Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Victoria Royals’ win streak snapped on the road by Blazers

KAMLOOPS 5 VICTORIA 1 If it’s Saturday, it must be Kamloops. The Victoria Royals spent the seventh day of 13 consecutive away from home.
VKA-royals-4643.jpg
The Victoria Royals lost to the Kamloops Blazers 5-1 on Saturday.

KAMLOOPS 5
VICTORIA 1

If it’s Saturday, it must be Kamloops.

The Victoria Royals spent the seventh day of 13 consecutive away from home. The road finally caught up with them in a 5-1 Western Hockey League loss to the Blazers in the town locals call the ’Loops.

The result snapped a four-game Royals winning streak, all against fellow B.C. Division teams.

This road trip is among the most unusual in Royals franchise history in that it is long in terms of duration but not in distance, such as this month’s upcoming excursion through the East Division, beginning in Brandon, Man. The current one is only within the B.C. Division and doesn't even include the longest divisional trip up to Prince George. It involves two games each in Kelowna and Kamloops and one against Vancouver. Although only within the province, it made no sense to deal with ferry hassles and return to the Island between the five games.

“There's been a lot of back and forth between the Interior and Lower Mainland, so we've needed a road warriors mentality,” said Royals head coach Dan Price.

“It’s a good divisional experience for us for the playoffs. It's felt like playoff hockey with tight checking and physicality. We’ve been process-oriented throughout it and have taken it one period at a time.”

The Royals last saw home in a win against Prince George on Blanshard. They hit the road for a 4-1 win Monday in Kamloops, followed by the 1-0 victory Wednesday over the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre. Because that was a New Year’s Day matinée, New Year’s Eve was spent hitting the bunk early in the Langley area with a 10 p.m. curfew. Not fun. But that’s life in hockey. It was up to Kelowna for Friday night’s 2-1 victory before the short-haul drive to Kamloops on Saturday. It's back to Kelowna on Wednesday.

“We will have [today] off for recovery and team building and then practice Monday and Tuesday in Kelowna ahead of Wednesday’s game,” said Price.

If these Royals don’t know each other by now, they certainly will by the middle of next week.

Sean Gulka had the lone goal Saturday for Victoria (21-13-2). The game featured two netminders named to the Top Prospects game later this month to give scouts an early glimpse ahead of the 2020 NHL draft. Brock Gould made 37 saves for the B.C. Division second-place Royals. Juan de Fuca youth hockey-product Dylan Garand needed to make only 17 saves for B.C. Division-leading Kamloops (24-11-3).

The Royals return to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre next Friday and Saturday against the Portland Winterhawks, ranked No. 3 in the Canadian Hockey League top-10 poll, and with current Canada 2020 world junior championship goaltender Joel Hofer likely back in the lineup.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com