Defenceman Chaz Reddekopp opened the scoring on goalkeeper Evan Smith in the first period Wednesday of the annual Victoria Royals Blue-White intrasquad game in a play that featured the only two Royals selected in the 2015 NHL draft held in June.
They were on the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre ice with a lot of Royals prospects, some as young as 15, as Team Blue defeated Team White 4-3 before a sparse crowd.
It all changes, and dramatically so, next week for both Reddekopp and Smith when they attend the respective NHL rookie camps of the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators. Other Royals heading to NHL rookie camps are forwards Tyler Soy with the Edmonton Oilers and Jack Walker with the Minnesota Wild as free agents and defenceman Joe Hicketts as a Detroit Red Wings signed player.
Reddekopp skated in a Kings prospect camp earlier this summer and didn’t feel out of place.
“I did well down there in El Segundo and kept up with the pace against older college players. There were a few nerves, but I learned a lot,” said the six-foot-four 18-year-old, before the intrasquad game.
The skate was on the other foot Wednesday night with the younger Royals prospects looking up to Reddekopp, taken 187th overall in the seventh round by Los Angeles.
“Whether they are in NHL or junior camps, I give the players the same advice, if they ask,” said Royals GM Cam Hope.
“Be the player you are and don’t change what you do. And leave it all out there. You get very few chances in life to get evaluated at the highest level.”
It’s all relative, noted Hope. Major-junior is the highest U-20 level and the NHL, of course, the top level in pro.
Reddekopp led Team Blue with a goal and assist, while Dawson Frank from Duncan, Landon Welykholowa and defenceman Kevin Pierce scored the other goals. Walker and Ty Pochipinski had two assists each.
Ethan Price, an 18-year-old forward from Nebraska with 117 games of WHL experience the past two seasons with the Portland Winterhawks (with eight goals and 18 points), scored twice for Team White and Ben Berard from Duncan once.
Price finished last season in the USHL with the Lincoln Stars in his hometown. But his earlier WHL experience with the high-octane Winterhawks program makes him an intriguing find, and the Royals signed him Wednesday.
“I’m a two-way forward who can help on both the power play and penalty kill . . . and who hopefully can produce for a team,” said Price, a five-foot-10 winger.
“I am fortunate Victoria picked me up. I couldn’t be happier.”
The feeling is mutual, as the Royals have only 13 returning players and are looking for any bit of veteran WHL help.
“[Price] understands the pace the game is played at [in the WHL],” said Victoria head coach Dave Lowry.
Smith went the whole way in net for Team White and faced 37 shots while 16-year-olds Griffen Outhouse and Dylan Myskiw faced a combined 34 shots as they shared the crease victory for Team Blue.
Sitting out Wednesday were veterans Hicketts, Logan Fisher, Alex Forsberg and goaltender Coleman Vollrath along with injured hopeful Matthew Dykstra.
Hope said the Royals will take 24 skaters and four goaltenders to Everett, Washington, for the pre-season opening tournament which includes games Friday against the host Silvertips, on Saturday versus the Seattle Thunderbirds and Sunday against the Tri-City Americans.
The only 15-year-old making the trip will be forward and first-round 2015 bantam draft pick Eric Florchuk. All veterans, including the five departing next week for NHL rookie camps, will be going to Everett.
ICE CHIPS: Having drafted several small, quick forwards recently out of bantam, the Royals need to balance that for the future. The club addressed the issue by signing six-foot-four winger Tyler Thompson. The 18-year-old native of Minnesota played last season in U-18 with the Omaha Lancers and Minnesota Revolution with three goals and 12 points in a combined 22 games . . . Hope said he is in favour of the new NHL and WHL overtime format, which eschews the five-minute four-on-four followed by a shootout for a five-minute three-on-three.
