The Victoria Royals might again be feeling a little blue on the blue-line. And it鈥檚 got nothing to do with the club鈥檚 jersey colours.
Ryan Gagnon will sit out the second game of a two-game suspension tonight, while fellow veteran defenceman Joe Hicketts is still listed as-day-today with an injury.
The Royals, the Western Hockey League regular-season champions, lead their best-of-seven opening-round playoffs series 2-0 against the Western Conference eighth-seed Chiefs heading into Game 3 tonight at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Game 4 is Wednesday in Spokane and Game 5, if necessary, Friday in Victoria.
鈥淲e know what we鈥檙e dealing with [tonight] and we won鈥檛 change our mindset,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
鈥淸Gagnon] is not playing and [Hicketts] is being evaluated on a daily basis.鈥�
Even without Hicketts and Gagnon, Victoria had enough to edge Spokane 4-3 in Game 2 on Saturday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Hicketts, the Detroit Red Wings prospect and Western Conference MVP, was thought to be injured late in Game 1. The WHL stops issuing injury reports in the playoffs. The Royals will not discuss the Hicketts situation, but sources outside the club indicate it is a leg injury.
The quietly reliable Gagnon is suspended because of a major penalty and game misconduct he incurred in Friday鈥檚 5-3 Royals victory in Game 1.
On offence, meanwhile, the Royals keep humming along with their secondary scoring. Case in point is Russian import Vladimir Bobylev, not the team鈥檚 biggest star, but who was named WHL player of the week for his six assists and plus-5 rating over the first two playoff games.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 been our key all season. We have not relied on one or two guys to score,鈥� said Lowry.
Bobylev shrugged off his fast individual playoff start.
鈥淚t means nothing. It means more that my team is winning,鈥� he said.
Not that it has been pretty to start for Victoria. But there are no style points awarded in the playoffs. It only matters to get the result, however it鈥檚 done.
鈥淲e have not executed very well and have not played up to our level, yet,鈥� added Lowry.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to get better.鈥�
But there鈥檚 an adage about good teams winning even on bad nights. The Royals have accomplished that over the first two games.
Now the series swings into Spokane, where the Chiefs finally have the fan and media attention to themselves, after the Gonzaga Bulldogs were beaten Friday night in their attempt to make it to the NCAA Final Four in basketball.
鈥淭his is a tough building to play in and they [Chiefs] play extremely well here,鈥� warned Lowry.
Yet, two years ago, also in the first round, Victoria came into Spokane for the third and fourth games en route to a 4-0 series sweep.
鈥淚t was different two years ago because we won both the first two games in Victoria in overtime and rode that emotion into Spokane,鈥� noted Lowry.
The bench boss might have a point. Although two years later Victoria is again up 2-0 for the series shift into eastern Washington, and this year on an overall 15-game winning streak to boot, it just feels like there is less momentum blowing Victoria鈥檚 way this time because of Gagnon and perhaps Hicketts missing tonight and the Royals less sharp over the weekend at home than they have been during their torrid regular season.
It is certain that longshot Spokane will continue to try to hit Victoria to slow down the highly favoured Scotty Munro Trophy regular-season champions.
鈥淭he games are tougher . . . it鈥檚 more physical in the playoffs,鈥� added Bobylev, despite his dishing for six assists in two games.
