Monday 17 November 2014

Preview: Kelowna at Victoria Tues, Nov.18th

The Victoria Royals (11-10-2-0, 24 pts) entertain the CHL’s #2 ranked team, the Kelowna Rockets (20-1-1-0, 41 pts) for a pair of games Tuesday and Wednesday, as they open up a four game homestand.

Pregame show at 6:40 both nights, on The Zone @ 91.3 fm with puck drop at 7pm.  www.thezone.fm/whl

It’s their 2nd of 8 meetings, with the Rockets winning 5-1 in Kelowna Nov. 5th.  Brandon Magee scored the lone goal for the Royals who trailed 3-0 after 20 minutes.  Coleman Vollrath and Jayden Sittler both saw action in game that had 128 minutes in penalties.

It was the first of 5 on the road for Victoria, who then earned a split in Prince George, and a split of their two weekend road games, taking 4 of a possible 10 points.

After falling 4-1 in Tri City Friday, the Royals rebounded with a 7-5 win over the Giants in Vancouver Saturday.  Joe Hicketts was the number one star with 4 helpers, while Brandon Magee tied a franchise record for most assists in a game with 5.  Axel Blomqvist scored twice as Victoria’s power play went 2 for 6.  Coleman Vollrath earned his 10th victory with 30 saves.

The Royals who hold sole possesion of 4th in the West and 2nd in the BC Division, have now won 2 of their last 3 games.

The Rockets have won 7 straight, with points in their last 11 games, winning 10 of those contests.  Their only blemishes all season include a 3-2 overtime loss in Portland Nov. 1st, and a 5-2 loss in Tri City on Oct. 18th.  They started the season with a 10 game winning streak.

Kelowna is coming off a road sweep in Prince George by 6-3 and 6-2 scores Friday and Saturday giving them a road record of (11-1-1-0).

Last weeks, WHL Player of the Week, Rourke Chartier, leads the league in goals with 23, and extended his goal scoring streak to 10 games. That ties a Rockets franchise record set by Jesse Schultz during the 2002-2003 season. No Kelowna player has ever had an 11 game goal scoring streak according to Regan Bartel, the voice of the Rockets.

Nick Merkley and Chartier share the league lead in points with 40 apiece.  Merkely is tops in assists with 33 and an ‘A’ rated skater by Central Scouting for the upcoming NHL draft.

The Rockets have scored the most goals (5 on avg/game) while giving up the fewest (2.23 avg/game), and boast the most efficient power play in the league (31.5%).

Royals Joe Hicketts leads all defensemen in scoring with 28 points, which is also 4th most overall.  His 23 assists are the most by any rearguard in the league.

Austin Carroll is tied for 2nd in goals scored with 14, and has the 8th most points overall with 27.  He’s first in power play goals with 8.

Defenseman Travis Brown is 2nd in league power play goals with 7, tops by a rearguard.

Victoria is 3 over .500 on home ice, with a record of  5-2-2-0.  Their power play is 5th best in the league.

The Royals will wear their black 3rd jersey when they welcome the Everett Silvertips on Friday, and then be wearing a limited edition jersey in honour of the Royal Canadian Navy Submarine Fleet Saturday when they host the Regina Pats for the fourth annual Canadian Forces Night.

- Marlon Martens

KELOWNA NOTES:

Chartier 1st to ‘20’:
Rourke Chartier: 20 goals in 19 games - 2014-2015
Jamie Benn: 20 goals in 20 games - 2008-2009 (Benn scored 46 times)

NHL CSS
Forwards Nick Merkley ‘A’, Tomas Soustal and Joe Gatenby ‘C’ skaters

TEAM WHL
Defenseman Madison Bowey, and forward Tyson Baillie

NHL CAMP Invitees

Tyson Baillie, San Jose Sharks, F/A, No
Madison Bowey, Washington Capitals, 2013, YES
Rourke Chartier, San Jose Sharks, 2014, No
Tyrell Goulbourne, Philadelphia Flyers, 2013, No
Justin Kirkland, Nashville Predators, 2014, No
Mitchell Wheaton, Detroit Red Wings, 2013, No
Jackson Whistle, Vancouver Canucks, F/A, No
Dalton Yorke, San Jose Sharks, F/A, No

Victoria Royals vs Kelowna Rockets: Head To Head Stats Summary
  
Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2014-15 Regular SeasonVictoria 0-1-0-0Kelowna 1-0-0-0
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular SeasonVictoria 5-2-0-1Kelowna 3-4-0-1
Last 5 Years record between teamsVictoria 15-14-1-3Kelowna 18-12-1-2
Victoria vs. Kelowna Last 5 Years record at VictoriaVictoria 6-7-1-2Kelowna 10-5-1-0
Victoria vs. Kelowna Last 5 Years record at KelownaVictoria 9-7-0-1Kelowna 8-7-0-2
Previous Meetings This SeasonVictoria 1 @ Kelowna 5 (Nov 5 2014) Final

How the 2 teams match up
   
 
Kelowna
Victoria
Team Record20-1-1-0 -- 41 points11-10-2-0 -- 24 points
Division Ranking1st B.C.2nd B.C.
Conference Ranking1st Western4th Western
League Ranking1st10th
Past 10 Games9-0-1-05-4-1-0
Streak10-0-1-01-0-0-0
Last Game6-2 W @ Prince George (Nov 15 2014) Final7-5 W @ Vancouver (Nov 15 2014) Final
Home Record9-0-0-05-2-2-0
Away Record11-1-1-06-8-0-0
GF110 73 
GA49 80 
PP (Overall)(35/111) 31.5(26/112) 23.2
PP (Home)(12/42) 28.6(11/36) 30.6
PP (Away)(23/69) 33.3(15/76) 19.7
PK (Overall)(15/94) 84.0(25/110) 77.3
PK (Home)(4/39) 89.7(7/37) 81.1
PK (Away)(11/55) 80.0(18/73) 75.3
Leading RookieDube (0-0-0)Nagy (3-2-5)
Most PIMBowey - 36Carroll - 52
Team PIM/GM15.0/Game18.4/Game
Leading ScorersChartier (23-17-40)Hicketts (5-23-28)
 Merkley (7-33-40)Carroll (14-13-27)
 Baillie (15-11-26)Magee (6-15-21)
 Bowey (7-19-26)Blomqvist (9-9-18)
 Kirkland (8-12-20)Brown (7-9-16)
Last 5 Games6-2 W @ Prince George (Nov 15 2014) Final7-5 W @ Vancouver (Nov 15 2014) Final
 6-3 W @ Prince George (Nov 14 2014) Final4-1 L @ Tri-City (Nov 14 2014) Final
 4-3 W @ Spokane (Nov 11 2014) Final6-2 W @ Prince George (Nov 8 2014) Final
 5-0 W vs Vancouver (Nov 8 2014) Final3-2 L @ Prince George (Nov 7 2014) Final
 4-2 W vs Spokane (Nov 7 2014) Final5-1 L @ Kelowna (Nov 5 2014) Final
Leading After 1st12-1-0-05-1-0-0
Leading After 2nd16-0-0-07-1-0-0
Tied After 1st7-0-1-04-3-0-0
Tied After 2nd2-1-1-02-1-1-0
Trailing After 1st1-0-0-02-6-2-0
Trailing After 2nd2-0-0-02-8-1-0
Out Shooting Opponents13-1-0-06-2-1-0
Out Shot by Opponents6-0-1-04-7-1-0
1-Goal Games3-0-1-05-3-2-0
2-Goal Games6-0-0-02-2-0-0
3-Goal Games1-1-0-01-2-0-0