It鈥檚 more than a mere footnote to Victoria Royals general manager and head coach Dan Price.
鈥淭here will be no asterisks on this season as far as we鈥檙e concerned,鈥� he said.
The message is loud and clear: Everybody is taking the pandemic-abbreviated sa国际传媒 Division Western Hockey League season seriously. After all the work that鈥檚 gone into it, in negotiations with the provincial health office, it would be almost criminal to treat this as some sort of exhibition.
The Royals open tonight in Kelowna against the host Rockets. All games will be in Kelowna or Kamloops, without fans. Each of the five teams will play 24 games. There are no playoffs.
The title will be decided English Premier League soccer-style 鈥� the team atop the standings at the end of the regular season will be declared the champion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unique for hockey,鈥� said Royals starting goaltender Adam Evanoff. 鈥淏ut we can鈥檛 look at the whole thing, it鈥檚 just each game as it comes, and two points at a time.鈥�
A quick start would seem mandatory for success in such a short season. But perhaps not.
鈥淭hree- or four-game winning or losing streaks at different points will result in dramatic swings,鈥� said Price.
鈥淚 believe the race will go down to the final week of the season.鈥�
Evanoff and the other sa国际传媒 Division goaltenders represent one of the main features of the shortened campaign. Each team is loaded in the crease.
Undrafted Evanoff has signed a pro contract in the American Hockey League with Stockton. Langford鈥檚 Dylan Garand of the Kamloops Blazers and Taylor Gauthier of the Prince George Cougars were two of the three Canadian goalkeepers on silver-medallist sa国际传媒 in the 2021 world junior championship.
Colorado Avalanche draft-pick Trent Miner has been reassigned to the Vancouver Giants from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. Roman Basran and Cole Schwebuis of Kelowna are solid WHL veterans.
鈥淓very team in the division has really good goaltending,鈥� said Evanoff. 鈥淕oals will be hard to come by.鈥�
Evanoff certainly will have to be on top of his game, behind a very young defensive corps, if the Royals are to stand a chance. Jacson Alexander and Nolan Bentham, veteran WHLers and hometown Victoria products, are not included on the roster and will not play this season. The Royals would not divulge the reasons.
鈥淲e will not comment on players not on the roster,鈥� said Price.
That leaves a massive hole in defence. It will be filled by 16-year-old blueliners Kalem Parker, Luke Shipley and first-round bantam pick Jason Spizawka, and 17-year-olds Gannon Laroque and Braden Smith. All will be making their WHL debuts as regulars.
The Royals鈥� jerseys may be blue, but this blueline is awfully green. The mentorship will come from the two returning veterans, Matthew Smith and Noah Lamb. The situation is so extreme that Graeme Bryks, a forward last season, will play defence this year.
The makings are there, meanwhile, for two good forward lines. Brayden Tracey is a first-round NHL draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks, Tarun Fizer will captain the Royals and import Keanu Derungs represented Switzerland in the 2021 world junior championship. Brandon Cutler is dangerous and has shown flashes in previous seasons, and Ty Yoder and Riley Gannon are deceptively efficient. Alex Bolshakov has the makings and build of a player finally ready to break out.
Then comes the youth movement to fill out the bottom of the forward corps. Seventeen-year-old forwards Trentyn Crane, Matthew Hodson, and Cage Newans of Parksville and 16-year-olds Tanner Scott, Brayden Schuurman and Carter Dereniwsky will be thrown into the fire.
鈥淭he biggest point in training camp has been getting to know each other and bringing cohesion with so many first-year guys,鈥� said Price.
鈥淥ur veterans have done a good job of getting the young players to come out of their shells. Brayden [Tracey] was shocked by how well he was treated in Anaheim Ducks camp by the veterans and how someone like Ryan Getzlaf talked to him and counselled. Brayden has brought that experience back with him to junior and is using it to mentor our younger players.鈥�
Meanwhile, 2020-21 was supposed to be Kamloops鈥� season under normal circumstances. The Blazers will get a chance to live up to that promise, although in abbreviated fashion. First-round NHL draft pick and sa国际传媒 world junior silver medallist Connor Zary could tear up the division and he has plenty of support.
The Vancouver Giants will begin life on the blueline without fourth overall NHL draft pick Bowen Byram, the superbly talented Canadian world junior gold and silver medallist now in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche. The Giants still bring a lot to the mix, though, with Alex Kannok Liepert, Justin Sourdif, Tristen Nielsen and former Royals forward Eric Florchuk.
The Kelowna Rockets will have to rebuild after going all-in and trading for several veteran players to host the cancelled 2020 Memorial Cup. Little did they know in January 2020 that those plans would lay in ruins two months later.
The Prince George Cougars look to remain in their perpetual rebuild mode at the foot of the table. Unless the youthful Royals and their 12 rookies grow up quickly over 24 games, they could be joining the Cougars in the battle at the bottom. But being forged in fire will serve them well for the future.
The story begins unfolding tonight when the Royals and Rockets meet in Kelowna and the Giants and Blazers in Kamloops.
The Royals continue against the Cougars on Monday in Kelowna and against the Giants on Tuesday in Kamloops.
The season runs through May 12.
