against a Portland team on which all four lines can put the puck in the net.”

The Winterhawks lead the WHL in scoring, while the Royals lead in goals allowed — both by wide margins. Portland outshot Victoria 35-19 Wednesday.

“To say that was a huge win [against Portland] is a big understatement. Everyone was fired up,” said Forsyth, another of those second-tier Royals forwards who are stepping up.

“We really needed those two points because Seattle was right on our tail. But we need to have a short-term memory and refocus for [tonight].”

Former Winterhawk Keith Hamilton was sound in goal for Victoria on Wednesday.

“It was a good feeling in the room today [at practice Thursday],” said Hamilton. “That [Wednesday win] was good for our confidence.”

Victoria is seventh in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Everett, which holds the eighth and final playoff spot, and three points up on the ninth-place Seattle Thunderbirds. Everett has two games remaining and Seattle three.