The Western Hockey League post-season has begun in all but name as far as James Patrick is concerned.
“This is the start of the playoffs for us. We can’t wait to start playing playoff hockey. We need it now,” said the Victoria Royals’ head coach, before his club faced off Wednesday night against the Wenatchee Wild.
His team finally gave him that urgency Patrick was looking for in beating the Wild 7-3 before 2,890 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to halt a six-game winless streak.
“The last few weeks we’ve talked about playoff-type hockey,” said Patrick.
“Everyone knows how big these games are. How important the points are for us and the teams we’re playing against. The points are huge for them and for us.”
The result blunted, for the moment, Wenatchee’s quest to nail down fourth place in the Western Conference and home-ice advantage in the first-round of the playoffs that goes with it. The Wild have two regular-season games remaining.
The win moved Victoria (29-29-9) into a sixth-place tie with Kelowna but the Rockets have two regular-season games remaining and the Royals only one. There is little chance of the Royals avoiding the Western Conference big three of the Prince George Cougars, Portland Winterhawks or Everett Silvertips in the first round of the playoffs, which will begin March 29 for the Victoria club on the road.
“Who we play will be sorted out after the weekend,” said Patrick, who added the eventual first-round playoff opponent is immaterial to him heading into the regular-season curtain dropper Friday night against the Wild at the Memorial Centre.
“As much as anything, I want us playing the game the right way,” he added.
“We need to be defending like your life depends on it — we need more of that to get ready for the playoffs.”
There was enough of that spirit Wednesday as the Royals won for only the second time in their past 11 games. Graduating 20-year-olds Dawson Pasternak and Tyson Laventure scored twice each in their penultimate career regular-season junior-hockey games.
“It feels good but it was a team effort tonight,” said Pasternak, in addressing the crowd on the PA following the game.
“We worked hard and competed.”
Teydon Trembecky, Escalus Burlock and 2024 NHL-draft ranked defenceman Nate Misskey scored the other Victoria goals. Rodzers Bukarts scored twice for Wenatchee (33-29-4), which is minus three first-round NHL draft picks who paced the club — then known as the Winnipeg Ice — to the WHL regular-season championship last season and to the 2023 league playoff final.
Buffalo Sabres-prospect Matthew Savoie and Arizona Coyotes-prospect Conor Geekie were dealt away by the Wild in blockbuster trade-deadline deals this year in exchange for a boatload of high future WHL prospects draft picks while Zach Benson was kept up in the NHL by the Sabres.
ICE CHIPS: The Royals were wearing jerseys Wednesday designed through a fan competition. Judging by the result, they might want to keep wearing them.
Patrick coached that Ice team last season in Winnipeg but was not retained by the club in the off-season franchise shift to Wenatchee in Washington state.
Wednesday was the first victory by the Royals over the Wild franchise since 2018 when it was known as the Kootenay Ice and located in Cranbrook.
The Royals have qualified for their first post-season appearance in five years following the pandemic cancellations of the 2020 and 2021 playoffs and Victoria failing to qualify for the last two post-seasons in 2022 and 2023.
