It鈥檚 one thing for an athlete to get a wake-up call from coaches. It鈥檚 quite another when it comes from his mother.
鈥淪he told me I don鈥檛 look like the old Phillip . . . I don鈥檛 quite look like myself,鈥� said Victoria Royals import forward Phillip Schultz.
Schultz鈥檚 mom, Kamilla, watches all her son鈥檚 games via the Internet, despite that Royals鈥� start times are 4 a.m. back in Denmark.
鈥淭hat was an eye-opener for me [that even his mom would notice].鈥�
Schultz was referring to his low Western Hockey League production in January and the early part of February, after representing his home nation in the 2019 IIHF world junior championship, in which Denmark was demoted to the world second tier and Germany promoted to the first tier for the 2020 world juniors.
When your mom notices, you know you have an issue.
But that was then and this is now. The 鈥渙ld Phillip鈥� is back and has been one of the better Royals forwards the past three weeks. His bounce-back continued over the weekend at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. Schultz鈥檚 goal in the seventh round of the shootout gave Victoria a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Giants before 7,006 fans on Saturday night. And Schultz鈥檚 power-play goal, with four minutes remaining in regulation time in front of 6,108 fans, tied Sunday鈥檚 matin茅e against the Giants 1-1 before Vancouver prevailed 2-1 in overtime on a goal by talented blue-liner and projected 2019 NHL top-10 overall draft pick Bowen Byram.
All told, Schultz鈥檚 two shots earned an extra point for Victoria on both Saturday and Sunday.
鈥淚 am believing in myself again and playing with a lot more confidence now,鈥� said Schultz, even before the weekend began.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no secret I didn鈥檛 play well in the world juniors. But what surprised me the most [in the aftermath back with the Royals] is how much energy the world juniors took out of me.鈥�
It took a while to get the battery re-charged. Now that he has, Schultz has again become a reliable producer for Victoria. Over the last eight games, Schultz has tallied six goals, five assists and a shootout winner to put the great back in Dane.
The sa国际传媒 Division second-place Royals (31-25-4) completed their season series against the division-champion Giants (41-14-4) at 4-4-2.
The Royals stay on the Island for a pair of games on Blanshard Street against the sa国际传媒 Division bottom-dwelling Prince George Cougars (17-36-7) on Friday and Saturday.
