Most observers are aware of the contributions captain Tarun Fizer, leading scorer Bailey Peach, San Jose Sharks-prospect defenceman Gannon Laroque and goaltender Tyler Palmer have made in the Victoria Royals’ late surge for a WHL playoff berth, a quest which continues tonight and Saturday on Blanshard against the Prince George Cougars.
Just as key, however, in the current four-game winning streak has been the performances of the secondary-role players. The flash-quick line of Brayden Schuurman, Tanner Scott and Danish-import Marcus Almquist provided the bulk of the offence in the 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday night.
The stellar goaltending of Campbell Arnold against Kelowna showed that Victoria is as comfortable with 1B Arnold in goal as they are with 1A Palmer. The return from injury of 20-year-old forward Evan Patrician has also been noticed, particularly in the face-off circle.
“Face-off wins correlate directly to shot volume,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
“Also so valuable is Evan Patrician’s calming veteran presence. He has an aggressive and physical game while remaining composed and calm.”
Another player who lost much of the season to injury and is now a factor is Austin Zemlak. The sa国际传媒 U-17 selection is growing into a monster on the Victoria defence and has laced into several body-shivering hits on opposing forwards to show why the Royals chose him as the ninth overall selection in the first round of the 2020 WHL prospects draft. Zemlak could be the next Laroque on the Royals’ blue line.
“[Zemlak] will be a foundational piece,” said Price.
Prince George, meanwhile, has more than a few foundation pieces of its own. Because of lowly placings in recent seasons, and trades, the Cougars had seven first-round picks in the WHL prospects draft over the past three years, several of them top-five. That has resulted in five Cougars players ranked for the 2022 NHL draft and Koehn Ziemmer and Riley Heidt projected to go high in the 2023 NHL draft. Prince George is struggling this season at 20-34-3, but is very young, and could be the team to beat over the next few seasons in the sa国际传媒 Division and Western Conference.
The Royals (21-34-6), wwwritten off earlier by many but now in seventh place in the Western Conference, are five points ahead of the Cougars and Spokane Chiefs in the battle for a playoff berth. Eight teams will advance to the conference post-season. The Cougars, however, have four games in hand on the Royals and the Chiefs have two in hand on Victoria.
The Royals’ recent push also has them two points behind the sixth-place Vancouver Giants but that is tempered by the Giants holding four games in hand.
