When six of 10 goals against in back-to-back weekend defeats against the Vancouver Giants came against the penalty kill, you didn’t need WikiLeaks to piece together what the Victoria Royals were working on Monday in practice.
“We’ve got to do better in front of our net and get in their [opposition’s] shooting lanes,” said Royals assistant coach Enio Sacilotto, hardly giving up any state secrets.
“We’ve got to take personal responsibility and make sure we’re focused.”
Sacilotto assumed control of the Royals’ bench in the eight-game absence of head coach Dave Lowry, who is away as assistant coach of the Canadian team preparing for the 2015 world junior championship.
The first two of those games were 6-3 and 4-0 home-and-away losses to the surging Giants, who have won six consecutive Western Hockey League games.
The Royals will try to turn it around in Washington state with games tonight in Seattle against the Thunderbirds and Wednesday in Everett against the Silvertips, before dispersing from SeaTac for the Christmas break.
But Victoria will have to do it without veteran spark-plug forward Brandon Magee, who is out two to three weeks after being checked awkwardly into the boards wrist-first early in the opening game of the set against the Giants (despite staying in and later in that game scoring on a lacerating wrist shot).
That means the Royals (17-16-2) are without their two co-captains Magee and defenceman Joe Hicketts, the latter at the Canadian team camp for the world juniors.
“It’s the players who have to decide to pull themselves together,” said Victoria GM Cam Hope, who described the practices and mood around the team as upbeat.
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Seattle (13-15-4) is tied for last in the Western Conference with Vancouver, although the Thunderbirds have a game in hand. Seattle’s cause has been hindered by having 2015 first-round NHL draft prospect Mathew Barzal out for an estimated four to six weeks after undergoing knee surgery Nov. 13 following a reported off-ice accident.
“The thing to realize about this league is that any team is capable of beating any other team,” said Hope, wary after Victoria’s lost set against Vancouver.
Everett (19-8-4), meanwhile, is second in the Western Conference behind Kelowna but has levelled off a bit at 5-4-1 in its last 10 games. The Silvertips, however, are still ranked No. 9 in the BMO Canadian Hockey League top-10 poll and play a clamp-down style.
“Everett’s team defence and goaltending are very good,” noted Sacilotto.
The Royals will return after the Christmas break to play the Prince George Cougars on Dec. 27-28 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
