Monday 27 October 2014

Preview: Brandon at Victoria, Tuesday October 28th

The Victoria Royals (8-6-1-0, 17pts) entertain the Brandon Wheat Kings (10-3-1-0, 21pts) in their only meeting of the season Tuesday night.

Pregame show at 6:40 on The Zone @ 91.3 fm or online at www.thezone.fm/whl

Last season the Royals beat the Wheaties 5-3 in Brandon as Steven Hodges had a 3 point night, and Patrik Polivka made 23 saves.

Brandon is ranked 6th in the CHL while sitting 2nd in the Eastern Conference with 10 wins in 14 games (10-3-1-0).  The Wheat Kings lead the league in offense, averaging 5.36 goals per game.

Brandon had their 4 game win streak snapped with a 6-1 loss in Kelowna Saturday, dropping them to a 2-1 record on their 7 game road trip.  The Wheat Kings had scored 33 goals over their previous four wins averaging 8.25 goals a game. [(8-5 @ Kam) (7-4 @ PG), (10-3 vs Port) (8-3 vs SC)].

Victoria is on a 4 game win streak after a sweep of Vancouver on the Island over the weekend by 2-1 and 3-2 scores.  It’s the longest current win streak in the WHL.  The Royals have only allowed 5 goals against in their last 4, all backstopped by Coleman Vollrath.  They’ve won 5 of their last 6 and are two games over .500, moving up to 3rd in the BC Division and 4th in the West.

Austin Carroll leads the team in scoring with 19 points, and is on a 3 game point streak (2g 3a).  He’s tied for league lead in goals with 10.  Axel Blomqvist has 6 points (3g 3a) over his 4 game streak, while Brandon Magee is on a 3 game streak since returning from suspension with 5 points (1g 4a).  Defenseman Joe Hicketts is 3rd among defenseman in scoring with 15 points in 13 games.

Leading the way offensively for Brandon is Latvian Rihards Bukarts who is 3rd in league scoring with 23 points, including 15 assists.  Jayce Hawryluk is 9th in scoring with 19 points which includes 10 goals – 5 of which are game winners.

Rookie Russian defenseman Ivan Provorov is 2nd among newcomers in scoring with 14 points while 16 year old forward Nolan Patrick is 3rd among freshmen in points with 12.

Defenseman Ryan Pilon is 2nd in reargaurd scoring with 16 points, and is a ‘B’ rated skater by NHL Central scouting for the upcoming draft.  Provorov is also ‘B’ rated, along with forward Jesse Gabrielle.  Netminder Joran Papirny is ‘C’ rated.  Victoria’s Tyler Soy and Chaz Redekopp are ‘C’ rated.

Brandon’s NHL Camp attendees:

Jayce Hawryluk, Florida Panthers, 2014,
Richard Nejezchleb, New York Rangers, 2014, (returned from AHL Hartford Wolf Pack)
Jordan Papirny, Montreal Canadiens, F/A,
John Quenneville, New Jersey Devils, 2014,
Peter Quenneville, Columbus Blue Jackets, 2013,
Eric Roy, Calgary Flames, 2013,
Reid Duke, Minnesota Wild, 2014

Kelowna Rockets’ Head Coach Dan Lambert will coach the Canada-Red team, at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge whose roster includes Wheat Kings’ F Nolan Patrick.  Also attending the U-17 is defenseman Kale Clague and forward Tanner Kaspick.

Royals Athletic Therapist Khore Elliot will also be participating at the U-17.

Victoria is in the middle of a 5 game homestand which concludes Saturday and Sunday with a pair against the Tri City Americans.

- Marlon Martens

Victoria Royals vs Brandon Wheat Kings: Head To Head Stats Summary
Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2014-15 Regular SeasonVictoria 0-0-0-0Brandon 0-0-0-0
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular SeasonVictoria 1-0-0-0Brandon 0-1-0-0
Last 5 Years record between teamsVictoria 4-0-0-0Brandon 0-2-1-1
Victoria vs. Brandon Last 5 Years record at VictoriaVictoria 2-0-0-0Brandon 0-1-1-0
Victoria vs. Brandon Last 5 Years record at BrandonVictoria 2-0-0-0Brandon 0-1-0-1

How the 2 teams match up
Brandon
Victoria
Team Record10-3-1-0 -- 21 points8-6-1-0 -- 17 points
Division Ranking1st East3rd B.C.
Conference Ranking2nd Eastern4th Western
League Ranking3rd8th
Past 10 Games6-3-1-07-2-1-0
Streak0-1-0-04-0-0-0
Last Game6-1 L @ Kelowna (Oct 25 2014) Final3-2 W vs Vancouver (Oct 25 2014) Final
Home Record5-0-1-04-1-1-0
Away Record5-3-0-04-5-0-0
GF75 46 
GA49 52 
PP (Overall)(21/73) 28.8(17/79) 21.5
PP (Home)(7/33) 21.2(7/28) 25.0
PP (Away)(14/40) 35.0(10/51) 19.6
PK (Overall)(14/54) 74.1(15/71) 78.9
PK (Home)(4/19) 78.9(5/22) 77.3
PK (Away)(10/35) 71.4(10/49) 79.6
Leading RookieProvorov (7-7-14)Hannoun (1-2-3)
Most PIMGabrielle - 31Crunk - 43
Team PIM/GM15.3/Game18.2/Game
Leading ScorersBukarts (8-15-23)Carroll (10-9-19)
Hawryluk (10-9-19)Hicketts (4-11-15)
Pilon (2-14-16)Walker (5-7-12)
McGauley (5-10-15)Soy (4-8-12)
Quenneville (3-12-15)Brown (4-7-11)
Last 5 Games6-1 L @ Kelowna (Oct 25 2014) Final3-2 W vs Vancouver (Oct 25 2014) Final
8-5 W @ Kamloops (Oct 24 2014) Final2-1 W vs Vancouver (Oct 24 2014) Final
7-4 W @ Prince George (Oct 22 2014) Final4-0 W @ Kootenay (Oct 18 2014) Final
10-3 W vs Portland (Oct 18 2014) Final4-2 W @ Lethbridge (Oct 17 2014) Final
8-3 W vs Swift Current (Oct 17 2014) Final3-2 L @ Edmonton (Oct 15 2014) Final
Leading After 1st5-0-0-04-1-0-0
Leading After 2nd9-0-0-04-1-0-0
Tied After 1st2-3-0-02-0-0-0
Tied After 2nd1-0-1-02-0-0-0
Trailing After 1st3-0-1-02-5-1-0
Trailing After 2nd0-3-0-02-5-1-0
Out Shooting Opponents9-2-1-04-1-1-0
Out Shot by Opponents1-1-0-03-5-0-0
1-Goal Games0-0-1-05-1-1-0
2-Goal Games2-0-0-01-2-0-0
3-Goal Games4-1-0-00-1-0-0