Moose Jaw, Swift Current and Medicine Hat represent the small-market heartland of the Western Hockey League. The Warriors (19-5-1), Broncos (17-5-2) and Tigers (15-9) are also darn good this season.
The Royals (18-8-1) embark on what will be a telling swing through the Eastern Conference beginning tonight in Moose Jaw against the East Division-leading Warriors and continuing Wednesday in Swift Current against the East Division second-place Broncos, Friday in Medicine Hat against the Central Division-leading Tigers and Saturday in Lethbridge against a Hurricanes team that destroyed the Royals 10-4 last week at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Three of the current top-four teams in the WHL will meet tonight and Wednesday. Moose Jaw has a .780 winning percentage, Swift Current .750 and Victoria .685. Only the league-leading Portland Winterhawks (19-4) are better at .826.
鈥淲e will be meeting this week, on the road, three of the best teams in the league in the Warriors, Broncos and Tigers, and a Hurricanes team that beat us 10-4 in our own building,鈥� said Victoria GM and president Cameron Hope, about the daunting task awaiting the Royals.
Tonight pits Victoria against 2016 NHL-drafted forwards Brett Howden of Moose Jaw, a first-round selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Noah Gregor, a fourth-round pick of the San Jose Sharks. The six-foot-three Howden has 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points and Gregor 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points.
The six-foot Gregor was a third-round 2013 WHL bantam draft pick of the Royals but was only 15 when his rights were dealt to the Warriors in the Jan. 6, 2014, trade that brought veteran offensive-blue-liner and 2012 fifth-round Chicago Blackhawks draft-pick Travis Brown to Victoria for immediate impact in that year鈥檚 playoff drive.
鈥淭he toughest trades are when you deal a player who has played for you and that you get to know,鈥� said Hope.
But of the other kind, Hope added, trading away a long-term prospect for veteran help here and now is the hardest decision a WHL GM has to make.
鈥淭hat was an extremely tough one because we knew Noah Gregor was going to be a pro-potential player,鈥� said Hope, who added, Gregor wasn鈥檛 signed by Victoria and was keeping open his U.S. collegiate NCAA options at the time.
So, Royals fans never got to know Gregor, while the popular Brown had a productive 11脷2 seasons in Victoria, and is now a pro with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL.
鈥淭hat trade worked out well for both sides . . . it was a win-win,鈥� said Hope.
On Wednesday in Swift Current, the Royals must contend with the top-three point-getters and top goal scorer in the WHL. The Broncos鈥� trio of Alexsi Heponiemi (60), Tyler Steenbergen (56) and Glenn Gawdin (47) leads the league in points. Matthew Phillips of the Royals is fourth with 46 points and Brayden Burke of the Warriors fifth with 45.
Steenbergen leads the WHL in goals with 32. Mark Rassell of the Tigers is tied for second with Ty Ronning of the Vancouver Giants with 24 goals, Jayden Halbgewachs of the Warriors is fourth with 23 and Phillips fifth with 20.
All of those players, with the exception of Ronning, will be in action from today through Friday as the Royals storm through Moose Jaw, Swift Current and Medicine Hat. That will surely be a challenge for Victoria goaltender Griffen Outhouse, who enters this week third in the WHL in both goals-against average (2.79) and save percentage (.922).
There is encouraging news for the Royals on the injury front, at just about the time they need it heading into prairie rinks to play good teams. Royals defenceman and 2017 third-round Montreal Canadiens draft-pick Scott Walford and Victoria 18-goal forward Regan Nagy missed the last two games, both home victories over the Seattle Thunderbirds, but are expected to return sometime during the road jaunt.
鈥淏oth are close and we expect to see them play on this trip,鈥� said Hope.
Veteran defenceman Ralph Jarratt, who has missed six games, will not play on this swing, Hope added.
The Royals鈥� next home game is Dec. 8 when the Kootenay Ice pay a visit to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
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