The Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals put on a display of skill and hard work for a small group of minor hockey players Feb. 16 at the Davidson Rink.
The Royals stopped by the rink for an hour-long practice sandwiched between a 5-4 win over the Prince Albert Raiders a day earlier and an eventual 4-3 shoot-out victory in Moose Jaw on Family Day against the Warriors.
“We (were) on our way to Moose Jaw and there was no ice available for us,” said Dave Lowry, head coach of the Royals (41-16-4). “We started looking at the smaller communities on the way and Davidson had ice available. We play an afternoon game (Feb. 17), so we just wanted to have a quick skate and loosen up.”
Lowry said the ice was good and the rink was pretty unique. He said it’s great for smaller communities to have facilities like the Davidson Communiplex that teams on the road can take advantage of.
“If we can’t find ice along the way we’ll stop wherever we can,” he said. “We’re fortunate that this community had ice available and let us take it and use the facility.”
Brett Cote, a third-year defenceman for the Royals, said they likely wouldn’t get in a pre-game skate before their afternoon game against Moose Jaw, so stopping at a different rink on the way for a skate was a good move.
“We’ve done this in previous years,” said Cote, who has two goals and 28 points on the year. “We did it I remember two years ago when we came out here. We did it once, but usually we just go to whatever the city is and use their barn.”
The Royals practice in Davidson came after they completed the first leg of a seven-game road trip that sees the team play four games in Saskatchewan split up between a quick hike to Manitoba to play the Brandon Wheat Kings before eventually finishing off with a two-game stand at Prince George against the Cougars.
“It’s real important, but the one thing it’s good for our team is we’re comfortable playing on the road as well,” said Lowry. “We play the same whether we’re at home or on the road and we’ve been able to find success that way.”
Cote said they’re pleased with how things are going for the club so far this season, but the teams they’re facing over the two weeks across the Prairies and back home in BC are all tough. He said they’re just going to keep working hard and hopefully move up in the standings as they get ready for the playoffs.
“The last couple years we’ve gotten knocked out in the first round of the playoffs,” said Cote. “The expectation this year is definitely to make it past the first round and then obviously see where we go from there.”