Veteran netminder Shane Farkas is already in playoff form, and if his Victoria Royals teammates aren’t already, the next several weeks will help get them there, according to their head coach.
In a quirk to the Western Hockey League schedule, the Royals will play back-to-back games against the same team three times in the next two weeks. And if that isn’t enough, Victoria has three double-headers against the same team in one week in mid-January.
“I love [the back to backs] because they very much have the same feeling as a playoff series,” said Royals head coach Dan Price, whose team takes its 15-9-2 record north to Prince George today to take on the 6-20-3 Cougars in the first of back-to-back games at the CN Centre.
“We go back to back on the road and then come home and have Spokane back to back in our rink so it’s like the first four games of a playoff series so the intensity gets a little higher and it becomes great training for us.”
Farkas looks to be in playoff form already. The 20-year-old netminder was named WHL goaltender of the week for his performance in three games last week.
Farkas, played 152 minutes for the Royals, sporting a 2-0 record, 1.19 goals-against average, and stopped 77 of 80 shots for a 0.963 save percentage. Farkas’s performance kept the Royals among the top three teams in the B.C. Division, behind the Kamloops Blazers and Kelowna Rockets.
“My stats last week I think is more a reflection of the way the guys are playing in front of me,” said Farkas, who hails from Penticton and came to Victoria in the summer in a trade from the Portland Winterhawks.
“We’re working hard and executing the game plan and when you do that, good things happen.
“At the same time, there’re 52 weeks in the year and, while being recognized for a few of them is nice, there’s still lots of work to do yet.”
Farkas, who carries a 2.54 GAA into tonight’s game, also enjoys games on back-to-back nights.
“They’re fun,” he said.
“I spent time in the U.S. Division and you play a lot of back-to-backs and it seems to really bring the rivalry out with that team you’re playing and really get the intensity level up.”
The Royals just had their annual Teddy Bear Toss game on Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, and now they’ll provide the opposition for the Cougars’ Teddy Bear and Toque Toss Night on Saturday at the CN Centre.
“They’re fun games to play at home but I’ve never played in one as the visiting team so I think you just have to try to put that out of your mind and focus on what’s happening on the ice, and if the puck does go in, well, then you get a little longer of a break,” said Farkas.
With all the back-to-back games — the Royals just finished a back-to-back with the Seattle Thunderbirds last weekend — Price will be using both Farkas and Brock Gould, who turned 18 on Wednesday.
“Since the start of the year, Shane has put in the work and you’re seeing the result of that now,” said Price, whose team will face the Chiefs on Tuesday and Wednesday at home.
“And Brock is preparing the right way and doing the work that is required, so having two goalies who are on top of the game, gives the team a tremendous amount of confidence.”
LOOSE PUCKS: The Royals will again be without forward Phillip Schultz, who is captaining Denmark at the IIHF Tier 2 world junior championship in Belarus. . . . Injured forwards Sean Gulka and Kaid Oliver are close to returning to the Royals’ lineup but both will be game-time decisions tonight. . . . Spokane will be without its best defenceman when it comes to Victoria next week as New Jersey Devils draft pick Ty Smith has been named to Team Canada for the upcoming world junior championship in the Czech Republic.
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