This could only happen in the Victoria Royals’ benighted 2022-23 WHL season, despite a 7-6 shootout victory over the Tri-City Americans.
One of the great traditions of junior hockey, the Teddy Bear Toss, was prematurely unleashed onto the ice Friday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre when a seeming first Royals goal by Riley Gannon, on a short-handed breakaway in the first period, was waved off by the referee after it bounced off the crossbar and down to the goal line but not over.
The confusion of the call, with Gannon lifting his arms thinking he had scored and the red light flickering for an instant, triggered a tsunami of stuffed toy animals tossed on the ice for charity.
That rendered the actual Victoria Teddy Bear Toss goal, scored by Brayden Schuurman to tie the game 1-1 at 7:07 of the first period, hugely anti-climactic, with only a dribble of remaining stuffed toys thrown. Arena public-address announcer Cliff LeQuesne announced the goal as “Teddy Bear Toss Part II.”
In a sign of the Royals’ lackluster season at 6-23-3, even the larger earlier jumped-gun cleanup took less time than past years with probably the smallest Teddy Bear Toss crowd (announced at 3,761, but spirited) since the franchise came to the Island in 2011-12. The game has sold-out on several occasions in past seasons and has usually at least drawn in excess of 6,000 fans. It is, to be fair, an attendance malaise being felt generally across junior hockey.
Gannon finally got an official goal to make it 2-1 on the power play at 14:40 of the first period and then pointed to the net in the official referees’ goal motion to show this one would count. But the Americans roared ahead before the Royals rallied from a 5-2 deficit.
Parker Bell, the powerfully striding six-four winger from Campbell River who is a 2022 NHL draft pick of Calgary, had a goal and three assists for the Americans in his return to the Island. He now has 12 goals, 20 assists and 32 points in 27 games. He certainly gave Flames development coach and former NHLer Martin Gelinas, who was in attendance, fodder for the notebook.
Teague Patton scored two goals for Victoria in regular play and the winner in the shootout. Jake Poole, on the power play with his 17th of the season, and defenceman Justin Kipkie scored the other Victoria goals.
It was a duel between two clubs that missed the Western Conference playoffs last season. But while the Royals continue to struggle, the Americans have rallied this season and are 14-14-1.
The Americans’ talented six-foot-two blueliner, Lukas Dragicevic, a native of Richmond, is ranked for the first round of the 2023 NHL draft and played for sa国际传媒, alongside Royals Brayden Schuurman and Kalem Parker, in the 2022 IIHF world U-18 championship in Germany. Dragicevic extended his points streak to 23 games, which has eclipsed Victoria NHL-product and former Kelowna Rockets blueliner Tyson Barrie’s former 21 for the longest points streak by a WHL defenceman since 2009.
The Royals took advantage of two Tri-City stalwarts — goaltender Tomas Suchanek and forward Adam Mechura — being away on national-team duty with Czechia for the 2023 world junior championship tournament beginning Boxing Day in the Maritimes.
The Royals meet the Americans again Saturday night on Blanshard in their final game before the Christmas break.
