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Victoria Royals ready for high-flying ’Hawks

Maybe the best advice for the Victoria Royals tonight is to keep cool but don’t freeze up.
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Victoria Royals forward Brandon Magee is playing his first Western Hockey League game in Portland since an incident in the final 2014 playoff game last spring in which he received a 12-game suspension for hitting Winterhawks star Nic Petan from behind.

Maybe the best advice for the Victoria Royals tonight is to keep cool but don’t freeze up.

Royals forward Brandon Magee plays his first Western Hockey League game in Portland since an incident in the final 2014 playoff game last spring in which he received a 12-game suspension for hitting Winterhawks star Nic Petan from behind. It was served at the start of this season.

“I can’t focus on them [Winterhawks] running me or chirping at me or the fans getting on me,” said Magee, of his return to the Rose City. “I have to take everything with a grain of salt and not let them goad me into situations.”

Magee said Royals head coach Dave Lowry sat him down and reminded him that as a previously-suspended player, the league will likely be monitoring him tonight.

“[Magee] better have it figured out,” said Lowry.

“People [league officials] do pay attention. He is on a short leash.”

Magee missed Victoria’s first game in Portland this season, a 4-2 loss on Nov. 25, because he was serving another suspension. That was for five games and incurred for a spearing major Nov. 19 against Kelowna.

Victoria comes into tonight on a seven-game unbeaten run, having taken 13 of its last possible 14 points, while Portland’s potent and dynamic roster has been slow to simmer this season but looks to be nearing boiling point with five consecutive wins.

“We’ve come together by keeping the game simple and locking things down defensively,” said Magee, the Royals co-captain and all-time franchise leading scorer.

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There’s been some turnover, but a core of 13 players remains from last spring’s combative second-round playoff series between the Royals and Winterhawks, which was won by Portland in five games. But not before Magee was tagged with a 12-game suspension and graduated Royals forward Steven Hodges with a five-game sanction (the latter which was never served because Hodges turned pro this season and did not return to the WHL).

“It’s easy to get up for this game,” said veteran Royals forward Logan Fisher. “But we have to stick together and stay on each other to be disciplined … controlled emotion is the key.”

That was also touched on by veteran Royals defenceman Joe Hicketts.

“What happened last year . . . none of us are proud of it,” said Hicketts.

“It’s back to a playoff atmosphere [tonight]. We have to control that emotion and channel it the right way.”

And there’s more to worry about than just the crafty Petan, a Winnipeg Jets prospect and gold medallist with Canada this month at the 2015 world junior championship. Oliver Bjorkstrand, signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets, lit it up for Denmark at the world juniors and hasn’t stopped producing. He scored three times Sunday as the Winterhawks (28-19-3) extended their win streak to five with a 7-5 victory over the Tri-City Americans. Paul Bittner, a fine-looking 18-year-old Winterhawks left-winger from Minnesota, scored for Team Orr during last week’s 2015 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects game in St. Catharines, Ont.

“You can’t focus on just one guy with the Winterhawks. They have so many extremely skilled players,” said Fisher.

“It’s going to take all five guys on the ice each shift to stop them.”

Adding to the intrigue is that while Petan has shown an uncanny ability to get under the skin of the Royals, he has also been on the same bench this season with Lowry and Hicketts on both the WHL team for the Subway Super Series and with Canada at the world juniors.

“[Petan] sees the ice extremely well. He’s a playmaker with great ability and gets his linemates involved, so you can’t focus just on him,” said Hicketts.

From country back to club, Hicketts and Petan have gone from gold-medallist teammates with Canada to ice enemies once again.

“We talk about that [national team experiences] after the game, but on the [WHL] ice, it’s a battle,” said Hicketts.

Tonight kicks off a three-game U.S. Division road trip for Victoria, which continues Friday in Spokane (23-20-4) and Saturday in Tri-City (24-23-2).

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com