Many hockey teams have used strength up the middle as a main building block. Centres Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf, John Tavares and centre/left-winger Jamie Benn of Victoria dominated as sa国际传媒 won gold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Hockey dynasties have been built around elite centres such as Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jean Beliveau, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman and Bryan Trottier.
You can鈥檛 have enough centre spine.
The Victoria Royals seem set in that position for the 2015-16 Western Hockey League season with true centres Tyler Soy, Logan Fisher, Dante Hannoun and Russian import Vladymir Bobylev, with versatile Alex Forsberg as comfortable at centre as on the wing. Throw in emerging rookie centres Matthew Phillips and Ryan Peckford.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got some options,鈥� noted Victoria GM Cam Hope.
The most obvious is that the centre depth leaves 20-year-old Forsberg available to pair on the wing with Soy as part of a potential top line that could include veteran Jack Walker on the other wing. Soy worked well last season with winger Greg Chase, who is likely to play pro in the AHL this year. Soy also displayed some chemistry with Forsberg.
Regardless of whom he is paired with on the wings, Soy knows he needs to produce this season.
鈥淚鈥檓 coming into my third year, I鈥檓 a year older and more of a veteran, and there is more pressure and more expected of me,鈥� said the native of Cloverdale, who had 28 goals and 63 points in 69 games last season.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to be a point-a-game player, if not more.鈥�
Soy is rallying from the disappointment of being overlooked in the 2015 NHL draft after being the 78th-ranked North American skater. The 18-year-old will play for the Edmonton Oilers rookie team next week as a free-agent invitee in the Young Stars tournament in Penticton after skating in the Oilers鈥� rookie camp this summer.
鈥淚t was a tough day, for sure,鈥� admitted Soy, of draft day.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not the worst thing that could have happened, because I got the rookie camp invite from Edmonton.鈥�
Soy is five-foot-11, 175 pounds and elusive and hard to hit in junior. But at the pro level, forwards require more than quickness. Soy needs to get heavier and harder to move off the puck.
鈥淚鈥檓 eating as much as I can and often as I can,鈥� he said.
鈥淟ots of protein shakes.鈥�
Fisher, meanwhile, brings a stabilizing 20-year-old presence to centre for the Royals. But with seven 19-year-olds last season on the team, and only three eligible to return as over-agers this season, it was a high-anxiety early summer before the Royals decided on Fisher, Forsberg and goaltender Coleman Vollrath as their three allowable 20-year-olds.
鈥淚t was nerve-racking. You never know. It was a waiting game. It鈥檚 one of those things,鈥� said the native of Red Deer, who is looking forward to making the most of his fourth season with the team.
鈥淚 remember looking up to the 20-year-olds when I was a Royals rookie.鈥�
The undrafted Fisher knows he must not only be a senior leader of the Royals but also play for a pro contract personally.
鈥淭his is a big year on a lot of levels and I鈥檓 going to leave it all on the table. I鈥檓 not going to get many chances next year,鈥� he said.
A reliable faceoff winner, the centre position seems to come naturally to Fisher.
鈥淚 took faceoffs in lacrosse, too. I鈥檝e always had that role,鈥� added the Ironman, who has played the full 72 games each of the last two regular seasons, finishing with 22 points each time.
鈥淚n my three seasons with the Royals, we have always been strong up the middle with players like Steven Hodges and Ben Walker [both now in the minor-pros]. Centre is an important role and a position that covers a lot of the ice.鈥�
And the Royals appear to have it covered well this season.
Royals training camp concludes today with the annual Blue-White intrasquad game at 7 p.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, before the team departs to Everett for the first pre-season game Friday.
ICE CHIPS: Brandon Fushimi, a useful two-way Royals forward from Colorado, will attend school fulltime and not play his fourth season for Victoria. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a mature decision for Brandon to make. It鈥檚 a very rare decision for a 19-year-old [WHL player] to make,鈥� said GM Hope.
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