VICTORIA 6
RED DEER 2
Victoria Royals forward Tyler Soy is ranked 152nd among North American skaters for the 2015 NHL draft. But if he keeps this up, he could be climbing the charts with a bullet.
Soy recorded his first WHL hat trick, on a four-point night, to lead the Royals to a 6-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday at the Memorial Centre. He has 19 points in the last 14 games to give scouts something to chew on.
“It feels special, although I was fortunate to get that third goal into an empty net,” Soy said.
As far as his draft ranking, Soy admitted to “not being satisfied” with it.
And he’s doing something about it.
“I try not to think about those lists too much,” said the Cloverdale product.
“As long as the team is winning games, and I’m working hard, I’m happy.”
Soy’s best goal came by stripping clean Red Deer’s Haydn Fleury for one of the steals of the season. Soy also scored both on the power play and penalty kill Saturday, the latter into the empty net, as the Royals’ special teams have truly been special in carrying the team to a 12-2-1 record over the last 15 games.
The marquee special-teams moment came with the Royals short-handed in the second period. Using Regan Nagy as a decoy on a two-on-one break, Brandon Magee cleverly stickhandled the puck into the net.
The Rebels (28-17-8) — who lost 5-4 in the last minute on a Giants power play Friday in Vancouver — have probably had their fill of opposition special-teams highlights.
Victoria’s league seventh-ranked power-play got goals from Soy and defenceman Chaz Reddekopp, who is the 199th ranked North American skater for the 2015 NHL draft. Greg Chase scored the other goal for Victoria (29-20-4).
Rebels over-ager Brett Cote, an under-rated but fine blueliner who played the previous three seasons for Victoria, returned to Blanshard and recorded an assist. Russian defenceman Alexey Sleptsov made his Royals debut.
The Royals meet the defending Memorial Cup champion Edmonton Oil Kings — with Coyotes draft pick Dysin Mayo of Victoria — in a 2 p.m. Monday matinée.
