The Kamloops Blazers have all to play for tonight when they face the Victoria Royals in the Interior.
“[The Blazers] are going to be playing desperation hockey,” said Royals head coach Dan Price.
After Tuesday night’s victory over Spokane, which was Kamloops’ third consecutive, the Blazers have three games remaining and trail the Kelowna Rockets by two points in the race for the third-and-final playoff berth in the B.C. Division of the Western Hockey League.
There is another way into the post-season for the Blazers (26-32-7) but that is more problematic as they trail the Seattle Thunderbirds by five points for the final Western Conference wild-card berth, even with the T-Birds’ loss to the Vancouver Giants on Tuesday.
The Royals (33-28-4), meanwhile, have known for awhile they will start the best-of-seven first round of the playoffs with home-ice advantage, beginning March 22-23 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, against either the Rockets or Blazers.
There are three regular-season games remaining for Victoria, so the Royals are pretty much playing out the string in a meaningless stretch drive into the post-season. But Price said that is no excuse for his team to have lost three consecutive games, even with the Royals having had up to seven scratches in those losses as they have rested not only injured players but also healthy ones.
“We want to keep up a standard of performance, regardless of who is in or out of the lineup,” said the Victoria bench boss.
“We want to get back on the right track [tonight].”
The Royals know every point is precious to the Blazers. Somehow, the non-desperate Royals needs to match the desperation level of a Kamloops team on the brink.
“The Blazers will bring forechecking and physicality, so we need to play physical and fast against them,” warned Price.
“And special teams will also be key factors, as they will be in the playoffs.”
The Royals will close out the regular season with the annual back-to-back year-ending home-and-home set against the Silvertips on Friday at an already sold-out Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and Saturday in Everett.
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