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Victoria Royals ready to go camping

Victoria Royals GM Cam Hope says his club opted for “a bit of everything” in the last two Western Hockey League bantam drafts. “I really like our draft groups the last couple of years and the mix .

Victoria Royals GM Cam Hope says his club opted for “a bit of everything” in the last two Western Hockey League bantam drafts.

“I really like our draft groups the last couple of years and the mix . … we took speedy forwards and big, top-end defencemen,” added Hope.

The product of that process starts to become evident today when the 2015 bantam drafts open the Royals’ training camp with a skate from 11 a.m. to noon, followed by orientation in the afternoon. Part of this group are the Royals’ 2015 first- and second-round bantam selections Eric Florchuk, a five-foot-10 forward from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., and Mitchell Prowse, a defenceman from Kelowna.

The 2014 bantam drafts, including the Royals top pick from that year, defenceman Scott Walford, join in on Friday.

“I saw Scott Walford and [2014 second-round bantam pick] Brayden Pachal yesterday and they already looked bigger than they did last year,” said Hope. “They will be pushing for spots.”

Hope is also high on 16-year-old rookie-camp goalies Griffen Outhouse from Williams Lake and Dylan Myskiw from Winnipeg.

“They could both develop into very good WHL goalkeepers for our future,” he said.

The rookie camp sessions Friday are from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with scrimmages from 2:15 to 7:15 p.m. On Saturday, scrimmages run from 10 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., while Sunday scrimmages are from 8:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Main camp, when veterans report, opens Monday with practices from 9 to 11:45 a.m. and scrimmages from 2 to 7 p.m, and continues Sept. 1 with practice from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and scrimmages from 2 to 7 p.m. All training camp sessions are at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and open to the public.

The annual Blue-White intra-squad game is Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.

The first Royals pre-season game is Sept. 4 in Everett against the Silvertips.

ICE CHIPS: The Royals will host a garage sale and public skate Saturday during rookie camp. The garage sale takes place at Gate 3 from noon to 2 p.m. and includes for sale the team’s used equipment items, with partial proceeds going to the Royals’ education and scholarship fund. The free public skate is 12:30 to 1:15 p.m.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com