Round 1 Victoria and Kamloops

[pontcanna]

I guess that was our best game of the series, outshooting Loops by a decent margin and only losing the second period 2-0

Hamilton blew the angle on the first goal and went down too soon on the third (admittedly a fine shot, but). Blazers did a good shutdown job in the third, though our effort was still present. Bit of a sense of inevitability to the result.

So that's the season. Exciting start with Sundher, exciting finish against the Winterhawks. In the middle? Let's not talk about that too much. The fans were remarkably good all season, both in numbers, patience and general enthusiasm regardless of score. The screens made a big difference to the entertainment value and Marty was The Man as always.

I thought the over-agers should have been brought out at the end (I vaguely recall memories of that kind of thing years ago) to say a definite goodbye at the end of their junior careers, but you can't have everything.

Highlanders and Shamrocks for the summer. Well, the Stanley and Memorial Cups to watch first anyway

[pontcanna]

Victoria Royals out of playoffs after losing four straight to Kamloops Blazers

BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMESCOLONIST.COM MARCH 28, 2012 10:11 PM

The Kamloops Blazers, superior in all aspects of the game, put a decisive end to the Royals first Western Hockey League season in Victoria with a 4-1 victory Wednesday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

But the standing ovation from the 5,277 fans, even in loss, meant a lot to the Royals players.

“It was an emotional day. I had tears in my eyes. It wasn’t fun but that’s how life is,” said graduating 20-year-old Royals forward Robin Soudek.

“We tried our best, that’s for sure.”

The Royals franchise, formerly known as the Bruins and shifted from Chilliwack to the capital, were swept 4-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference opening-round playoff series.

“It was a unique season. Not very often does a franchise move,” said Victoria GM and head coach Marc Habscheid.

“I’m proud of the season, of getting established, and making the playoffs.”

The Blazers franchise, meanwhile, exorcised some demons by advancing past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Now, at least for a few days, their fans can indeed party like it’s 1999.

Kamloops was full value for its conference No. 2 ranking against the seventh-seed Royals and now likely awaits the third-seed Portland Winterhawks, who lead the sixth-seed Kelowna Rockets 3-0 in their opening-round series heading into Game 4 tonight.

“They [Blazers] deserved to win,” said Habscheid.

When you go 1-10-1 — as the Royals did this regular- and post-season against Kamloops — you just have to figure that team has got your number.

“The guys battled hard all series and that’s all we can ask for,” said Royals captain Hayden Rintoul, a graduating 20-year-old.

“It goes by really fast. But I couldn’t ask for a better place to play my last season.”

Ben Walker struck for Victoria just 1:40 into the game but Matt Needham leveled with a bullet from the left side at 12:13. The Royals, as to be expected from a desperate team, came out hard and outshot Kamloops 11-6 in the opening frame. But they were left to wonder what might have been had Logan Nelson, like Walker a native of Minnesota, been able to convert two clear chances on goal in the first period.

“I thought we played some good games but sometimes you don’t get the bounces,” said Nelson, the 108th-ranked North American skater for this summer’s NHL draft.

But the standing ovation at the end will stay with him.

“It’s something I will remember the rest of my life,” said Nelson.

“It was a tear jerker and really sent shivers up the spine.”

Brendan Ranford, a seventh-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, scored his first of the playoffs and Dylan Willick rifled one to the top corner as Kamloops took a 3-1 lead in the second period.

The second period bedeviled Victoria the entire series with Kamloops outscoring the Royals 15-4 over the four middle frames. (Sorry Cleve, that was actually 16-3)

“We suffered second-period breakdowns in each game and that was the difference in the series,” said Soudek.

Willick closed it out with an empty-net goal in the third period.

The Royals could not take advantage of two key Kamloops absences — captain Chase Schaber was out after incurring a deep skate gash on his leg in Game 3 and top-defenceman Austin Madaisky, a fifth-round draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, sat out the second game of a two-game league suspension for a hit in Game 2.

