Royals continue home stand with contests against Cougars, Silvertips
Join the team as they celebrate Nickelodeon Night and Star Wars Day this weekend
The Victoria Royals will remain at home this weekend as they get set to host the Prince George Cougars and Everett Silvertips on back-to-back nights at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
Victoria (15-36-5-1) will look to get back on track after a challenging three game stretch against the first-place Seattle Thunderbirds last weekend.
They will begin this weekend with a matchup against the Prince George Cougars (26-23-4-0), who they have yet to defeat over four meetings this season, before wrapping up against the Everett Silvertips (27-24-2-1), who they will meet for just the second time this season and first time since Oct. 2 when the ‘Tips took home a 4-0 victory.
Victoria will need all its stars to step-up if they are going to collect some points and maintain a push for a playoff spot this weekend.
Forward Teague Patton is one player that could be an X-factor for the Royals in the upcoming games. The 19-year-old is enjoying a career year in Victoria, ranking second on the team in scoring with 40 points on 12 goals and a team-high 28 assists in 57 games this season.
Goaltender Braden Holt–who will be facing his former club on Sunday when the team takes on Everett–will also hope to play a key part in Victoria’s success this weekend. The Bozeman, MT product has totalled a 21-21-3-1 record with a 3.75 goals against average (GAA) and a .888 save percentage (SV%) over 47 appearances with the Royals and Silvertips this year.
With two games on consecutive nights, we could also see backup Nicholas Cristiano spend some time between the posts for Victoria this weekend. The Langley, BC native has posted a 4-12-0-0 record with a 4.25 GAA and a .857 SV% in 24 total appearances this season.
Prince George, who the Royals play on Saturday night, has enjoyed a successful month of February, posting a 7-3-0-0 record over their past 10 games and will be looking for their third straight win after defeating the Portland Winterhawks on back-to-back nights earlier this week.
Forward Chase Wheatcroft has been an instrumental part of his team’s success this season, ranking among the top-scorers in the entire league with 75 total points on 34 goals and 41 assists in 53 games played this season.
The 20-year-old also seems to play at his best when facing the Royals, posting nine total points (four goals, five assists) over the four meetings between the teams this year.
The Cougars also benefit from a talented stable of goaltenders, featuring the 18-year-old Ty Young and 19-year-old Tyler Brennan.
Young, a Vancouver Canucks draft pick, has earned a 11-13-2-0 record with one shutout, a 3.93 GAA and a .890 SV% over 28 appearances, while Brennan–a New Jersey Devils prospect–has posted a 14-9-2-0 record with a 2.98 GAA and a .895 SV%, also in 28 games played.
Following their matchup against Prince George, the Royals will take on the Everett Silvertips for an afternoon contest this Sunday.
The ‘Tips are led on offence by the talented 21-year-old forward Jackson Berezowski, who’s 37 goals ranks fourth-overall in the WHL this season. Along with his goal total, the Yorkton, SK native has added 27 assists for 64 total points on the year.
Former Royals goaltender Tyler Palmer is expected to start in net for the Silvertips this weekend, marking the first time he will return to the Island since being traded to Everett in exchange for Victoria’s current starting netminder Braden Holt in late December.
Since his arrival in Everett, Palmer has earned a 10-9-1-1 record with a 3.42 GAA, a .899 SV% and one shutout over 21 games played.
The Royals will be holding two very special promotional nights at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre this weekend, with Nickelodeon Night, presented by RE/MAX, scheduled for Saturday and Star Wars Day scheduled for Sunday’s contest.
Nickelodeon Night will see the team don specially-designed SpongeBob SquarePants uniforms which will be auctioned off following the game in benefit of the Children’s Miracle Network. The online auction link can be found here.
Additionally, there will be a SpongeBob-themed musical performance and a Bikini Bottom photo booth on the concourse at the arena prior to the game.
Tickets for Nickelodeon Night are priced at just $15 when you purchase two or more through the following link.
The following night will see the team hold its annual Star Wars Day celebration, featuring Star Wars cosplayers, a face-painter and a balloon artist at the arena.
Tickets for the event cost just $15 dollars when you buy them online.
The first game of the weekend is set to begin at 6:05 pm on Saturday, Feb. 25, while game two will commence at 3:05 pm the following day, Feb. 26 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.
Players to watch:
Victoria:
#20 Alex Thacker (F) – 45 GP, 32 PTS (7 G, 25 A)
#8 Kalem Parker (D) – 57 GP, 30 PTS (6 G, 24 A)
Prince George:
#13 Koehn Ziemmer (F) – 53 GP, 72 PTS (31 G, 41 A)
#27 Riley Heidt (F) – 53 GP, 71 PTS (21 G, 50 A)
Everett:
#14 Austin Roest (F) – 54 GP, 70 PTS (29 G, 41 A)
#49 Ben Hemmerling (F) – 49 GP, 54 PTS (20 G, 34 PTS)
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About the Victoria Royals
The Victoria Royals are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) owned and operated by GSL Group. The Royals play all their home games at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre and have entered their 12th season of their existence.
About Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (SOFMC) is designed, constructed, developed and operated by GSL Group. SOFMC is Victoria’s premier entertainment facility and the largest arena in British Columbia outside Vancouver. The state-of-the-art 7,000 seat facility is home to the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League and regularly hosts large-scale concerts and other special events such as figure skating, curling, plays, trade shows and conferences. SOFMC also features a fine dining Lion’s Den Restaurant, as well as retail and meeting space.
