In a riff from the famous scene from When Harry Met Sally, the Victoria Royals will have what the Portland Winterhawks and Edmonton Oil Kings are having.
The defending Western Hockey League champion Winterhawks, who defeated the Royals in the Western Conference semifinals, will meet the Oil Kings in the league final for the second consecutive year. The best-of-seven series, to be shown on Roots Sports (Shaw TV will broadcast Games 5, 6 and 7), begins tonight at the Moda Center in Portland.
“They both must be doing something right. They keep getting back to the final,” said Royals GM Cam Hope, WHL executive of the year.
That is not merely an academic observation. The Royals, who last year hired former Winterhawks head scout Grant Armstrong as their director of player personnel, are trying to pattern themselves after the Winterhawks.
“We’ll see what we can emulate from what Portland and Edmonton do,” said Hope.
With the exception of one large forward taken in Thursday’s WHL bantam draft, Victoria continued its recent tradition under Armstrong of taking smaller, skilled, darting players. It’s worked for the Winterhawks, who Armstrong helped build into a power before coming to Victoria.
“That’s what’s getting teams into the finals these days,” said Armstrong.
“[Royals bench boss and WHL coach of the year Dave Lowry] likes hard, but highly-skilled players who can play at a high pace. That’s the recipe for success.”
Hope concurs.
“There’s a real premium on players who can play the game at a high pace — and with intelligence,” said the Victoria GM.
“That’s what we look for and put a premium on in the [WHL bantam] draft. Why Portland beat us [in the conference semifinals] was because they played a smarter overall game. They have so much hockey intelligence.”
The Oil Kings feature Dysin Mayo from Victoria, a defenceman Central Scouting ranks 82nd among North American skaters for the 2014 NHL draft.
The Edmonton coach is familiar to Victoria hockey fans. Derek Laxdal was a regular fixture on the opposition bench at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre during the Salmon Kings ECHL pro era as head coach of the division-rival Idaho Steelheads for five seasons.
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