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They say there is no rest for the wicked, but there certainly was some for the Victoria Royals on Thursday, who enjoyed a break after playing two games in two nights in Moose Jaw and Swift Current on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Royals earned some down time Thursday before having to face Medicine Hat tonight and Lethbridge on Saturday in a four-game, five-night Western Hockey League road trip.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been busy, obviously, with two games in two nights to go along with the travel, so we will take advantage of the rest and recharge. Then we go into Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, and both rinks are tough to play in,鈥� Royals head coach Dan Price said.
鈥淭he guys are excited to play both teams. Medicine Hat will be another tough challenge, just like Moose Jaw and Swift Current. And Lethbridge 鈥� obviously, we saw them at home recently and we didn鈥檛 like the way that game went 鈥� so we鈥檙e excited to play them at the end of the road trip.鈥�
The Royals are coming off 7-4 and 3-2 (in overtime) losses in Saskatchewan. Last week, they were humbled 10-4 by Lethbridge.
Andd four games in five nights with the travel adds to the adversity.
鈥淚t is a tough trip, but it鈥檚 good for a lot of reasons,鈥� Price said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good in that lots of guys will have to play a lot of minutes in different situations.
鈥淲e also have some young guys on the trip with us, like Tyus Gent, who played his first game [on Wednesday].
鈥淗e saw limited ice time, but he played really well in the shifts that he did have,鈥� Price said of the 16-year-old Delta product. 鈥淭hey also get to play in a playoff-like atmosphere, constantly travelling and playing against good teams in tight games, so these are great overall-developmental moments over the course of the year.
鈥淵ou go game-to-game and you have to play your best, manage the puck, and take care of your rest and recovery and nutrition. These are lessons that you draw on over the course of the year, for sure. 鈥�
Gent, a six-foot-one, 176-pound defenceman, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 Bantam draft, will likely get a chance to play again this weekend.
鈥淢y guess is yes, we like the way he played, but it depends on the lineup with who鈥檚 in and who鈥檚 out,鈥� said Price, who is again without veteran forward Regan Nagy, battling a nagging injury.
鈥淗e [Gent] is likely to play in one or both of the games this weekend.鈥�
The high-scoring Tigers, who lead the Central Division and sit fourth overall in the Eastern Conference, enter tonight鈥檚 clash at 15-10-0-0.
Victoria is 18-9-2-0 and returns home a week from today to face Kootenay in their 鈥渢eddy bear toss鈥� game at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
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