Thursday 9 January 2014

Preview: Portland at Victoria, Friday Jan. 10th, 2014

The Victoria Royals (28-14-0-2, 58pts) kick off a 5 game homestand by entertaining the Portland Winterhawks (26-12-2-2, 56pts) for a pair of games Friday and Saturday.

Pregame show both nights at 6:45 on The Zone @ 91.3 fm.

Victoria is 3rd in the West, 2 points up on Portland (2 games in hand) who retain the 2nd spot due to divisional seeding.

The Royals are in the middle of 3 in a row against the Winterhawks after a 3-2 victory in Portland last Saturday.  Coleman Vollrath made 37 saves, and Steven Hodges scored the game winner.

Back on November 9th, Brandon Magee scored twice including the overtime winner and Vollrath made 41 saves in a 3-2 road victory at the Moda Centre.

The Winterhawks snapped their 4 game losing streak in Everett, 4-1 Wednesday night.

It’s a battle between the most offensive team and the stingiest teams in the league.  Portland averages 4.38 goals for per game, while Victoria has allowed the fewest on average per game at 2.41.

The Winterhawks are the 7th ranked team in the CHL, while the Royals received Honourable Mention for the CHL Top 10 a second week in a row.

Both clubs see the return of multiple players from tournaments, suspensions and trades.

Victoria acquired 19 year old defenseman Travis Brown from Moose Jaw on Monday in exchange for the rights to forward Noah Gregor (1998) and a pair of third round WHL Bantam Draft picks.

Brown is 4th in overall defenseman scoring with 9 goals and 29 assists, and comes in tied for the team lead in points with Brandon Magee (38).  The 6’2 193lb reargaurd is also a 5th round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Royals also sent ‘95 born defenseman Isaac Schacher to Regina for fifth round draft picks in the 2015 and 2016 Bantam Drafts.

Back from winning Silver for Team Pacific at the U-17’s are forward Tyler Soy and defenseman Chaz Reddekopp, along with Assistant Coach Enio Sacilotto and Athletic Therapist Khore Elliot.

Portland sees the return of 4 of their top 6 scorers, 3 from the World Juniors.  Nic Petan (67pts), Taylor Leir (43pts), Derrick Pouliot (32pts).  Brendan Leipsic (45pts) returns from a 7 game suspension.  They account for 39% of the teams total points.  The club also boasts 9 NHL drafted players.

The NHL’s Minnesota Wild also reassigned defenseman and 7th overall pick in 2012, Matthew Dumba to Portland after acquiring his rights for Preston Kopeck and conditional picks.

Dumba has played 13 games for the Wild this season, and for Canada at the World Juniors. Last season in Red Deer, Dumba totaled 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points in 62 games.

Portland also acquired 20 year old netminder Corbin Boes from Lethbridge for 17 year old forward Steven Alldridge, the rights to Shayne McColgan and a 2nd rounder in ’14. 

The Winterhawks then sent goaltender Jarrod Schamerhorn to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a seventh-round pick in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft.

Starter Brendan Burke is listed as day to day with a lower body injury.

Victoria is still without the services of defenseman Joe Hicketts (Upper 4-6 weeks), forward Logan Nelson (Upper 7-10 days) and Braden Oleksyn (Upper 2-3 weeks).

Victoria Royals vs Portland Winterhawks: Head To Head Stats
Summary

Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular Season Victoria 2-0-0-0Portland 0-1-1-0
Head to Head Record 2012-13 Regular Season Victoria 0-4-0-0Portland 4-0-0-0
Last 5 Years record between teams Victoria 8-9-1-0Portland 10-7-1-0
Victoria vs. Portland Last 5 Years record at Victoria Victoria 5-2-1-0Portland 3-5-0-0
Victoria vs. Portland Last 5 Years record at Portland Victoria 3-7-0-0Portland 7-2-1-0
Previous Meetings This Season Victoria 3 @ Portland 2 (Jan 4 2014) Final
Victoria 3 @ Portland 2 (Nov 9 2013) Final OT



How the 2 teams match up
Portland
Victoria
Team Record 26-12-2-2 -- 56 points 28-14-0-2 -- 58 points
Division Ranking 1st U.S. 2nd B.C.
Conference Ranking 2nd Western 3rd Western
League Ranking 3rd 5th
Past 10 Games 4-6-0-0 8-1-0-1
Streak 1-0-0-0 1-0-0-0
Last Game 4-1 W @ Everett (Jan 8 2014) Final 3-2 W @ Portland (Jan 4 2014) Final
Home Record 13-6-1-0 14-8-0-1
Away Record 13-6-1-2 14-6-0-1
GF 184  134 
GA 145  106 
PP (Overall) (46/193) 23.8 (40/189) 21.2
PP (Home) (24/104) 23.1 (20/103) 19.4
PP (Away) (22/89) 24.7 (20/86) 23.3
PK (Overall) (34/188) 81.9 (30/189) 84.1
PK (Home) (16/88) 81.8 (17/103) 83.5
PK (Away) (18/100) 82.0 (13/86) 84.9
Leading Rookie Haar (5-27-32) Soy (9-8-17)
Most PIM Schoenborn - 71 Carroll - 82
Team PIM/GM 15.6/Game 15.2/Game
Leading Scorers Petan (20-47-67) Magee (14-24-38)
Bjorkstrand (27-32-59) Brown (9-29-38)
Leipsic (21-24-45) Carroll (21-12-33)
De Leo (25-19-44) Blomqvist (16-17-33)
Leier (22-21-43) Nelson (12-20-32)
Last 5 Games 4-1 W @ Everett (Jan 8 2014) Final 3-2 W @ Portland (Jan 4 2014) Final
3-2 L vs Victoria (Jan 4 2014) Final 5-3 L @ Spokane (Jan 3 2014) Final
5-1 L @ Tri-City (Jan 3 2014) Final 1-0 W vs Everett (Jan 1 2014) Final SO
7-2 L vs Kelowna (Jan 2 2014) Final 3-2 W @ Everett (Dec 31 2013) Final
9-3 L vs Kelowna (Dec 31 2013) Final 5-2 W vs Prince George (Dec 28 2013) Final
Leading After 1st 17-2-0-0 17-1-0-0
Leading After 2nd 22-1-0-0 21-0-0-0
Tied After 1st 8-4-1-1 9-2-0-0
Tied After 2nd 1-1-0-0 4-0-0-1
Trailing After 1st 1-6-1-1 2-11-0-2
Trailing After 2nd 3-10-2-2 3-14-0-1
Out Shooting Opponents 19-4-1-1 8-5-0-1
Out Shot by Opponents 5-8-1-1 17-9-0-1
1-Goal Games 6-4-2-2 12-4-0-2
2-Goal Games 5-1-0-0 6-4-0-0
3-Goal Games 10-2-0-0 5-3-0-0