Thursday 8 March 2012

Preview: Victoria at Kelowna (Fri Mar 9)

Steven Hodges tries to score in a 3-2 loss at Everett Wed.
The Victoria Royals (21-40-2-4, 48pts) continue their quest to secure a playoff spot on the road against the Kelowna Rockets (29-29-3-6, 67pts) Friday night.  Pregame show on The Zone @ 91.3 FM Victoria, or online at: www.thezone.fm

PAST 10: Victoria (4-6) - Kelowna (5-4-0-1)

STANDINGS:  Victoria is in 8th, 2 up on Seattle who have a game in hand.  Victoria has 5 games remaining, while Seattle has 6.  The Royals now need a combination of 11 points derived from Victoria wins and/or Seattle losses to eliminate the Thunderbirds.

Kelowna has locked up 6th spot in the West.

LAST GAME:  The Royals out shot the Silvertips 37-13, and got a pair of goals from Robin Soudek but fell 3-2 in Everett Wednesday night.  Kelowna is coming off a 3-2 shoot out win in Spokane Wednesday.  They defeated the Blazers 4-3 in overtime and 6-3 in Kamloops in their current 3 game win streak.

SERIES:  It’s the final meeting of the season, the Royals with a (4-2-0-1) record against the Rockets.  Kelowna has won their last two encounters 4-3 in a shoot out Jan 7th and 5-2 the night before, both in Victoria.  The Royals last win against the Rockets was Dec 2nd in Kelowna, 2-1.

Kelowna 4 @ Victoria 3 (Jan 7 2012) SOL
Kelowna 5 @ Victoria 2 (Jan 6 2012)
Victoria 2 @ Kelowna 1 (Dec 2 2011)
Victoria 5 @ Kelowna 6 (Nov 26 2011)
Victoria 3 @ Kelowna 2 (Oct 22 2011)
Kelowna 3 @ Victoria 4 (Oct 15 2011) OTW
Kelowna 5 @ Victoria 7 (Oct 14 2011)

ROAD / HOME: Victoria looks for their 10th road win, as they begin 3 in 3 nights, part of their 4 game in 5 trek.  They face Everett Saturday, and Vancouver Sunday at 5pm.  Their final two regular season games will be at home versus the Portland Winterhawks.  The Rockets begin a 3 game homestand, with a 2 under .500 record at Prospera Place (14-16-0-2).

STATS:  Victoria has killed of 25 of 26 penalties over the course of their last 7 games.  The Royals set a franchise record for the fewest shots allowed in a game with 13 versus the Silvertips Wednesday.  The Bruins still hold the record for fewest shots against in a period with 1, as Victoria came close by holding Everett to 2 in the 3rd.

For more in depth Head to Head stats, head to:
http://reganbartel.blogspot.com/2012/03/rockets-game-notes-vs-royals.html

HEAD TO HEAD:
                         GP G A Pts
Jamie Crooks     7 3 8 11
Robin Soudek     7 7 3 10
Hayden Rintoul    7 3 5 8

Shane McColgan   7 2 10 12
Myles Bell             5 5 3 8
Brett Bulmer         4 4 2 6
Colton Sissons     7 3 3 6

LEADING SCORERS:
Crooks (34-30-64)
Nelson (21-37-58)
Soudek (27-30-57)
Rintoul (16-33-49)
Magee (21-24-45)

McColgan (17-45-62)
Bulmer (32-25-57)
Sissons (26-15-41)
Bell (13-26-39)
Lyon (13-22-35)

DRAFTED/NHL SIGNED PLAYERS: For Victoria: D Tyler Stahl (Carolina, 6th rd 2010), D Jordan Fransoo (Ottawa, 7th rd 2011).  For Kelowna: F Shane McColgan (NYR, 2011), F Brett Bulmer (Minnesota 2nd rd 2010).

TOP PROSPECTS:  Central Scoutings mid-term rankings of North American players positions Victoria’s Steven Hodges (55), and Logan Nelson (108).  For Kelowna:  F Colton Sissons (14), D Damon Severson (46), D Colten Martin (146), F Colton Heffley (191)

INJURIES:

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

For Kelowna:
#10, Filip Vasko, Lower body, 1 week
#15, Colton Sissons, Upper body, 1 month+
#16, Spencer Main, Upper body, 1 month+

With 2 home games left and a capacity of 7006, the Royals have an opportunity to eclipse the 200,000 mark in total attendance this season.  So far 189,746 spectactors have enjoyed the Royals games at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Their game versus the Portland Winterhawks on March 14th has already sold out!  This is the team’s sixth sell-out of the season. 

There is only one way left to get tickets to the game, and that is to get your hands on some of the limited number of $5 Mad Monday tickets. These hot tickets will be available Monday, March 12th at 9:30 a.m. at the Select Your Tickets Box Office at the SOFMC.

EVERETT 49 Points REMAINING GAMES: (6)

Mar. 9       Portland                                
Mar. 10     Victoria                                
Mar. 11     at Seattle                                
Mar. 14     at Kelowna
Mar. 16     at Tri-City    
Mar. 17     at Seattle

VICTORIA 48 Points REMAINING GAMES (5)

Mar 9     at Kelowna
Mar 10   at Everett
Mar 11   at Vancouver
Mar 14   vs Portland
Mar 16   vs Portland

SEATTLE 46 Points REMAINING GAMES: (6)

Mar. 10    vs Portland
Mar. 11    vs Everett
Mar. 13    vs Spokane
Mar. 16    at Spokane
Mar. 17     vs Everett
Mar. 18    at Portland

PRINCE GEORGE 44 Points REMAINING GAMES: (5)

Mar. 10    at Kelowna
Mar. 11    at Tri City
Mar. 13    at Tri City
Mar. 16    at Kamloops
Mar. 17    vs Kamloops