The Victoria Royals are still searching for their first win of the abbreviated Western Hockey League season.
After three games, the team has suffered losses to the Kelowna Rockets, Prince George Cougars and Vancouver Giants.
While it is easy to get caught in looking at only the scoreboard, the Royals have seen a progression in their play after an opening 5-0 loss to the Rockets. Victoria’s last game versus Vancouver, a 5-4 loss, was their best game of this season so far.
“The first two games we didn’t feel like we put ourselves in position to win,” said Royals General Manager and Head Coach Dan Price. “Even though we scored early and had the lead in the game against Prince George, we were chasing the game for most of it. And certainly, we were chasing for all of the Kelowna game. Even though those teams played well and certainly earned the victory, we gave some opportunities away to get control of those games.”
Victoria’s game against Vancouver was another entertaining, back-and-forth battle. While the Royals looked to be in the driver’s seat and on their way to their first victory of the season, Vancouver had other ideas. The Giants got late goals from overage players Tristan Nielsen and Eric Florchuk to the tie and eventually win the game.
“Against Vancouver, the team went for it,” Price said. “They were completely committed to winning intention, the execution was at a high level – though it could, of course, be higher – and we were in a position to win.”
“We did a really good job controlling things five-on-five,” said Price of the game versus the Giants.
Veteran forwards Brandon Cutler, Tarun Fizer, Brayden Tracey and Keanu Derungs all provided goals for Victoria.
“It was that the older players running over that balance to begin until we got that traction and got that rhythm that I think was a big contributor to that,” said Price.
The Royals did a better job against the Giants of getting in shooting lanes, blocking shots and clearing in front of the net.
“Our play was better around the net,” Price said. “We did a better job boxing out, but I still don’t think we’re quite there yet. As far as closing the shot lanes high in the zone, that’s been a big part of our identity for a long time. Making it difficult for teams to get pucks through, that’s a skill. It’s not easy to do, it requires timing, edge control and use of your stick. There are a lot of aspects to it and that’s another skill we’re continually improving here as we go.”
With a young team and shortened camp leading up to the season, Price is seeing the building blocks come into place.
“We’re starting to get that foundation,” said Price. “The effort is there, the majority of the details are there.”
Price’s message to his team is to have the mindset of continually building. “Let’s just learn from this and look at a few of these different situations that could improve,” he said. “We just go into the next game looking to fix these things. And once you get one, then you can start getting a little bit of a rhythm and getting into generating a bit of momentum.”
“That the first segment of three games for us is over,” said Price. “We’re starting a brand new segment, so it’s a completely fresh and brand new mindset in that way.”
