The Victoria Royals head into eastern Washington this weekend, where the yellow, rolling prairie-type landscape changes dramatically from the Pacific blue and green of Puget Sound.
The Royals also head into a shifting landscape in the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League. It altered significantly when the Edmonton Oilers decided to return their first-round draft pick from June, Kailer Yamamoto, to the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. That move by the Oilers has elevated the Chiefs to elite status in the Western Conference with the likes of the Royals, Kelowna Rockets, Portland Winterhawks and Tri-City Americans.
Yamamoto has a goal and three assists in two games, both wins, since his return to the Chiefs (10-7-3). He will certainly need to be keyed on when the Royals (14-7-1) play the Chiefs tonight at Veterans Memorial Arena.
A preseason with five goals and two assists in six exhibition games was Yamamoto’s spectacular introduction to Oilers fans and earned him a spot on the team to start the NHL season. He began his big-league career as a top-six forward with three assists in nine games for Edmonton, but the Oilers thought it best he get more development back in junior, especially since the first year of his three-year entry level NHL contract would activate if he played a 10th game with the Oilers. That was good news for the Chiefs, but not so good for their WHL opponents.
“[Yamamoto] is a game-changer and makes Spokane infinitely better . . . and that makes it tougher on every other team in the Western Conference,” said Royals GM Cameron Hope, who added the Chiefs were a conference contender even without their heralded forward.
Yamamoto, the 22nd overall selection in the 2017 NHL draft, is only five-foot-eight and 154 pounds, but he had 42 goals and 99 points last season for Spokane.
“The game has changed and allowed smaller, skilled players to be effective. That was not true during the clutch-and-grab era,” added Hope.
Mapping out ways to contain Yamamoto’s speed is a logistical nightmare for opposing coaches.
“Spokane plays fast and with pace and Yamamoto definitely helps that,” said Royals head coach Dan Price.
“Our team defence will be important, with five players connected, and tracking the puck . . . and that rolls into our offensive concepts as well."
Yamamoto was the steal of the 2013 WHL bantam draft. Every team passed on him four times until the Chiefs took a flyer in the fifth round, with the 105th overall selection, on the hometown Spokane kid out of Mead High School. He went on to currently have 85 goals, 146 assists for 231 points in 192 career WHL games.
“Drafting 14-15 year-olds is hard. You have some clue, but not much,” said Hope.
“There are lots of examples of guys who were never drafted out of bantam but who became impact players. Guys develop at their own pace.”
The swing through eastern Washington continues with another difficult game on Saturday night against the Americans (12-5-2), an honourable mention in the Canadian Hockey League top-10 poll.
The Royals, losers of their last two games, have flattened out at 5-5 over their last 10 games following a blazing start to the season and find themselves out of the CHL top-10 for the first time in eight weeks. Victoria seems to be part of that changing landscape in the Western Conference, but not in a good way recently.
“Our mindset has not changed,” said Price.
“We played well in our losses over the last two games and had the majority of quality scoring chances. It’s a matter of finishing those chances and cleaning up a few defensive things and making sure we are on the right side of the puck.”
Injured Royals defenceman Ralph Jarratt, who sat out Tuesday’s 5-3 home loss to the Red Deer Rebels, is day-to-day. The Royals really missed his veteran presence, especially in the third period when the Rebels scored three late unanswered goals to win it.
