The Victoria Royals are chewing up enough asphalt to star in a remake of White Line Fever. In fact, that might not be a bad retro movie choice for the DVD on the team bus.
There is no rest for the Royals (43-17-4) after grinding out nearly 5,000 kilometres in going 4-1 last week through the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Division, which encompasses Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
After a few days home, it’s now another 1,600 kilometres to Prince George and back for a two-game set tonight and Saturday against the Cougars (26-32-8), who are ninth and desperately trying to claw to the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference.
“You rest when you can. I shut it down on the bus … a bit of cards, movies… typical road trip stuff,” said Royals leading scorer Brandon Magee.
“This time, when we stopped, we tried to catch some alpine skiing and stuff [from the Sochi Winter Olympics].”
It doesn’t hurt that the Royals have been really good on the road at 23-7-1. Who needs Blanshard Street? Every street in Western Canada seems to have been the Royals’ street in a season in which they are the No. 9-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League top-10 poll.
“It [Canadian prairie landscape and winter weather] was kind of like home,” chuckled Sabres-prospect Logan Nelson, who hails from Minnesota.
“When you’re winning, it’s hard not to have fun on the road, or anywhere. Our goal is 100 points for the season [Victoria has 90 points with eight games remaining] and we’re not going to settle for anything less.”
The previous record for most points in a season, in the eight-year history of the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise, was 77 and set last year. The Royals have blown that away this season.
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As the Royals were driving back through the pitch blackness of the prairies in the wee hours Sunday morning, Canada was blanking Sweden to win the men’s hockey gold medal at Sochi. That meant it was a rough trip back for the Victoria club’s Swedish forward Axel Blomqvist.
“That was a pretty tough morning for me. And to top it off, I lost a $10 bet to [fellow Royals forward] Steven Hodges,” winced Blomqvist.
The Olympic outcome didn’t go Blomqvist’s way, but things are rolling along must fine for him personally. Maybe there’s a message in both.
“For sure, most Swedish players now want to play that North American style of being physical and blocking shots and the like,” he said.
That’s why he made the decision to play his junior hockey in the WHL. He has an entry-level NHL contract with the Winnipeg Jets to show for it.
And that trade to Victoria earlier this season rescued him from what would have been a lost season with a Lethbridge Hurricanes team that is last in the WHL and going nowhere.
The Royals, meanwhile, are 25-4-3 since Dec. 12 and building a head of steam toward the playoffs.
“All four of our lines contribute,” said Blomqvist.
“We have a lot of depth. That’s what makes us a strong team. Our goal is 100 points and we should be able to do that.”
The Royals are assured the third seed in the Western Conference. The first-round playoff opponent will be the sixth seed, likely to be the Everett Silvertips (31-23-9) or Vancouver Giants (30-24-10).
