There’s nothing like infusing a pair of NHL-signed players into the lineup to dramatically change the complexion of a Western Hockey League team.
Forward Axel Blomqvist, under contract to the Winnipeg Jets, and defenceman Joe Hicketts, inked this week by the Detroit Red Wings, were away at pro camps as the Victoria Royals began the WHL season with two road losses last weekend but have returned in time for the Royals’ home opener tonight against the Kamloops Blazers.
“All [WHL] teams are receiving players back and will be stronger this week than they were last week,” said Kamloops head coach Don Hay, returning this season to the hometown club he guided to two Memorial Cup championships in the 1990s.
“Blomqvist and Hicketts are good players, and it’s a challenge we have to address, but you want to play against top players.”
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The return of Hay is part of the rebuild as Kamloops is looking to emerge from the rubble of a 2013-14 campaign in which the Blazers finished a distant last in the Western Conference. They defeated Victoria 6-3 in the Blazers home opener last weekend and Hay knows the Royals will be looking to return the favour tonight.
“We know it’s their home opener and they will be hungry,” said Hay, who spent the last decade coaching the Vancouver Giants of the WHL.
“But we’re hungry, too.”
And also with something to prove.
“I thought we were solid against Victoria but average against Kelowna [a 6-1 loss in the second game of the season],” said Hay.
The Royals are still missing forward Austin Carroll and defenceman Keegan Kanzig to the Calgary Flames’ NHL camp/preseason. And forward Brandon Magee, although returned from Flames camp, is in the midst of a 12-game suspension to start the WHL season. But the return of Hicketts and Blomqvist this week is a huge boost for Victoria, as was the earlier send back of defenceman Travis Brown from Ottawa Senators camp.
“We got our feet wet last weekend. We’re going to be a different team this weekend,” said Victoria head coach Dave Lowry, last season’s WHL coach of the year for guiding the Royals to franchise records for wins (48) and points (100).
“[The NHL send-downs] give us a 20-goal scorer in Axel, while Joe eats up a lot of time on the back end.”
But Lowry wants to see better play from the other Royals veterans who weren’t at NHL camps and were dressed last weekend for the two losses, which included a 3-1 setback in Vancouver against the Giants.
“Their top players were better than our top players,” said Lowry.
Blomqvist returns to the Royals with a rejuvenated sense of purpose.
“I want to be a leader on this team and score a lot of goals,” said the six-foot-six winger, who is under consideration for the Swedish national team for the 2015 world junior championship to take place in Toronto and Montreal.
He knows a good season in Victoria will only enhance his stock as a potential pro.
“I felt I had a good camp and rookie tournament,” said Blomqvist.
“[The Jets] said they liked my size, hands, ability to read the ice and offensive ability. They want me to get more involved physically.”
Lowry said there is a trap players returning to junior from NHL camps can fall into and what he wants Hicketts and Blomqvist to avoid.
“There is a honeymoon period where maybe you feel you don’t have to work because you just got back from being in an NHL camp. So [junior coaches] have to reinforce how they have to play,” said Lowry.
While Blomqvist admitted his first practice back in junior Thursday felt “not as fast” as being in Jets camp, he gets the message Lowry is sending.
“I just want to get better. To do that, I have to work as hard as I can every day,” said the towering Swede.
In a bit of a quirk, Lowry’s son and Jets prospect Adam Lowry, the 2012-13 WHL MVP, was in Winnipeg’s camp with Blomqvist.
“He’s really a good player and you can tell Dave taught him a lot of stuff,” said Blomqvist.
When asked by reporters if there were any insider insights Adam Lowry imparted about his dad, Blomqvist quipped: “Yeah, I’ll keep them to myself until I can use them.”
ICE CHIPS: The Blazers and Royals conclude their two-game set Saturday at the Memorial Centre in a 7 p.m. game that will be broadcast live on Shaw-TV.
