After scoring his second goal of the game against Lethbridge last week at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, forward Dante Hannoun of the Victoria Royals took a page out of the Toronto Blue Jays鈥� celebration playbook and made a motion with his hands like he was stirring the pot.
鈥淚 have the baseball [Blue Jays] to thank for it . . . I thought I would try it out,鈥� said the sophomore Hannoun, who has six goals and nine points on the season.
It was an appropriate metaphor.
Not only have Hannoun and the upstart Royals stirred the pan in the Western Hockey League with a 9-5-1 start, so have recent and upcoming opponents.
Hannoun鈥檚 backhand assist in overtime to Vladimir Bobylev snapped Prince Albert鈥檚 seven-game winning streak Friday with a 3-2 Victoria overtime victory that handed the No. 4-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League (11-3-1 pending a late-Saturday night game against Swift Current) with its first home loss of the season. But consider that Prince Albert has missed the playoffs nine times in the past 15 seasons, including last season.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes 鈥� who missed the playoffs the past six seasons but were 10-3 heading into Kelowna on Saturday night 鈥� defeated Victoria 4-3 in a shootout in the previous Royals game. It鈥檚 another unlikely team with a twist that Victoria will face today in a matinee at SaskTel Centre when it takes on Saskatoon. Despite missing the playoffs the past two seasons, the Blades are off to a 7-4-3 start.
鈥淚t鈥檚 parity,鈥� said Royals coach Dave Lowry. 鈥淥n any given night any team can beat any other.鈥�
The Royals, Raiders, Hurricanes and Blades do not boast top-end NHL prospects. It comes down to good coaching and squeezing the most out of players.
The top players in today鈥檚 match-up are both 19-year-old blueliners 鈥� Detroit Red Wings-inked Joe Hicketts of Victoria and third-round Buffalo Sabres draft-pick Brycen Martin of Saskatoon.
The Blades are an original WHL team celebrating their 50th season along with the league. Despite its historic pedigree, Saskatoon has never won the Memorial Cup.
Today鈥檚 game in Saskatoon follows up Prince Albert and is the second contest of the Royals鈥� 5,000-plus kilometre, six-game swing through Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It continues Tuesday in Swift Current, Wednesday in Moose Jaw, Friday in Brandon and next Saturday in Regina.
ALUMNI TRAIL: The Royals have yet to produce an NHL player during their five seasons in Victoria, but have several alumni in the minor pros, especially in the ECHL, where Brandon Magee has two goals and five points in six games with the Idaho Steelheads, Logan Nelson four goals in five games with the Quad City Mallards, Ben Walker a goal and three points for the Tulsa Oilers, Kevin Sundher three goals and six points in three games for the Reading Royals and offensive-blueliner Travis Brown two goals in six games with the Brampton Beast . . . 鈥淚t鈥檚 an enormous leap into pro hockey, where you鈥檙e suddenly up against players with 10-15 years more experience,鈥� noted Royals GM Cam Hope. 鈥淥nly the rarest guys leap up to the top level right away. It takes time鈥� . . . But it鈥檚 not all ECHL as power-forward Austin Carroll has yet to register a point in two games with Stockton, formerly of the ECHL and now an AHL franchise, where fellow-Flames prospect and former Royals defenceman Keegan Kanzig has also made his pro debut.
