Nothing against Steve Martin and the late John Candy, but there are no planes, trains and automobiles for the Victoria Royals. Only ferries and buses. And they can be bad enough.
The Royals can do themselves a big favour, in terms of physical and mental wear and tear, by taking care of their Western Hockey League opening-round playoff series against the Spokane Chiefs tonight at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Game 5. The Royals lead the best-of-seven 3-1. Game 6, if necessary, is Sunday in Spokane. Game 7, if required, is Tuesday back in Victoria.
The Royals, leading 3-1 in a similar situation last year in the first round, beat the Cougars on Blanshard Street in Game 5 in overtime to avoid the dreaded trip back up to Prince George for a potential Game 6.
The Royals put themselves in a position to clinch tonight, thanks to Alex Forsberg鈥檚 overtime goal in Wednesday鈥檚 3-2 victory in Game 4 at Spokane.
鈥淲e鈥檝e come back with a chance to end the series,鈥� said Forsberg, who scored twice in Game 4.
But everybody knows the series was one shot from being tied 2-2. That鈥檚 the fine line teams skate in the playoffs.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 play well in the first three games,鈥� said Forsberg, the 20-year-old, who led Victoria in points during the regular season.
鈥淭hat was a big relief to score those goals in the fourth game. Hopefully, it puts us in a position not to go back there [Spokane]. That鈥檚 a lot of travel. The less travel you do, the better.鈥�
The Game 4 victory provided a bounce back for Victoria, the WHL regular-season champion, after having its 15-game winning streak snapped decisively in a 5-2 loss in Game 3 on Tuesday in Spokane.
鈥淚t was a disappointing effort Tuesday. [Coach Dave Lowry] obviously was not happy and he voiced his opinion,鈥� said Forsberg.
鈥淗e said to look at how much we accomplished this season and not to throw it away. He got us ready to go [for Game 4].鈥�
Royals captain Joe Hicketts, who has missed the last three games due to an undisclosed injury, remains day-to-day, according to Lowry.
The Royals鈥� blue-line has been under some stress in this series with Hicketts out and fellow-veteran Ryan Gagnon, who returned for Game 4, missing two games due to a suspension.
If Hicketts remains a no-go, the leadership mantle on defence falls to Gagnon and Chaz Reddekopp.
鈥淛oe is our captain and leadership guy on defence. When he鈥檚 not there, it falls to me and Ryan [Gagnon],鈥� said Reddekopp, an NHL draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings.
鈥淲e have to show the others by example.鈥�
Among them are Victoria defencemen Jordan Wharrie and rookie Brayden Pachal, who have been given more ice time than they are used to seeing.
鈥淭hose guys have really jumped in,鈥� Reddekopp said.
Meanwhile, the underdog Chiefs, the eighth seed in the Western Conference facing the regular-season champions, have no more losses to give in their season. At least not in this series. But a cornered animal is the most dangerous.
鈥淭his has been a hard-fought series,鈥� said 20-year-old Victoria forward Logan Fisher.
鈥淭he Chiefs are a hard-working club. Although everyone outside the teams had this series going a certain way [with prognosticators making Victoria the prohibitive favourite], we knew Spokane would bring it.鈥�
You will get no argument from Lowry.
鈥淎ll four games have been tough,鈥� said the Royals bench boss.
Elsewhere, the Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers head into tonight鈥檚 Game 5 in Kelowna with the series tied 2-2. The winner faces the winner of the Victoria-Spokane series.
And the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips will face each other in the second round after both teams swept their first-round series.
