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Victoria Royals

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Victoria Royals
File:VictoriaRoyals.PNG
CityVictoria, British Columbia
LeagueWestern Hockey League
ConferenceWestern
DivisionB.C.
Founded2006
Home arenaSave-On-Foods Memorial Centre
ColoursRoyal blue, Silver, White, Black        
General managerCam Hope
Head coachDave Lowry
CaptainRyan Gagnon
Websitehttp://www.victoriaroyals.com
Franchise history
2006–2011Chilliwack Bruins
2011–presentVictoria Royals

The Victoria Royals are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team currently members of the B.C. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team began play during the 2011–12 season after the League announced the relocation of the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria. It marked the return of the WHL to Vancouver Island, 17 years after the departure of the Victoria Cougars. The Royals are based in Victoria, British Columbia, and play their home games at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Their current captain is defensemen, Ryan Gagnon.

Relocation and inaugural season in Victoria

Marc Habscheid, head coach of the Royals during their inaugural season.
Dave Lowry, current head coach of the Royals.

Victoria was left without a WHL team when the Cougars franchise relocated to Prince George in 1994.[1] The city acquired a professional ECHL team in the Victoria Salmon Kings in 2004 when the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre was opened, but the city had made inquiries about returning the WHL to Vancouver Island in the past.[1]

While two minority owners of the Chilliwack Bruins hoped to purchase the team and keep it in Chilliwack following the 2010–11 season, they were outvoted by the remaining partners who opted to sell the team to a group planning to relocate the franchise.[2] On April 20, 2011, the WHL announced the approval of both the sale, and the relocation of the Bruins to Victoria.[3]

The relocation was brought about partially by the WHL's desire to protect the Victoria market, as the League feared that a potential summer relocation of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Phoenix Coyotes to Winnipeg could result in the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Manitoba Moose moving to Victoria.[4] The Moose ultimately moved to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, where they are now known as the IceCaps, when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg to become the second incarnation of the Jets.

The Royals played their first game, a 5–2 loss against the Vancouver Giants in Vancouver on September 23, 2011. They won their first game in franchise history on September 24, 2011, defeating the Giants 5–3, in front of a sold-out crowd of 7,006 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.

On March 16, 2012, the Royals defeated the Portland Winterhawks 3–1, thus clinching their first ever playoff berth and the first in Victoria since 1989. The first-ever playoff goal was scored by Robin Soudek, while Jamie Crooks recorded the first playoff hat-trick in Royals history in Game 3. In spite of this, the Royals were swept in the first round by the Kamloops Blazers.

On June 22, 2012, Marc Habscheid, the first head coach and general manager of the Royals, left both positions to take an executive position with GSL Holdings Ltd., the parent company of the Royals' ownership group. The Royals named Cam Hope, formerly an assistant general manager of the NHL's New York Rangers, as their new GM on July 6.

On July 19, 2012, the Royals named Dave Lowry as head coach for the 2012–13 season.[5]

Current roster

Updated November 16, 2016[6] Template:Ice hockey junior team roster 

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Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season GP W L OTL SOL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
2011–12 72 24 41 3 4 233 325 55 4th B.C. Lost Western Conference quarter-final (0–4, KAM)
2012–13 72 35 30 2 5 223 252 77 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarter-final (2–4, KAM)
2013–14 72 48 20 1 3 238 181 100 2nd B.C. Won Western Conference quarter-final (4–0, SPO)
Lost Western Conference semi-final (1–4, POR)
2014–15 72 39 29 3 1 244 219 82 2nd B.C. Won Western Conference quarter-final (4–1, PRG)
Lost Western Conference semi-final (1–4, KEL)
2015–16 72 50 16 3 3 281 166 106 1st B.C. Won Western Conference quarter-final (4–2, SPO)
Lost Western Conference semi-final (3–4 KEL)

NHL Draft Picks

The following is a list of players drafted from the Victoria Royals by NHL teams.

Note: The list does not include players drafted from the Chilliwack Bruins, or players acquired by the Royals that were already drafted while with a previous team. The list also does not include undrafted players who subsequently signed as free agents with NHL clubs.

Club records

Note: The following club records do not include statistics from the Chilliwack Bruins and are complete through the end of the 2015–16 WHL season.

Season

Individual

Team

Career

  • Most goals: 101, Brandon Magee, 2011–15
  • Most assists: 141, Joe Hicketts, 2012–16
  • Most points: 235, Brandon Magee, 2011–15
  • Most penalty minutes: 470, Austin Carroll, 2011–15
  • Most games played, skater: 283, Logan Fisher, 2012–16
  • Best goals against average: 1.82, Griffen Outhouse, 2015–16
  • Most shutouts: 8, Coleman Vollrath, 2012–16
  • Most games played, goaltender: 165, Coleman Vollrath, 2012–16
  • Most saves, goaltender: 4,072, Coleman Vollrath, 2012–16[7]

Awards and honours

Team

Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy
WHL Regular Season Champion

St. Clair Group Trophy
WHL Marketing/Business Award

Individual

Brad Hornung Trophy
WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player

Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy
WHL Coach of the Year

Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy
WHL Rookie of the Year

Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy
WHL Executive of the Year

WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team

WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Epp, Sharie (2011-04-01). "Western Hockey League's Bruins moving to Victoria: report". Victoria Times-Colonist. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  2. ^ Olsen, Tyler (2011-04-01). "Keith confirms Bruins have been sold, confidentiality agreements now in place". Chlliwack Times. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  3. ^ Olsen, Tyler (2011-04-20). "WHL's Chilliwack Bruins are no more, moving to Victoria". Chilliwack Times. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  4. ^ Maki, Allan (2011-04-20). "Phoenix failure felt as far away as Victoria". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  5. ^ http://www.victoriaroyals.com/article/royals-announce-dave-lowry-as-head-coach
  6. ^ "Victoria Royals 2016 - 17 Regular Season". Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  7. ^ "Victoria Royals all-time player roster". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
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