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Powerful contrasts as Victoria Royals meet Kamloops Blazers

Victoria visits Kamloops on Wednesday night
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The Victoria Royals and Kamloops Blazers will do battle Wednesday night in Kamloops. (ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST)

The difference between the clubs couldn’t be starker as the Victoria Royals are in Kamloops tonight to play the Blazers in the Western Hockey League.

The Royals (15-41-7) face another dismal spring, ­having missed the playoffs for the second successive season, after placing last in the bubble season before that. And this is in a conference in which only two of the 10 teams don’t advance to the post-season.

The Blazers (44-11-6), meanwhile, are preparing to host the 2023 Memorial Cup in May and have loaded up for it. The staggering trade in January, in which the Blazers sent 10 future WHL draft selections, including four first-round picks through 2026, and several young players to the Everett Silvertips for two-time Canada world junior championship gold medallist defenceman Olen Zellweger and veteran forward Ryan Hofer made ­headlines around the league.

That’s the type of deal, from the Everett perspective, that the Royals were criticized for not making over the past two seasons by holding onto veteran assets Gannon Laroque, Tarun Fizer and Bailey Peach and still missing the playoffs while ­failing to build for the future.

With teams such as the ­Blazers and Seattle ­Thunderbirds set for a steep fall next season, clubs such as the Silvertips, Vancouver Giants and Spokane Chiefs that traded veteran assets for future draft picks, will be on the rise. By failing to make similar moves, the Royals will find themselves in a grey area.

Victoria, with a roster of mostly 18- and 19-year-olds next season will hit a transitory sweet spot in the league in 2023-24 in which this year’s heavy-hitters like the Blazers and Thunderbirds will be down due to going all-in for this season, while it will take a few seasons for ­WHL-draft rich teams such as the Silvertips, Giants and Chiefs to see that young first-round ­talent develop.

The problem is that while the Royals will have a veteran team next season, the last three seasons have shown that while they work hard, this group is just average at best. The ceiling appears so low that Victoria’s season to pop will likely mean looking at the fifth-to-eighth playoff positions next year and nothing remotely approaching the top of the table.

“We can objectively say this team is on the upswing and we hope to be in the top half or top third of the league,” Royals GM and head coach Dan Price has countered.

While that remains to be seens, what is clear is that this group is now left to play out the string this season in five meaningless remaining games.

“It doesn’t mean you stop ­caring. And our players and staff really care,” said Price.

“There is personal pride and organizational pride to play for. NHL evaluators will be looking to see if you still compete hard even knowing you are not in the playoffs. That is something very telling to scouts.”

The Royals are in Prince George on Friday and Saturday to play the Cougars and close out with a home and home set the following weekend against Everett.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com