Whether it鈥檚 the Kamloops Blazers with talented forwards Connor Zary, Jermaine Loewen and Orrin Centazzo, or any other upper-echelon Western Hockey League team they鈥檙e going up against, Victoria Royals head coach Dan Price rests easy at night knowing defenceman Ralph Jarratt will be out there playing a ton of minutes against the other team鈥檚 best players.
鈥淎gainst all of theses teams, regardless of the size or skill level of their forwards, Ralph is a huge contributing factor for us each game,鈥� Price said before his team took on the Blazers on Friday night in the first of back-to-back games at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
鈥淸Jarratt] moves the puck well, he defends well, he鈥檚 just a complete 200-foot player.鈥�
Phillip Schultz scored the winner with a minute left as the Royals defeated the Blazers 3-2 Friday night.
Kaid Oliver and Igor Martynov had given the Royals an early 2-0 lead before the Blazers got goals from Kobe Mohr and Kyrell Sopotyk.
Lantzville product Dylan Ferguson, a draft pick of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, had made 30 saves. Griffen Outhouse made 34 stops in the Victoria net.
The 20-year-old Jarratt, starting his fifth season with the Royals, has always been strong defensively, but this year has started to lead the offence from the back. After scoring two goals in each of the last two seasons, Jarratt already has three points this season, including one goal.
鈥淥ffence has never been my main focus, but last weekend with Scott [Walford] still being away I saw more time on the power play and played a bit more offensive role so that was a lot of fun,鈥� said Jarratt, who hails from Fort St. John.
鈥淏ut as the coaches like to stress, take care of your own zone and you鈥檒l spend more time in the offensive zone so that鈥檚 what I鈥檝e been focusing on.鈥�
With four WHL seasons under his belt, Jarratt is a front runner to be named the Royals captain if current captain Matthew Phillips doesn鈥檛 return from the Calgary Flames鈥� American Hockey League team in Stockton, California.
And that suits the 6-foot-2, 225-pound blueliner just fine.
鈥淟ast year we had an older team with ten 19-year-olds, but this year it鈥檚 definitely a younger team and the leadership has fallen on certain older guys like my self so I just try to be a little more vocal on the ice and in the room to help the young guys out,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a learning curve but I think we鈥檝e got a great leadership group now and can really help the young guys in the transition.鈥�
The transition has worked so far. The Royals were victorious in their first two games over Prince George and have defeated Kamloops, one of the early favourites to compete for the sa国际传媒 Division title.
Jarratt and the Royals battle the Blazers again tonight, before heading out on their first road trip of the season next weekend.
