With forwards Jake Poole, the team’s leading scorer, and Marcus Almquist and Reggie Newman out with injury and causing ripples throughout the line combinations, the Victoria Royals’ first line tonight could be SpongeBob between Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks.
They will certainly have the look for it, sporting SpongeBob SquarePants jerseys against the Prince George Cougars at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. The Royals are among 17 of the 22 Western Hockey League teams wearing Nickelodeon-themed jerseys, from SpongeBob and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to PAW Patrol and Blue’s Clues, on Children’s Miracle Network Nights to support hospitals across Western sa国际传媒, including sa国际传媒 Children’s Hospital.
“Our players were young kids once and grew up watching these shows, so wearing these jerseys for a great cause, is something they will always remember,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
Maybe a line combination of Mr. Krabs, Sheldon Plankton and Squidward can produce some offence for the Royals, who are coming off two scoreless games against Seattle as part of a three-consecutive game set in which the Thunderbirds outscored Victoria 23-1.
“We have talked about that and know we need to get to the loose pucks around the goal,” said Price.
The Western Conference-leading Thunderbirds (43-9-2) are a de facto pro team this season with 10 NHL draft picks, including five first-rounders, and five players ranked for this year’s NHL draft. The Cougars (26-23-4 heading into Friday night) aren’t quite at that level but they are a good team featuring the dangerous duo of Koehn Ziemmer and Riley Heidt, the 20th and 26th ranked North American skaters, respectively, for the 2023 NHL draft and real Royals killers over the years. The Cougars are also solid in goal with Tyler Brennan, a fourth-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils, and Ty Young, a fifth-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks. Pick your poison in the crease when facing that duo.
“A real rivalry has developed with Prince George and these games are always physical and intense,” said Price.
The Cougars played a TSN nationally-televised game Friday night against the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre. The lowly Royals (15-36-6) might catch Prince George in a bit of a lull and trap game tonight at the Memorial Centre.
“The Cougars are always ready to play, but we have talked about getting a good jump to start games,” said Price.
Heading into Friday night’s game between the Kelowna Rockets and Edmonton Oil Kings, the Rockets led the Royals by seven points with four games in hand in the battle for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. The Royals are pretty much going to have to win nearly all their 11 remaining games.
“It’s definitely on our minds and we are not shying away from the challenge,” said Price.
