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Top Prospects Game beckons for Victoria Royals netminder Brock Gould

Brock Gould, who has played the waiting game behind respective 20-year-old goaltenders Griffen Outhouse last season and Shane Farkas this season, is establishing his own identity in the Victoria Royals crease.
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Brock Gould has a 2.66 goals-against average for the Royals this season.

Brock Gould, who has played the waiting game behind respective 20-year-old goaltenders Griffen Outhouse last season and Shane Farkas this season, is establishing his own identity in the Victoria Royals crease.

Gould and Island-product Dylan Garand of the Kamloops Blazers are the two Western Hockey League goaltenders selected for the 2020 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Jan. 16 in Hamilton, Ont.

The game will feature the 40 top prospects from the Canadian Hockey League for the 2020 NHL draft. The CHL consists of the WHL, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The 18-year-old Colorado-native Gould is 4-5-1 in 12 appearances this season with a 2.66 goals-against average and .898 save percentage in backing up Farkas. The 17-year-old Juan de Fuca Minor Hockey-product Garand is already the starter in Kamloops with an 18-8-2 record in 28 appearances and 2.40 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.

“We in our organization have seen the hard work Brock Gould puts in and how he has developed because of that,” said Royals head coach Dan Price.

“The selection is well deserved.”

Gould is pleased to be noticed.

“It means a lot to me. Making the top-prospects game was one of my goals coming into this season,” he said.

Although Garand has taken over the main crease load in goal for the Blazers, after the graduation of Las Vegas Golden Knights-prospect and fellow-Islander Dylan Ferguson of Lantzville, Gould has learned to bide his time in Victoria.

“I learned leadership from Griffen [Outhouse] and how to mentally approach the game from Shane [Farkas],” said Gould, of his apprenticeship.

Price said Farkas and Gould push each other and that crease dynamic has worked well this season for the Royals.

“Shane and I are very competitive and both have that edge to us,” said Gould.

Price said he feels comfortable going with either, as the Royals (16-10-2) close out the pre-Christmas portion of season tonight and Wednesday against the Spokane Chiefs (18-9-4) at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty to think about for the six-foot-four Gould ahead of playing in front of the gathered NHL scouts next month in Hamilton, where 31 of the CHL’s 60 member clubs will be represented. Gould will be among the 13 WHL players from 10 teams.

Nineteen of the 40 players selected among the three CHL leagues have received ‘A’ ratings as first-round candidates for next June’s NHL draft in Montreal.

All four goaltenders named — Gould, Garand, Samuel Hlavaj of Sherbrooke of the QMJHL and Canadian national junior team selection Nico Daws of the OHL’s Guelph Storm — are listed as ‘C’ rated prospects for the fourth through seventh rounds.

ICE CHIPS: The Chiefs will be without star defenceman Ty Smith for the set in Victoria. The first-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils is with the Canadian team as it prepares for the 2020 IIHF world junior tournament beginning Boxing Day in the Czech Republic.

“Even with Ty Smith out, the Chiefs have a deep and mobile back end,” warned Price.

The Chiefs have lost only once in regulation time in their past 10 games in going 7-1-2. They won both meetings against the Royals in Spokane this season, the first 6-1 and the second 4-3 in overtime after the Royals blew a two-goal lead in the third period.

“We go in hungry against Spokane this week because of what happened in the games played there,” said Gould

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com

Twitter.com/tc_vicsports