GAME DAY: MOOSE JAW VS. VICTORIA 7 p.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre
Radio: The Zone 91.3 FM / TV: None
Perhaps up to 10 per cent - and that's being generous - of Western Hockey League players will go on to play at least one game in the NHL and 90-plus per cent will go on to the AHL, ECHL, CIS, Europe or into civilian careers and back home to their local senior leagues.
The true blue-chippers among the potential NHLers are rarer yet.
Welcome to the heady world of Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors, a darting defenceman who plays more like a forward, and who lived up to his marquee billing during his last visit to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
That means the Victoria Royals are sure to have their fill of him tonight on his return to Blanshard Street when they take on the Warriors at 7 p.m.
The West Vancouver Hollyburn Country Club product and 2012 NHL first-round draft pick - taken fifth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs - was probably the single best Western Hockey League player on the Memorial Centre ice two weeks ago when the WHL team was beaten by the Russian juniors in the deciding game of the Subway Super Series.
Rielly is nearly automatic to follow up and represent sa国际传媒 next month in the world junior championship in Ufa, Russia.
"He could probably be in the NHL now if the NHL was playing," said Royals head coach Dave Lowry, who was on the bench as WHL assistant coach for that Super Series game and got a close-up look at Rielly.
"We've got to take space away from him and be hands-on. He's got to know that when he gets the puck, he will be challenged."
There are two schools of thought on how to game-plan opposing blue-chippers. Some coaches say it's a team game and be wary of them but don't pay them any special attention. That's not Lowry's thinking, however.
"You have to have awareness of the top players on the ice," said the Royals bench boss.
"You'd be doing a disservice if you didn't pay attention to the other team's top guys and prepare for them."
What's amazing about Rielly is that he missed 54 games last season in his draft year after tearing his ACL, but that it didn't stop the Maple Leafs from taking him fifth overall.
Victoria forward Steven Hodges, a 2012 third-round pick of the Florida Panthers, played on the WHL team with Rielly in the Super Series and came away impressed.
"He's a skilled player and a key guy for the Warriors and we have to be aware of him wherever he is," said Hodges.
And that, literally, could be anywhere on the ice as Rielly is fourth in WHL points for defencemen with 22 in 26 games on four goals and 18 assists.
"You have to be more aware of guys like that," said Royals captain Tyler Stahl, who returns to the line-up tonight after serving a two-game suspension for a hit from behind.
Royals rearguard Brett Cote, himself with two game winners this season, agreed.
"He [Rielly] is a dynamic player and one of the best in the league and we have to watch him," said Cote, the Royals' leading points-scorer among defencemen and tied for 31st in the league for points among blueliners with 12.
The Warriors are 8-11-7 but that season start could have been different if not for the club's three overtime and four shootout losses. Moose Jaw is winless in its last four games (0-3-1) with only one win in the last 10 (1-5-4).
The Royals, meanwhile, are 13-12 and trying to find some traction of their own.
"We've got to play the full 60 minutes," said Cote, about the Royals habit of napping and exploding in spurts.
He will get no disagreement from his coach.
"We can't rely on playing with desperation in the final 10 minutes," Lowry said.
ICE CHIPS: Tonight concludes the Royals' six-game homestand with the club set to hit the Cariboo Trail for games in Prince George on Friday and Saturday . . . Victoria forward Austin Carroll, away on personal leave the last two games, skated Monday in practice . . . Injured Royals forward Tim Traber, who has missed the last six games, will be a game-time decision.
