It’s nothing against the sea air or anything. But just give Jordan Fransoo those expansive skies. He’s captain of the Victoria Royals but Fransoo has never been anything but what he self-describes as “a Prairie guy through and through.”
And the six-foot-three blue-liner is getting his fill of it as the Canadian Hockey League 10th-ranked Royals (41-16-4) continue their WHL road trip tonight in Brandon against the Eastern Conference seventh-place Wheat Kings (28-24-8). Victoria opened the long jaunt with a 5-4 win Saturday in Prince Albert and a 4-3 shootout victory Monday in Moose Jaw to extend its franchise-record 13-game unbeaten run to 11-0-2 and road winning streak to seven.
The landscape is familiar to Fransoo, who hails from North Battleford, Sask. Tonight represents a homecoming for Fransoo, who began his WHL career with the Wheat Kings.
“It’s been a nice reunion to meet up again with so many people I knew from here,” said Fransoo, on Tuesday from Brandon.
“Those one and a half seasons here helped shape who I am.”
But you can never settle in too comfortably anywhere in the hockey business.
Fransoo was part of the blockbuster 2012 trade that sent flashy Royals forward Kevin Sundher, now a pro in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans, to Brandon in return for Fransoo, Dakota Conroy (now with Prince Albert) and a first-round bantam draft pick that became current Royals rookie defenceman Chaz Reddekopp.
“Victoria was a long way away and a different kind of place but I went open-minded,” said Fransoo.
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The Royals are now at the point where they can afford to trade a bit of their future in order to gain immediate impact, such as they did this season in acquiring veteran players Axel Blomqvist and Travis Brown. But it was just the opposite scenario in 2012, when the Royals were looking to rebuild and willing to depart with a veteran player the calibre of Sundher. The 2012 Wheat Kings, meanwhile, seemed of the verge of a big run and were willing to let go of future prospects such as Fransoo to land Sundher.
“You always worry that you’re going to miss out on something special that year [by being traded by a powerhouse Brandon team to a rebuilding Victoria club],” admitted Fransoo.
He need not have worried. The 2012 Wheat Kings fizzled out in the second round of the playoffs. The Royals, meanwhile, began their slow but steady rise with the likes of Fransoo to where they are now.
“Everybody on our team knows their roles,” said Fransoo, who as captain, is a kind of orchestra conductor.
“It’s a very easy team to captain. There are no tensions. Everybody is accountable.”
As a 20-year-old, Fransoo will age out of junior at the end of this season. He was taken in the seventh round of the 2011 NHL draft, but that Ottawa Senators ship has sailed. He is considering minor-pro such as the AHL/ECHL, Europe or CIS university hockey, in which he is owed four years of schooling for each season played in the WHL.
“It’s either/or at this point, depending on opportunities,” said Fransoo.
“But right now, I want to concentrate on this season and the Royals.”
Following tonight’s contest in Brandon, the Royals will trek back to Saskatchewan for games Friday in Regina and Saturday in Saskatoon.
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