It was the second-consecutive four-game sweep loss to end a hockey season in the Memorial Centre after the Alaska Aces swept the Victoria Salmon Kings in the ECHL Western Conference final last spring on Blanshard. The Aces went on to win the Kelly Cup, so maybe that’s a harbinger for the Blazers and their Memorial Cup aspirations.

[rednex50]

Habby did that last year with Einhorn, Manning, Howse and Horak against Spokane. Who knows, maybe they were gassed and had no legs left.

Good luck to Soudek, as Wilms called it "likely the most pro ready Overager in the WHL today".

Looking ahead to next season...

Goaltending - needs improvement. Vollrath should be in the mix. Not sure if Habby will try to move Hamilton and/or Rathjen to bring in a true #1 while bringing Vollrath in? But an .870 SV% is no where near good enough in this league.

Defense...gonna be thin...Stahl has to get signed or he is a free agent. If he gets a contract (one way or the other), he's gone pro. Leaves Habby Jr as a potential OA, Franzoo, Kanzig, Zgraggen , Cote and Pilton as the projected Top 6 -- not quite the experience you want on your back end (possibly yet another deal for an OA or 19 yr old D-man in the offseason or early next.

Forwards...I think they have some young talent, but will likely lose Crooks. He should get drafted (rounds 3-4), and I very much doubt he'll be left here unless whoever drafts him has reached their limit of 50 Pro Contracts or the NHL is on strike and no room for him in the AHL/ECHL. I expect Ben Walker to get a Pro-Invite (returned), Hodges drafted (rounds 4-5, returned), Traber Pro-Invited (returned), Jones drafted (Rounds 4-5, returned), Magee possibly drafted rounds 6-7 and returned. Forsyth should return as an OA.

IF, Victoria has any prayers answered, Stahl gets returned for his OA year (which I highly doubt personally) and wears the "C". If he doesn't, expect it to be either Magee or Traber wearing it.

Not only will the Royals loose Soudek and Rintoul (who I thought was a tool in the series, no pun intended), but I expect them to lose Stahl and Crooks, which is a lot of offense to loose on a team that has to outscore its defensive liabilities. I almost expect a lot of the same next season. And next season will also be the first season that this franchise will have to stand on its own 2 feet and not live in the shadow of Chilliwack...and will start to feel less and less of the team that we in the valley loved for its 5 years here.

Good luck to all my boys. You'll never be forgotten. Go BRUINS Go!

[the Royal Flush]

Goaltending. If we can get a bag of used pucks for Hamilton that would be a steal for us. Rathjen needed some more games to develop,but this season was wasted by a coach that could not see the forest for the trees(i/e playing hamilton far beyond his abilities).A team cannot go far with a backup,backup combination. I still have hope for Rathjen,but hope Hamilton is a goner(quite possibly the most ineffective starter in my 30 years of watching WHL hockey).WE NEED A STARTING GOALIE!!!

Defense. Stahl is okay with me and will be back as an overager.Kanzig needs to learn to be MEAN...REAL GODDAMN MEAN. When life gives you a size and weight advantage like his,it must be utilized.A miserable,mean tough Kanzig effectively shuts down his side of the ice and causes opponents grief. Fransoo is a keeper,as well as Cote(Brett...shoot lots of pucks over the summer).Pilton need a real high calorie diet as well to put some meat on those twigs of his. Habby Jr...sorry its over for your WHL career. I am cool with Zgraggen.

Forwards. I am okay with the guys we have now and hope that another year of physical maturity(i/e growing from boys to young men) will make them all 10 pounds heavier.I would like the team to find one or two "special players" hidden somewhere that come in and take charge(hard to find though).

Final Summary. From the blueline back we need help and some practical thinking by our G.M and coaching staff.We are building for the next two seasons so lets not piss them away on ego's.

Sincerely looking forward to many more enjoyable years of WHL hockey. Win...or Lose.