It took Danish-import Marcus Almquist almost an entire season to find his footing on the smaller North American ice surface. But once he did, his late-season production of seven goals and seven assists showed why he could be a sneaky-dangerous returning forward this season for the Victoria Royals.
The line of Almquist, Tanner Scott and Brayden Schuurman was a bright spot late in the season for the Royals despite that the team’s bid for a Western Hockey League playoff spot fell one game short.
All three return and Scott was a part of Wednesday night’s Blue-White intra-squad game at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in which the 2022-23 Royals hopefuls stated their cases for inclusion on the roster. Not that Almquist, Scott or Schuurman have anything to worry about in that regard as they are locks, so much so that Almquist and Schuurman were held out of the intra-squad game in preparation for the start of the pre-season this weekend.
Scott’s blistering speed was evident as he became the king of breakaways, especially short-handed. Schuurman stamped his credentials as a name player by being selected for the Canadian team to the IIHF world U-18 championship in Germany and, although overlooked in the 2022 NHL draft, was a free-agent invitee to the Edmonton Oilers summer prospects camp.
It is Almquist, however, who enters this season as perhaps the most intriguing player of the trio because of those flashes he showed last March and April as he became accustomed to the North American game.
“I was getting more comfortable on the smaller ice surface by that point,” said the Dane, who turns 19 next week.
“It was hard at first for me because I felt I couldn’t use all my speed and skill sets. The first part of the season was frustrating but the team believed in me.”
Moving from the bigger European ice sheet is hardest for undersized players such as the five-foot-seven, 170-pound Almquist, who survive more on wits and quickness. More space helps those kinds of players. Less space hinders their games. But Almquist has adapted to the change.
“I am used to it now,” he said.
Back home over the summer in his hometown of Rodovre, he had plenty to think about while he enjoyed his long walks.
“We don’t call it hiking because Denmark is flat, not like Sweden [where Almquist played some junior hockey],” he said with a chuckle.
One of the things to mull over was the last-game loss to the Spokane Chiefs last spring which denied Victoria a WHL playoff berth. But that is now only background motivation, he noted.
“We’ve not forgotten about it but we’ve moved on,” said Almquist
“The focus is on new goals and a new season.”
The Royals begin the WHL preseason Saturday against the Prince George Cougars at Jon Baillie Arena in Port Coquitlam and continue Sunday against the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre, Tuesday against the Rockets at Prospera Place in Kelowna and conclude next Wednesday at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops against the Blazers.
The WHL regular-season openers for Victoria are Sept. 23-24 at the Memorial Centre against, perhaps fittingly, the Chiefs.
Regardless of having “moved on,” Almquist, Scott, Schuurman and the other returning Royals are only human and no doubt will still feel they have some unfinished business to settle with Spokane.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
