The mumps has given hockey its share of bumps this season.
The Victoria Royals and Seattle Thunderbirds could meet in the first round of the WHL playoffs, and also have something else in common. Both clubs have activated the mumps protocol.
Mathew Barzal of Seattle, the best player in the WHL, is under watch after falling ill just before the start of a game Friday night. The Canadian junior national teamer and future New York Islanders forward has not played since. Royals head coach Dave Lowry and defencemen Ralph Jarratt and Mitchell Prowse came down with flu-like symptoms before a game Friday in Kamloops and all three have been isolated since. The Royals said test results for mumps had not been received as of Monday.
Royals GM Cam Hope said he hopes it is just the flu but that an abundance of caution has to be taken immediately with any flu symptoms because of what happened earlier in the WHL when a Brandon Wheat Kings player, on Feb. 7, and seven players or coaches with the Medicine Hat Tigers were confirmed with mumps later in February. The Royals were in Medicine Hat for a game on Feb. 15. Mumps has a 25-day incubation period.
Mumps also affected the NHL鈥檚 Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild this season.
In Lowry鈥檚 absence, Royals assistant Dan Price handled the head-coaching duties in a 6-2 loss Friday in Kamloops against the Blazers and 4-3 overtime loss Saturday in Kelowna against the Rockets. Hope said Price will again be in charge of the bench tonight in Langley when the Royals play the Vancouver Giants. Jarratt and Prowse will also again be out of the lineup, said Hope.
Despite the short bench, spirits remain buoyant, said Price.
鈥淲e want to establish playing with a high pace early in the game against the Giants and get the early lead,鈥� said Price.
The earlier mumps outbreaks prompted the WHL to issue a statement on Feb. 24 advising clubs to sanitize dressing rooms and equipment and to instruct players to review their vaccination histories and avoid direct contact with fans, such as close-in autograph sessions.
The Royals, who have clinched a playoff berth and have three regular-season games remaining, were already dealing with a depleted roster due to Tyler Soy, Ryan Peckford and Chaz Reddekopp out with previous injuries. Soy is thought to be close to a return but don鈥檛 look for that to happen in Langley against a Giants team (19-43-6) that will miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season and fourth time in the past five years.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 expect Tyler back [tonight],鈥� said Hope.
Regardless of Portland鈥檚 recent rise to tie the Royals (37-26-6) in the standings with 80 points, Victoria is still the seventh seed in the Western Conference, with the Tri-City Americans falling to eighth seed with 79 points but a game in hand on both the Royals and Winterhawks.
鈥淓ach of the eight Western Conference playoff teams will finish well over .500 and there is a chance each could have 40 or more wins, which is incredible, and shows the strength of the conference this season,鈥� said Hope.
Because of the blended divisional and conference system the WHL utilizes, either Portland or Tri-City can still finish as what can essentially be considered the sixth seed. Victoria, however, can only place as the seventh or eighth seed and is guaranteed to play either the sa国际传媒 or U.S. division champion in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs. There are four possible opponents for the Royals 鈥� the Prince George Cougars, Everett Silvertips, Seattle or Kelowna.
The Royals will influence the races for the divisional titles, and thus who they meet in the first round, by closing out the regular season with a home-and-away set against the Silvertips on Friday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and Saturday in Everett.
