The Victoria Royals’ bantam class of 2012 has spoken, with forward Tyler Soy’s two goals and six points in five tournament games helping lead Canada to the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Under-18 championship over the weekend in the Czech Republic.
Those in the Royals’ bantam Class of 2013 — which includes undersized but potentially dynamic first- and second-round picks Dante Hannoun and Matthew Phillips — hope to state their case beginning Thursday when they hit the ice at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre for rookie camp.
But first up is the nine-player bantam Class of 2014, including defenceman and first-round selection Scott Walford, which takes to the ice today from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Memorial Centre.
Most of the attention during rookie week will be on those in the Class of 2013, who are eligible to play in the Western Hockey League this season as rookies. The Class of 2014 players are limited to five WHL games this season. But it’s still important for team management to get to know them.
“It’s putting faces to names and a chance to educate them about what we expect and how our organization works,” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
But that’s for the longer-term future. It’s on Thursday, when the bantam Class of 2013 joins the fray, that things will really get interesting.
“We have a good group [of 17- 20-year-old veterans] coming back and this [the 16-year-olds from the Class of 2013] adds another level of competition to the mix,” noted Lowry, who guided the Royals to all-time franchise highs in wins (48) and points (100) in being named WHL coach of the year for 2013-14.
“We’ve shown in the past, we’re not afraid to keep younger players and to play them. But they will learn that the game changes for them now. They will have to earn their ice time. If they do, they will be used.”
Just like Soy, the five-foot-11 centre who had 15 goals and 30 points as a WHL rookie last season for the Royals.
Soy’s gold medal from the U-18 Hlinka tournament, Canada’s seventh consecutive since 2008, adds an international element to his development as the native of Cloverdale heads into his sophomore season with Victoria. It’s something to which Lowry, who will be assistant coach for Canada at the 2015 world junior championship in Toronto and Montreal, is acutely attuned.
“There was an enormous amount of pressure on the Canadian players [because of Canada’s past success in the U-18 Hlinka]. And for Tyler to come into that situation and be a key player for Canada is a positive both for Tyler’s growth and for the growth of our [Royals’] program,” said Lowry.
Rookie-camp sessions begin 10:15 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. on Thursday and continue Friday from 10:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. and Saturday from 8:45 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.
Main camp begins Monday with the veterans reporting and sessions running from 12:30 p.m to 7 p.m. and continuing Aug. 26 from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Aug. 27 from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Main camp concludes with the Royals’ 2014 intra-squad game Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Centre, with entrance by donation.
ICE CHIPS: Corey St. Laurent, the behind-the-scenes player for the Royals as manager of communications and hockey operations co-ordinator the past two seasons, has been appointed senior manager of communications for the WHL and is headed to the league office in Calgary. St. Laurent played for the UVic Vikes hockey club and has a commerce degree from UVic’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. The Kamloops native started with the Victoria Salmon Kings in 2009 as an intern for various departments before moving up through RG Properties.
