When the Victoria Royals look in the mirror, they see staring back the Medicine Hat Tigers of recent past seasons.
Before there was the pairing of undersized 17-year-old Royals forwards Matthew Phillips and Dante Hannoun, there was Cole Sanford and Trevor Cox lighting up scoreboards with the Tigers.
The five-foot-eight and 164-pound Cox, who had 109 points last season and a WHL-leading 80 assists, was traded by Medicine Hat to the Vancouver Giants earlier this season for blue-liner Clayton Kirichenko. But the five-foot-eight and 165-pound Sanford, also 20, returns to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre tonight with the Tigers following a season in which he scored 50 goals and compiled 95 points.
Yet, there is perhaps a cautionary fable built in for small forwards. Both Cox and Sanford went undrafted. Sanford, however, impressed this fall in Edmonton鈥檚 NHL rookie camp as a free-agent try-out invitee and made it to Oilers main camp before being sent back to junior unsigned.
鈥淸NHL] players such as Tyler Johnson and Johnny Gaudreau are making the case for players such as myself,鈥� said Sanford, who has 10 goals and 19 points in 17 games this season with Medicine Hat.
鈥淭hey are helping to show that smaller guys like me can make it in pro hockey.鈥�
As for his prospects in the pros, Sanford replied: 鈥淚鈥檒l see what happens at the end of this season.鈥�
He admits it鈥檚 been a difficult one with Cox gone and the Tigers (7-13-3) going through a rebuilding phase after consecutive 44- and 45-win seasons and decent playoff runs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely been tough [this season]. But we have had glimpses of what we can do when we put it together. We have a lot of young players who are learning the system,鈥� said Sanford, who has taken to his role as the veteran leader.
Vernon-native Sanford can remember back to when he and Surrey-native Cox broke into the WHL with the Tigers, Cox at 16 and Sanford at 17. It鈥檚 where Phillips and Hannoun are now with the Royals. The five-foot-six and 160-pound Hannoun, who began last season as a 16-year-old, has 14 goals and 21 points in a breakout sophomore season. Fellow 17-year-old Phillips, listed at five-foot-seven and 160 pounds, leads all WHL rookies with 14 goals. He is fourth in rookie scoring with 27 points and just three off the pace of rookie leaders Egor Babenko of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and former Royals prospect Noah Gregor of the Moose Jaw Warriors.
鈥淢edicine Hat is a similar team to us, with some small players who are fast,鈥� noted Phillips.
But while the Tigers are struggling through their growing pains, the equally-youthful Royals are 17-8-2 in what was also thought to be a perhaps-painful rebuilding season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about laying a foundation with structure, and taking care of the details,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry, who is showing to the league just why he has been chosen to guide sa国际传媒 at the upcoming 2016 world junior championship in Helsinki.
鈥淓veryone has taken to our clear and consistent message.鈥�
But Lowry also has a warning about this season鈥檚 wide-open WHL race: 鈥淭here is parity in the league. Any team can beat any other team on any given night.鈥�
