As an incredulous Butch Cassidy said to Sundance in the movie: 鈥淲ho are those guys?鈥�
The Victoria Royals will find out tonight in the Western Hockey League version when the Lethbridge Hurricanes visit the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The Hurricanes, a study in ice misery, missed the playoffs the past six seasons. Things hit rock bottom in 2013-14 in a 12-win season with the worst record in the 60-team Canadian Hockey League.
But the resurgent 鈥機anes are off to an 8-2 start this year and have won six consecutive games.
The man credited for the sudden turnaround is new head coach Brent Kisio. He was just an aspiring young man when current Royals head coach Dave Lowry hired Kisio as his video assistant coach with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL in 2008-09. The inter-connections run deep. Before that, Lowry had served as assistant coach of the Hitmen under Brent鈥檚 dad, Kelly Kisio.
鈥淸Brent Kisio] is one of the best young coaches . . . he is a fresh voice [for the Hurricanes] and has them believing they can win every night,鈥� said Lowry, who sensed that spark early.
鈥淲hen I hired Brent as the Hitmen video coach, I saw a young guy who was passionate about the game and who could think outside the box.鈥�
The Royals, meanwhile, are 8-5 and halted a four-game losing streak Saturday with a 3-0 victory in Spokane on a shutout by rookie goaltender Griffen Outhouse in his first WHL start. That didn鈥檛 go unnoticed as Montreal Canadiens and Canadian Olympic team gold-medallist goaltender Carey Price, who also came up through Williams Lake minor hockey, tweeted a thumbs-up to Outhouse.
鈥淭hat was cool,鈥� said Outhouse.
鈥淲e have those Williams Lake connections and my parents are close friends with [Price鈥檚] parents.鈥�
Veteran Coleman Vollrath had started the previous 12 Royals games and don鈥檛 look for that ratio to change. Let鈥檚 be clear, there is no goaltending controversy in the Royals crease. Vollrath is 20 years old and top-five in the league with a 1.98 goals-against average. This is Vollrath鈥檚 team. Outhouse will spend the season mentoring under him.
Still, in light of Saturday鈥檚 WHL debut shutout by the 17-year-old Outhouse, Lowry was asked the question about his starting goaltender for tonight. The Victoria bench boss, who rarely announces it to the media beforehand, gave back his usual noncommittal smile.
鈥淚t felt weird not playing,鈥� admitted Vollrath, about his rare night off Saturday.
鈥淚 like playing every game.鈥�
Outhouse鈥檚 time as the Royals鈥� starter will come, but it will begin next season. He has plenty of time.
鈥淸Outhouse] picks your brain and he also learns by closely watching you and other goalies,鈥� said Vollrath of his prot茅g茅.
Meanwhile, Hurricanes goaltender Jayden Sittler has appeared in seven games and is second in the WHL with a 1.65 goals-against average. The 19-year-old played 10 games with the Royals last season before being traded in January to Lethbridge for a seventh-round bantam draft pick in 2016.
鈥淲e know Jayden is a goalie who can stop the puck,鈥� said star Victoria blue-liner Joe Hicketts, of his time shooting on Sittler in practice last season.
鈥淚n our crease, Coleman [Vollrath] has been a horse for us.鈥�
Vollrath has seen a number of goaltending partners during his four seasons in Victoria, including briefly Sittler last season.
鈥淛ayden is a good guy,鈥� said Vollrath.
But a 鈥済ood guy鈥� the Royals want to get a lot of pucks past tonight.
The Royals will embark on the 7 a.m. ferry Wednesday morning out of Swartz Bay to begin a kilometre-chewing six-game trip through Saskatchewan and Manitoba that begins Friday night in Prince Albert against Marc Habscheid鈥檚 Raiders.
