Victoria and Brandon, Manitoba, bookend the Western Hockey League from west to east.
The travel is compounded for Brandon because the next nearest teams are in Saskatchewan. For Victoria, well, does the term sa国际传媒 Ferries ring a bell?
Defenceman Jordan Fransoo, traded last season to the Victoria Royals from the Brandon Wheat Kings, has experienced life at both ends and he reflected on that before the Royals departed for a six-games road swing through eastern Washington, the Kootenays and Alberta starting tonight in Kennewick, Washington, against the Tri-City Americans.
鈥淚 guess I鈥檝e been at both end points of the league [Victoria and Brandon], where travel is longer than for most teams,鈥� noted the 19-year-old from North Battleford, Sask., who has been a leader on the Royals blueline defensively this season and at the other end with three goals and 14 points in 48 games.
鈥淏ut travel is just part of it, anywhere you play in the league. You get tired sometimes mentally but you just push through it. But I actually don鈥檛 mind the travel. For me, time flies by on the bus. The guys are fun and we have fun times.鈥�
Yet, the grind of a WHL season usually hits in about February.
All the travelling the Royals do is by bus. The team drove overnight last Saturday from Prince George to catch the 9 a.m. ferry Sunday morning to meet Seattle in a home set Tuesday and Wednesday on Blanshard. Now, the Royals are on the road again for six games over 11 days.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get to practise as much or as long this time of year,鈥� noted Royals head coach Dave Lowry. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you do a lot of work in September and October to make sure you are prepared for this time.鈥�
The opening two games of this trip, tonight in Tri-City and Sunday in Spokane, are the most crucial and each represent potential four-point swings.
Victoria (30-19-4) has won three straight games and is in a fifth-place tie with Spokane, one point behind fourth-place Tri-City in the Western Conference standings. All three teams have played 53 games with 19 remaining for each. At stake in this three-team race is home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth-place team. The fifth-place team won鈥檛 get home ice but at least gets the first-round perk of avoiding CHL No. 1-ranked Portland, No. 4 Kelowna and No. 10 Kamloops. The sixth-place team will have to play one of those WHL Western Conference heavyweights in the opening round.
鈥淭hose are big games [tonight in Tri-City and Sunday in Spokane] and would be huge points to pick up against those two teams,鈥� said Royals forward Ben Walker.
Following this weekend, the Royals鈥� swing continues against the Kootenay Ice on Wednesday in Cranbrook, before concluding in Alberta against the Red Deer Rebels, Calgary Hitmen and Edmonton Oil Kings.
