It鈥檚 a moment that arrives sooner or later for the vast majority of junior-age players in NHL camps. For Victoria Royals defenceman Joe Hicketts, forward Jack Walker and goaltender Evan Smith, it came Monday as they were sent back to Victoria by the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators, respectively.
鈥淒etroit had a lot of defencemen still on the training camp roster,鈥� said Hicketts, who was signed during last year鈥檚 training camp after being overlooked in the 2014 NHL draft.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 play this season [in pro], anyway,鈥� added the native of Kamloops, who won gold with sa国际传媒 at the 2015 world junior championship, and who is again expected to skate for the defending champions at the 2016 world juniors in Helsinki.
As a 19-year-old, Hicketts can only play pro in the NHL and cannot in the AHL. The rule is to protect junior hockey. Despite his bulldog-like tenacity in rising against the odds, the mobile but undersized blueliner is far from making that direct step to the Red Wings.
The Royals鈥� trio return from NHL camps after forward Tyler Soy came back last week from the Edmonton Oilers. The lone Royals player remaining in an NHL camp late Monday was defenceman Chaz Reddekopp with the Los Angeles Kings, but he is expected back over the next few days.
Royals GM Cam Hope said he expects to have Hicketts, Soy, Walker, Reddekopp and Smith in the lineup when Victoria opens the 2015-16 WHL regular season Friday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre against the Portland Winterhawks.
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