GAME DAY: CALGARY VS. VICTORIA 7 p.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Radio: The Zone 91.3 FM / TV: None
Zane Jones could have acted as the official tour guide for his Calgary Hitmen teammates on the ferry ride over to the Island.
"The ferry is old hat," he chuckled.
Tonight's Western Hockey League game between the Victoria Royals and Hitmen heralds the return of former Royals forward Jones, traded before the season to the Hitmen for over-age forward Alex Gogolev.
"Yeah, it sure is weird," said Jones.
"I think I'll have butterflies for the game but they'll be gone after the first shift."
It was old-home week as Jones met up with his former Royals teammates in the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre foyer as the Calgary team unloaded its bags Wednesday.
"Zane used to be my roommate and [tonight] we'll be battling it out," said Royals forward Brandon Magee.
"It looks like he's fit in really well in Calgary. We [Royals] better win or I'm not going to hear the end of it from Zane."
Stats comparisons are inevitable. The workmanlike Jones is holding his own with four goals, nine points and a plus-nine rating in 10 Hitmen games.
The flashier Gogolev is leading Victoria in points with three goals and 13 points in 11 games with a plus-two rating.
"It's a little better plus-minus than last year," quipped Jones, about last season's shambolic Royals' team defence that left him with a minus-18 rating.
The six-foot-two Jones has turned it around in Calgary.
"I'm happy; and the fit there has been awesome for me," said the native of Olds, Alberta.
"It's great to be playing in front of family and friends."
The Hitmen were looking to the future in the 18-year-old Jones, while the Royals knew they needed a forward with immediate impact in bringing 20-yearold Gogolev across the Rockies. This is one of those rare trades that is proving a win-win for both teams.
"It was a present-day deal for us and a present-future deal for Calgary," said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
"We knew we were giving up a quality player in Zane. Maybe in two years, we'll be asking ourselves, 'What were we thinking?' Jonsie was not a player we were looking to get rid of. We really liked him."
But the Royals had immediate needs and also one of each an import and over-age slot open for Gogolev to fill. Victoria can hardly complain about landing its team-leading scorer in the deal.
"I'm very happy here. This is a good team," said the Russian Gogolev.
The Hitmen have the best winning percentage in the Eastern Conference at 7-1-2, while Victoria is 7-4.
Lowry knows the Calgary organization well after having spent three seasons as an assistant coach and one season as head coach of the Hitmen from 2005-06 to 2008-09.
"It's just another game," he said, not betraying a hint of sentimentality.
ICE CHIPS: Victoria forward Steven Hodges, a 2012 draft pick of the Florida Panthers who has missed eight straight games with what the team has called a lower-body injury, will be a game-time decision tonight . . . Defenceman and Ottawa Senators draft pick Jordan Fransoo, who sat out the last Royals' game on a coach's decision, draws in tonight. "Jordan knows what he needs to do," said Lowry.
