LANGLEY — That’s what you call an answer.
Twenty-four hours after a near-epic collapse at home, the Victoria Royals caught a ferry and responded with a 5-2 Western Hockey League New Year’s Day victory over the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre on Wednesday.
That came after the Royals coughed up a 6-2 lead with just over 13 minutes left in the third period en route to a 7-6 shootout loss to the Giants on Tuesday afternoon at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. Even by the standards of junior hockey, where swings within games are built into the mix, that was considered a wild one. Needless to say, there was no celebrating on New Year’s Eve for the Royals, which was all to the good next day as it was a determined group of players that came out firing on all cylinders at the LEC in scoring three first-period power-play goals in building a 5-0 lead by the second period, an advantage which Victoria in the rematch with the Giants, did not relinquish in building mammoth shots leads of 30-5 and 35-6 to a final 46-19 advantage in the thorough victory.
“I was really happy with the response. What we went through Tuesday was not fun. It’s a bit embarrassing and deflating and your confidence gets shaken a bit. But if you’ve been around the game long enough, it happens to everyone,” said Royals head coach James Patrick, who played 21 seasons in the NHL.
“There’s only one answer. You go out next game and compete your butt off, play your hardest and work your system. We did that today here in Langley.”
With the 5-0 lead, the message to his charges was obvious: Don’t let what happened the day before happen again: “You hate to go there but you’re kicking yourself if you don’t as a coach,” said Patrick. “The message was that we’re playing much better today. This is not even near the same game as [Tuesday]. We learned from Tuesday and so we’re going to keep playing the same way we are today and keep taking the game in the next five-minute chunk upcoming.”
Teydon Trembecky’s hat trick and the two goals by NHL Winnipeg Jets-prospect Markus Loponen were overshadowed for Victoria on Tuesday afternoon at the Memorial Centre by the Giants’ stunning comeback. But not so Naniamo product Brayden Boehm’s two goals and one assist, 2025 NHL draft first-round touted Cole Reschny’s goal and assist and Utah HC-prospect defenceman Justin Kipkie’s two assists on Wednesday at the LEC. Trembecky also scored again Wednesday for his fourth goal in two days.
“We used Tuesday’s game as fuel and said we don’t want a repeat and we can’t have that happen again,” said Boehm, the 20-year-old winger from the Harbour City. “We wanted to come in here flying out of the gates quick. We just played our game.”
The two-game cross-strait West Coast derby dropped the curtain on 2024 and ushered in 2025 as the Royals went to 18-11-7 and Giants to 17-14-4 as Vancouver had a four-game win streak snapped Wednesday.
The Royals headed to the ferries from the LEC to begin preparing for their back-to-back set against the league-leading Everett Silvertips (28-5-3) on Friday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and Saturday night in the return engagement at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett. The Friday fixture will be the first visit to the Memorial Centre of prodigy defenceman Landon DuPont, only the second player after current Chicago Blackhawks sophomore forward Connor Bedard to receive exceptional status to play in the WHL as a 15-year-old and the ninth in Canadian Hockey League history on a list that includes Connor McDavid and John Tavares.
DuPont on Monday was named WHL player of the week for his three goals and two assists for five points in the two-game Puget Sound-rivalry sweep of the Seattle Thunderbirds last weekend.
“At 15, he [DuPont] looks like a 19-year-old NHL draft pick,” said Patrick.
