The Western Hockey League on Thursday unveiled its logo for the 2023 playoffs. Not that it’s likely to concern the Victoria Royals.
The ninth-place Royals only have nine games remaining and are 12 points adrift of the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference with the eighth-place Kelowna Rockets holding two games in hand.
“Eighteen points on the table is a lot of points,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
“It’s one game at a time. Hopefully, we get a few in a row. We have to empty the tank.”
The ever-shrinking stretch drive continues with an away-and-home set against the Vancouver Giants tonight at the Langley Events Centre and Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. The seventh-place Giants are 14 points ahead of Victoria.
The Royals have joined with Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League in a “Beat Vancouver” promotion with T-Shirts printed up bearing that slogan to raise funds for KidSport Greater Victoria. But while that’s a would-be-nice-to-do sentiment for PFC, as they look ahead to their CPL opener against expansion Vancouver FC next month at Starlight Stadium, it’s a must-do for the Royals (15-37-7) tonight and Saturday against the Giants (22-28-7), who have five players ranked by Central Scouting for the 2023 NHL draft.
“We need to play desperation hockey and win every game,” said Royals goaltender Braden Holt.
