VICTORIA聽 4 聽
EVERETT聽 1
The burning question of the week, at least for those interested in hockey superstitions, was answered Saturday on centre ice at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Victoria Royals captain Joe Hicketts did not touch the Scotty Munro Trophy for the WHL regular-season championship when it was presented by league commissioner Ron Robison. 鈥淲e talked about it before the game and decided to leave it alone,鈥� said Victoria forward Tyler Soy.
Soy scored twice as 50 proved nifty for the Royals as they reached that win plateau for the first time in the 10 seasons of Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals history with the 4-1 regular-season finale victory over the Everett Silvertips (38-26-8) before 7,006 fans.
Matthew Phillips, with his franchise rookie-record 37th goal, scored on the power play as he cruised to the WHL rookie scoring title with 76 points.
鈥淛oe [Hicketts] kind of made the final call [about not touching the Scotty Munro Trophy]. It shows we are working toward something bigger. But the playoffs are a different animal,鈥� said Phillips.
The emerging 17-year-old sensation was frank about his WHL rookie scoring title: 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have envisioned this at the start of the season,鈥� said Phillips.
It was the Royals鈥� franchise record 13th consecutive victory. That鈥檚 how it will go into the books because the next regular-season game isn鈥檛 until the 2016-17 curtain raiser in September.
The Royals (50-16-6) will open the playoffs Friday and next Saturday at the Memorial Centre against the Western Conference eighth-seed Spokane Chiefs.
Russian import Vladimir Bobylev, who had three assists in Friday鈥檚 4-2 win in Everett, opened scoring for Victoria. Hicketts and Alex Forsberg had two assists each.
Soy finished with 46 goals, which is the most in a season by a player in the five years the team has played in Victoria. The all-time Bruins/Royals franchise record of 51 was set in 2010-11 by former Chilliwack forward Ryan Howse. 鈥淓ach year you want to improve,鈥� said the returning Soy, about eventually taking down Howse鈥檚 record. 鈥淗opefully, next year, we are just as good or better.鈥�
Rookie Griffen Outhouse made 19 saves for Victoria to win the league crown for best goals-against average. The Silvertips sat out Carter Hart, the top-ranked North American goaltender for the 2016 NHL draft. Mario Petit made 23 saves for Everett.
With two Silvertips helped off the ice with injuries Saturday, it was notable that Royals coach Dave Lowry again played his whole roster. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 coach like that [sitting out players] 鈥� we play to win,鈥� said Lowry.
ICE CHIPS: Former Canucks GM Mike Gillis will be the special guest today for the Royals鈥� team awards ceremony at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Centre. Tickets are available at the door.
