Tuesday 21 February 2012

Preview: Victoria at Kamloops

Jamie Crooks fires a shot against Kamloops
The Victoria Royals (18-35-2-4, 42 pts) visit the Kamloops Blazers (41-14-1-3, 86 pts) Wednesday night for their final regular season meeting.  Pregame show at 6:45 on The Zone at 91.3 FM.

LAST GAME:  The Royals are coming off a 3-1 home loss to the Prince George Cougars Saturday after defeating them the night before 4-2.  The Blazers have dropped their last two home games, a first this year, 5-4 to the Hitmen on Saturday and 3-2 versus the Rebels Friday.  Prior to the losses, Kamloops had won 5 in a row.  The Blazers are 7-3 in their last 10 games and are ranked 3rd in the CHL.

SEASON SERIES:  The Royals have one win in the previous seven meetings and an overtime loss.  Their last encounter was a 5-1 home loss on Jan 28th, winning the night before 4-2.

STANDINGS:  Victoria is tied for 7th with Seattle at 42 points.  Everett is 1 back, while PG is 2 back.  Just 2 points separates 7th from 10th, and each club has played 59 games. 

Kamloops with 86 points drops to 2nd overall with a Portland win Tuesday night, Tri City is just 1 point back of the Blazers.

WHO’S HOT:  Jamie Crooks had his 8 game point streak snapped versus PG, (6g 3a).  Ben Walker has 3 assists in his last two games.  Logan Nelson is 4th among rookies in scoring with 53 points.  D Hayden Rintoul is #1 among rearguards in power play goals with 12, and tied for 12th in d-man scoring (43).

For Kamloops, Brendan Ranford is riding a 10 game point streak (9g 8a), and is 11th in league scoring (76).  Tim Bozon is 2nd in rookie scoring with 58 points.  Colin Smith has a 4 game point streak (1g 3a).

SOME STATS:  Kamloops is 14 over .500 at home, have scored the 3rd most goals per game on average, while allowing the 4th fewest.  They’ve scored the most short handed goals with 16.  Goal differential per period (+24, +11, +37).

Victoria has out shot their opposition in 5 straight and 7 of their last 8.  They’ve only allowed 1 goal against while short handed in their last 5 (PK: 17 / 18).  The power play has scored 3 times in the last 2 outings (3 / 10) and is ranked 13th best.

LEADING SCORERS:

      KAMLOOPS           VICTORIA
      Ranford (34-42-76)  Crooks (31-30-61)
      Smith (30-39-69)     Nelson (20-33-53)
      Bozon (28-30-58)    Soudek (22-28-50)
      Lipon (17-37-54)     Rintoul (14-29-43)
      Herrod (22-30-52)   Magee (20-22-42)

DRAFTED/NHL SIGNED PLAYERS: For Victoria: D Tyler Stahl (Carolina, 6th rd 2010), D Jordan Fransoo (Ottawa, 7th rd 2011).  For Kamloops:  Brendan Ranford (PHI ’10), D Austin Madaisky (CBJ ’10).

TOP PROSPECTS:  Central Scoutings mid-term rankings of North American players positions Victoria’s Steven Hodges (55), and Logan Nelson (108).  For Kamloops: Tim Bozon (39).

INJURIES: For Victoria:
#3, Zach Habscheid, Lower body, 1 month+

For Kamloops:
#10, Chase Schaber, Lower body, day to day
#17, Jordan DePape, Upper body, 2 weeks
Suspensions #23, Austin Madaisky, 2 games

PREVIOUS MEETINGS:
Kamloops 5 @ Victoria 1 (Jan 28 2012) Final
Kamloops 2 @ Victoria 4 (Jan 27 2012) Final
Victoria 2 @ Kamloops 4 (Dec 3 2011) Final
Kamloops 6 @ Victoria 5 (Nov 30 2011) Final OT
Kamloops 4 @ Victoria 3 (Nov 29 2011) Final
Victoria 1 @ Kamloops 4 (Nov 25 2011) Final
Victoria 2 @ Kamloops 8 (Oct 2 2011) Final

DOWN THE STRETCH:
Victoria:  Home Games (6), Away (7)
Opposition: Prince George x 2, Everett x 2, Vancouver x 3, Spokane x 2, Kelowna x 1, Portland x 2, Kamloops x 1