It is the 2016 WHL Western Conference final that could have been. Many say should have been, if not for the Victoria Royals鈥� spiralling into their own version of a Falcons-like collapse.
The Seattle Thunderbirds were probably in the midst of making their ferry reservations when the hand of fate intervened with just milliseconds remaining as the Kelowna Rockets stole away from the Royals a seemingly assured berth in last year鈥檚 Western final.
Nine months later, the Thunderbirds finally make their belated appearance on Blanshard Street tonight and Wednesday. And with much the same lineup that swept aside Kelowna 4-0 in the Western Conference final before losing 4-1 to the Brandon Wheat Kings in only the second appearance in the WHL final in Seattle junior hockey history.
Seattle appears the most pro-like team this season in the WHL with players such as Mathew Barzal, Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar, Ethan Bear and Jarret Tyszka.
The talented Barzal began the season in the NHL with the New York Islanders, Gropp is a second-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, Kolesar is signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Bear is an Edmonton Oilers blue-line prospect and defenceman Tyszka is projected for the second or third round of the 2017 NHL draft.
鈥淪eattle plays a big, heavy game . . . and also brings skill . . . we have to play a 200-foot game against them,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
鈥淚 liken them to Kelowna.鈥�
Seattle swept both earlier meetings against Victoria, winning 3-1 on Oct. 7 and 5-0 on Nov. 26 at ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. But that seems an eternity ago.
鈥淭his is a team we have not seen for a while,鈥� added Lowry.
Pre-Christmas and post-Christmas have historically been two different worlds for the Royals.
The Thunderbirds-Royals match-up features two teams rounding into form at the right time of the season. Seattle is 31-15-5 overall and 7-0-1 in its last eight games with just one regulation-time loss in its last 14 games. Victoria is 30-19-4 and has won four consecutive games and eight of its last nine.
鈥淪eattle is starting to get its game back,鈥� said Lowry.
He could have said the same about his own team. Among the players playing well in the Royals鈥� recent stretch of success has been six-foot-two defenceman Scott Walford, whose streak of scoring in four consecutive games was only snapped in Saturday鈥檚 4-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen.
A quietly effective performer, Walford鈥檚 play hasn鈥檛 gone unnoticed as Central Scouting has the 18-year-old from Coquitlam ranked 153rd among North American skaters for the 2017 NHL draft. That translates to the late rounds. Yet, early or late, Walford said he doesn鈥檛 concern himself with worrying about the draft.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not important to me at this point . . . just playing my game will help me get drafted,鈥� he said.
Walford has been paired largely with Loch Morrison since the latter veteran rearguard was acquired by the Royals from the Prince Albert Raiders at the trade deadline on Jan. 10.
鈥淲e have had good chemistry in the defensive zone and are also both confident in jumping up into the play,鈥� said Walford.
鈥淟och is a great player to be back there with, because he鈥檚 a 19-year-old veteran with a wealth of knowledge from both conferences.鈥�
The Royals haven鈥檛 been doing too much wrong of late. But neither has Seattle, making tonight and Wednesday a marquee back-to-back set that will be closely watched around the league.
ICE CHIPS: Jack Walker will play his 300th WHL game tonight, all with the Royals. The Vikings football fan and native of Edina, Minnesota, has 93 goals and 230 career points for the Royals. That鈥檚 not bad for a guy who was originally projected as a defenceman by the Royals. His constant improvement and persistence were rewarded when Walker became a 2016 NHL draft pick in his second year of eligibility, selected in the sixth round by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
