sa国际传媒

The Kelowna Rockets find themselves in a sort of no-man鈥檚 land as they prepare to meet the Victoria Royals in a Western Hockey League contest Friday night in the Okanagan.

The dream started somewhere. The Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League, along with the Island Division of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League, are represented as the puck dropped on the 2018-19 NHL season this week.

The Victoria Royals, written off in most pre-season predictions, have so far defied their doubters and those who categorized the club as being in a rebuild phase.

Goalkeeper Simon Thomas of Victoria is 28 but can be excused for feeling like an old man on the new-look Canadian national soccer team. A sense of optimism is palpable as current world No.

The mantra of 鈥渟port for life鈥� will come alive on the Island in three years when Greater Victoria hosts the 2021 55-plus sa国际传媒 Games.

University of Victoria Vikes basketball head coach Craig Beaucamp believes he had a pertinent example for his charges to latch onto after they went 1-2 last weekend in the annual pre-season Guy Vetrie Memorial Tournament in CARSA gym.

Beep beep. The Reynolds Roadrunners, 2016 sa国际传媒 Triple-A champions and third in the province last year, are off to another speedy start in boys鈥� high school soccer.

On a Victoria Grizzlies team known for its offence, with the likes of NHL draft-projected forwards Alex Newhook and Alex Campbell, goaltender Kurtis Chapman has carved out his own piece of the ice.

It鈥檚 unusual in any Canadian hockey market to have the local Junior A team with two players tabbed for the next NHL draft and the major-junior team with none. That鈥檚 the twist as the Victoria Grizzlies of the sa国际传媒

It鈥檚 just the teams鈥� fourth game of the Western Hockey League season 鈥� second against each other 鈥� and already the heat has been cranked up between the Victoria Royals and Kamloops Blazers.