If ever there was a Western Hockey League team that embodied the Aristotle quote about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, it is this year鈥檚 Victoria Royals.
The Royals were missing three key players for much of Thursday鈥檚 2-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets, yet it really didn鈥檛 seem to matter.
That has to be a concern for the Rockets heading into tonight鈥檚 second game of the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
鈥淛oe [Hicketts] is one of the best players in the league. But it isn鈥檛 about one individual,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
鈥淲e have certain expectations. Whether the player is 16 or 20, when you are put in there, we expect you to play your assigned role and we better not miss a beat. When guys are asked to step up, they have to find a way to not let anything slip.鈥�
It鈥檚 an approach that resulted in 50 wins this season and the Scotty Munro Trophy as WHL regular-season champions and a first-round playoff series victory over the Spokane Chiefs in six games.
The injured Hicketts, Victoria captain and Western Conference MVP, has missed all but the first game of the playoffs. Forward Vladimir Bobylev had seven assists in the playoffs before missing the last two games with a leg injury. Both are listed as day-to-day by the Royals.
Veteran forward Logan Fisher, who received a game misconduct early in the second period Thursday, will be eligible to return tonight. Lowry confirmed the league will place no additional suspension on Fisher.
But then again, does it really matter who is in or out of this deep and well-balanced Royals lineup?
鈥淎 lot of guys stepped up [Thursday],鈥� said Victoria goaltender Coleman Vollrath, named the first star of Game 1 against Kelowna for his 40-save performance.
But it was the Rockets who took the play to Victoria through much of the night. The game also was played more like a chess match than at the usual high-tempo pace the Royals prefer. That played right into Kelowna鈥檚 plan.
鈥淧uck management and pace of play are two things we need to do well against Victoria,鈥� said Rockets head coach Brad Ralph.
Despite the Royals win, Lowry acknowledged Kelowna鈥檚 effectiveness in those departments in Thursday鈥檚 opening game.
鈥淲e have to do a better job in the neutral zone than we did,鈥� Lowry said.
鈥淏ut those nine minutes of penalties [Victoria killed off a five-minute major to Fisher and a four-minute double minor to Jared Dmytriw] took away much of our momentum and took us out of our rhythm.鈥�
Much has been made of Kelowna鈥檚 struggling power play, which was only 2-26 in the seven-game opening round series victory against the Kamloops Blazers. And not taking advantage of those two long power-play stretches Thursday against Victoria proved costly.
But Lowry remains wary of the Kelowna power-play woes being a deciding factor.
鈥淭he Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup [in 2011] without a good power play,鈥� noted the Victoria bench boss.
鈥淭imely goals are a more impactful factor.鈥�
The series swings into the Okanagan for the third and fourth games Tuesday and Thursday.
