The Victoria Royals head into a weekend Western Hockey League set Friday night and Sunday against the Prince George Cougars after having reached a milestone.
The Royals鈥� previous game, a 5-2 loss Wednesday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, was the 500th for the Royals since the franchise shifted to the Island from Chilliwack in 2011-12. The move has been generally kind for the team as the Royals鈥� record in that span is 270-190-40 overall and 147-81-20 at home.
Victoria teams, however, have played many more games in the WHL than that. The Victoria Cougars skated in the league from 1971-72 until the franchise was moved to Prince George in 1993-94, meaning Royals-Cougars games carry an added historical edge for old-school Victoria hockey fans.
This season鈥檚 matchup, however, is no contest. The Royals are playoff-bound at 37-25-6 while the Cougars are eliminated at 23-36-8 and will miss the post-season after going all-in and loading up with 13 19-year-old players last season only to exit in the first round.
The Royals, though, are wary of the spoiler-minded Cougars. Prince George beat Victoria 2-1 in overtime before losing 7-3 in earning a split against the Royals last weekend at CN Centre up north.
鈥淧rince George is a physical team,鈥� said Anaheim Ducks-prospect Tyler Soy, who had both Victoria goals against Spokane on Wednesday.
鈥淭hese are going to be two tough games.鈥�
As perhaps attested by the way the last meeting between the clubs ended in Prince George last weekend in the final minute with Victoria鈥檚 Russian import forward Andrei Grishakov fighting Jackson Leppard of Prince George, with a rash of other penalties called during the ill-tempered melee.
The Saturday night off is an unusual aspect to this two-game set on Blanshard.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unique to have a day off between. So we鈥檒l use the Saturday to rest, recover and prepare for Sunday,鈥� said Royals coach Dan Price.
The Royals are three points behind the sa国际传媒 Division-leading Kelowna Rockets, who hold a game in hand, with five games remaining to Victoria鈥檚 four.
But many around the league are wondering if this is a race worth winning. The sa国际传媒 Division champion will play the Western Conference eighth-seed, which will be either the Tri-City Americans or Seattle Thunderbirds from the deep and talented U.S. Division.
The sa国际传媒 Division second-place finisher will draw the more-beatable Vancouver Giants, who return to the playoffs after three seasons out of the post-season. Victoria is three points ahead of Vancouver with the Giants holding two games in hand.
Kelowna, appearing to be cruising to the sa国际传媒 Division title before suddenly going winless in five games, is in Kamloops Friday to face a Blazers team that will not make the playoffs. Vancouver is in Tri-City.
鈥淭hese are all big games now,鈥� said Soy, a rare fifth-year Royals player and the all-time franchise leader in goals and points, who is down to his final four career WHL regular-season contests.
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