CLEVE DHEENSAW Around the WHL

Royals’ brass want to host national major junior championship

The Memorial Cup, the 2012 edition of which begins today in Shawinigan, Que., will eventually be held in Victoria if RG Properties gets its way.

“Of all the things on our to-do list, hosting the Memorial Cup is at the very top of that list,” said Dave Dakers, president of sports and entertainment for RG, which owns the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League and operates Save-on-foods Memorial Centre.

“We will not be satisfied until we host the Memorial Cup in Victoria. It would be a great event for the city,” added Dakers, who is also president of the Royals.

The next Memorial Cup scheduled for the WHL is 2013 in Saskatoon. The next open dates for the WHL to host are 2016 and 2019.

THE BEAR BECKONS: Speaking of the major-junior post-season, of which the Memorial Cup is the pinnacle, the Royals could be in Bear Mountain Arena next spring to start the WHL playoffs because of the 2013 Ford world men’s curling championships to take place in the Memorial Centre.

“We have a bigger obligation to this city and this market,” said Dakers, as to why a world championship must and should trump the anchor tenant.
The “buzz and demand” to get into the smaller Bear facility might turn out to be special in and of itself, noted Dakers.

WHOA NELLY: Forward Logan Nelson of the Royals, who combines skill with a healthy dose of physicality, is among the 105 players invited to the NHL draft combine May 28-June 2 in Toronto. The native of Minnesota is the 73rd-ranked North American skater for the 2012 draft and will undergo a battery of on- and off-ice tests and interviews as NHL teams clock, observe, poke, prod, measure and analyze the top draft prospects.

The quick-silver forward Steven Hodges of Delta, the other Royals player ranked for the draft at No. 85 North American skater, did not receive a combine invite.

Of the players invited, 78 are North American-based skaters and 10 goalies and 14 are European skaters and three goalies.
The NHL draft is June 22-23 in Pittsburgh. Regardless of being picked or not, Nelson and Hodges are both expected to return to play in Victoria next season.