Victoria is no stranger to identical twins in sports, most famously when Gary and Paul Gait revolutionized the game of lacrosse. That is a heady, and perhaps unfairly high bar to use as a comparison, because Jason and Ryan Spizawka will write their own story in their own fashion in hockey.
In a nice touch, Victoria Royals coach Dan Price put both Spizawkas in the opening lineup for puck drop Monday night at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops. Rookie and first-round U-15 draft pick Jason has been with the Royals since the start of the season while Ryan made his Western Hockey League debut. It was only the fourth time in WHL history that identical twins have suited up for the same team at the same time.
“It was important to recognize how rare this was,” said Price.
“They are 16 [and hometown products out of the Racquet Club]. It’s a bright indicator for the future. Ryan looked comfortable and strong with the puck in his first game.”
But that historical footnote was as good as it got for the Royals (1-12-1), who dropped their ninth consecutive game in a 4-1 loss to the Prince George Cougars (5-7-2), who snapped a four-game losing skid.
“The energy and effort is still tremendous,” said Price.
“Whether on a losing streak or winning streak, the focus is on one game at a time, and that’s our focus.”
Victoria is 1-3 against Prince George this season in what appears to be a turning of the historical tide. The Royals, dominant against Prince George since coming into the league in 2011-12, were 6-1 against the Cougars last season. The Cougars’ poor showing in recent seasons has allowed them to stock up on first round U-15 draft picks and they featured seven of them on the roster Monday. With 14 returnees, including seven 19-year-olds, the Cougars feature veteran depth to abet their 10 rookies.
Goals by Kyren Gronick and Ethan Browne gave Prince George a 2-0 first period lead which was added to by Jonny Hooker in the middle period. Rookie Trentyn Crane pulled Victoria to within two in the third period before Craig Armstrong restored Prince George’s trey advantage.
Victoria had a good push to start the game but two against-the-flow Prince George goals set the tone.
“We had our chances but [goaltender] Taylor Gauthier was good and Prince George had an opportunistic first period,” said Price.
Gauthier, the third goaltender for silver-medallist sa国际传媒 in the 2021 world junior championship, made 25 stops for the Cougars. Adam Evanoff of Victoria, however, has something Gauthier doesn’t have yet – a pro contract. Evanoff, signed by Stockton of the AHL, made 29 saves.
Evanoff leads the sa国际传媒 Division with 316 saves in 10 games this season. The 20-year-old veteran Evanoff’s goaltending partner, rookie Connor Martin, has the second most saves in the division with 187 in six games. That is a sign of a very green Victoria blue line, which is loaded with rookies, and pretty much learning on the fly.
The Royals meet the Rockets (5-2) in Kelowna tonight, Prince George on Friday in Kamloops and the Vancouver Giants (9-5) on Saturday in Kelowna.
ICE CHIPS: The Spizawkas are continuing an uncanny wider Island sporting brothers tradition, although not all were twins, of course. The Patricks, Pedens, Chapmans, Nashes, Courtnalls, Kazanowskis, Gaits and Peppers between them provided a treasure trove of Olympic medals, Stanley Cups, Mann and Minto Cups and an NBA MVP award or two.
