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Matthew Phillips and Dillon Dub茅 have had remarkably symmetrical hockey careers.
They have known each other since they were kids playing against each other in Atom, with Phillips skating with Calgary youth teams and Dub茅 with teams in Cochrane, Alta., and joining up together on teams in spring hockey.
Both forwards were selected in the 2013 Western Hockey League bantam draft, Phillips in the second round by the Victoria Royals and Dub茅 in the first round by the Kelowna Rockets.
Both were taken by the home-province Calgary Flames in the 2016 NHL draft, Phillips in the sixth round and Dub茅 in the second round. Both are prospects for sa国际传媒鈥檚 U-20 team for the 2018 world junior championships beginning next month, and both will play for Team WHL against the Russian juniors in the Subway Super Series on Monday in Moose Jaw, Sask., and Tuesday in Swift Current, Sask.
Also on Team WHL is Rockets forward Kole Lind, the 2017 second-round selection of the Vancouver Canucks, and Rockets blueliner Cal Foote, a first-round selection taken 14th overall this year by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Phillips will face Dub茅, Lind and Foote tonight and Saturday when the Royals play host to Kelowna at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre before the trio depart Sunday to join Team WHL.
Phillips and Dub茅 have spent much time together in Flames training camp, national junior team camp over the summer, and with Stockton in the American Hockey League playoffs last spring.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 treat each as friends on the ice [when the Royals and Rockets meet],鈥� Phillips said.
Asked how nasty the jawing gets between them, Phillips chuckled: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a little bit of it but nothing too serious.鈥�
But make no mistake. The Rockets are the Royals鈥� biggest rival. Two second-round playoff meetings over the past three seasons will do that. So, too, will Victoria (12-4-1 and ranked No. 7 nationally in the CHL) being this season where everybody thought the loaded Kelowna squad (7-5-3) would be 鈥� atop the sa国际传媒 Division.
鈥淭here was some uncertainty for us going into the season, but we鈥檝e had a good start and now teams are ready for us,鈥� Phillips said.
That just adds to the intrigue of this weekend鈥檚 compelling Royals-Rockets match-up.
鈥淜elowna always has good teams and these are exciting, emotional games,鈥� added Phillips, who is tied for second in WHL points with 34 behind Swift Current forward Tyler Steenbergen鈥檚 35. Phillips is third in goals with 15 behind Steenbergen鈥檚 21 and Royals forward Regan Nagy鈥檚 16.
This weekend provides Calgary with one-stop shopping for both Phillips and Dub茅, so Flames player-development director Ron Sutter is in town to scout both Royals-Rockets games.
Games against the Rockets have been special for Royals veteran Chaz Reddekopp, the strapping Los Angeles Kings-signed blueliner, who hails from West Kelowna: 鈥淚t鈥檚 always exciting when Victoria plays Kelowna. Throw in the playoff battles of the past and it really builds a hate for each other.鈥�
