The 1980s song The Final Countdown, by Swedish group Europe, is still played in hockey rinks in the waning moments when the goalie is pulled in the push for the tying goal. More than just within games, it might also stand as the theme song for the stretch drives to end seasons.
It is now down to the final countdown with 13 games remaining for the Victoria Royals in the Western Hockey League.
The Prince George Cougars and Spokane Chiefs are tied for seventh place in the Western Conference, two points behind the sixth-place Vancouver Giants. Eight of the 10 teams make the playoffs. Ninth-place Victoria is three points behind the final two spots currently occupied by Spokane and Prince George, with the Chiefs holding one game and the Cougars two games in hand on the Royals.
The Royals’ season will come down to the seven games it has remaining against the Cougars, starting tonight and Saturday in Prince George. There’s a full circle aspect to this because it harkens back to the first seven games of the season between the Royals and Cougars, all won by Prince George. That 0-7 start against the Cougars may end up defining the Royals’ season and costing them dearly.
To fully appreciate the hole that has put the Royals in, Victoria would need to win all seven of its remaining games against the Cougars just to tie the season series.
“This [final stretch of games against Prince George] closes the storyline, doesn’t it,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
“We’ve had this circled on our calendar for a long time. Prince George got us at our worst moment early in the season in terms of injuries and [captain] Tarun Fizer still up in the American Hockey League.”
Fizer is back. But unfortunately for Victoria, so is its injury situation. Victoria’s porous defence has one standout, San Jose Sharks fourth-round draft pick Gannon Laroque, who is out week-to-week with an upper-body issue after taking a penalized hit from behind this week against Portland.
That is a major blow for a defence that already leaks far too many shots on goal.
The Royals were already without Swiss world junior player Keanu Derungs and 20-year-old forward Evan Patrician while leading scorer Bailey Peach went out of Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Portland Winterhawks with a knock and is day-to-day. Also leaving Wednesday’s game was goaltender Campbell Arnold with no report on his condition. The Royals (16-33-6) simply don’t have the talent depth to cover those kinds of roster losses, but somebody is going to have to step up and play beyond themselves.
The Cougars (19-31-3), however, are in a freefall with six consecutive losses and 15 losses in their last 17 games including nine in a row at home.
The Royals, recovering from a recent franchise-record 17-game winless streak, have gone 4-5-1 in their past 10 games. But Price said he is not a believer in trajectories.
“They mean nothing. Every game is a fresh start at 0-0,” he said.
The Royals, however, were not so fresh at the start of the season against Prince George. They will need to be at the end.
