Locker Room Clean Out Day

After a rough September opening, the Royals became sellers, trading out arguably their top forward and defenseman in Brayden Schuurman and Kalem Parker to Moose Jaw, for a pair of first round picks, a second, a third and a fifth, along with 18 year old forward Ben Riche.

They also brought in 20 year old forward Dawson Pasternak to help guide the now much younger club, and to fill the offensive gap left by Schuurman. Pasternak was also summoned to help out on defense in his first few games.

After putting up the most points in the WHL in October, they followed it up with a solid November, and then closed out the month of December with one of their best to date with a record of (8-2) outscoring their opposition 37-25. The 2013-14 edition of the Royals played one extra game and went (8-2-0-1). They went into the Christmas break having won 20 of their last 30 games, and had well eclipsed the prior seasons total victories of 17.

The club is on pace for a 40 win season, and things were very exciting coming out of the break and heading into the New Year, tied for 4^th in the West with Everett, and just two points back of Portland, but then the dreaded injury bug hit. Already without Robin Sapousek, who was hurt at the World Junior Tournament, Hudson Brornson, and Austin Zemlak to start their Eastern road swing, the club lost defenseman Nate Misskey to a freak skate cut.

Little did they know the gravity and impact of that collision in Brandon, would make on the club by further exploiting Misskey’s value to the team. He was 7^th in the defenseman scoring in the WHL at the time, and was heralded by Patrick as the clubs best rearguard.

The Royals would scratch and claw their way through January, going to overtime in 9 out of 13 contests, to help keep them in lockstep with Wenatchee for 4^th. February came and the injury list got even longer, with Tyson Laventure and Cole Reschney joining the infirmary bringing the total up to 6 for a stretch.

Victoria rolled into March now in 5^th spot in the Conference, and their 10 game over .500 standing at the beginning of 2024 had dwindled down to just 3 over the threshold. By the time the dust settled on the regular season, they were an even .500 and had dropped to 7^th, as Kelowna and the retooled Vancouver squad had caught fire.

In the post season the Royals were swept by the CHL Top 10 Winterhawks, however two games were decided by just a single goal.

“We got beat by a more mature, more skilled team, but they play the game the right way. They play fast and hard in the defensive zone and in the offensive zone. They’re hard on pucks. It was an area that we have to get better at, it’s something we can learn from. It was a bit a bit of a benchmark as to where we can be as a team, and as individual players.” assessed Patrick.

Victoria only won 7 games in the 2024 calendar year, however the silver lining to the shortened bench was that younger players were thrust into different roles and positions, given more ice time to learn and grow. At one point, the Royals had 4 first year defenseman in the line up.

“Some of our younger players made some big strides, as far as where we go next year, time will tell we’ll see what type of summer (they have). I feel like the work has just begun, it’s real important to a man, that they have a good summer.”

“Every year I’ve been in this league, 16 and 17 year olds come back as different players. You’ve seen, individual players go from 7 points to 50 points, and almost not look like the same player.”

One skater who really grabbed the bull by the horns was Norwegian centerman Casper Haugen-Evensen, who only had 10 points in the first half, to taking Sapousek’s spot between Reggie Newman and Tanner Scott, and produced at almost a point per game clip the rest of the way.

“A number of players had really good years, I’m proud of the group with the work they put in since I got here. Certainly a step in the right direction to make the playoffs.”

Overage forward Dawson Pasternak made a big impact on the team this year, setting career highs, while his tutelage for rookie Cole Reschny was invaluable.

Patrick had high praise for the graduating veteran.

“He had such a good year. He led our team in scoring, but his work ethic and his compete for not the biggest guy was really impressive. I think he was one of the best 20 year olds in the league. He led our team by example, he was an assistant captain but he acted like a captain on this team.”

Rookie Cole Reschny’s season really took off after being paired with Pasternak. Reschny was named the WHL Rookie of the Month for November, and competed at the U17 tournament in PEI early that month.

“When you have a 16 year old that’s a point per game player, that’s very impressive. This series showed the pace and how strong guys can be on the puck and how quick players can make plays and he can learn from that. However, I also look back and say, jeez, that’s a 16 year old.

“Obviously he got better. He had to play against 19 and 20 year olds all year. That’s not easy, I took it for granted that he’s 16 and he’s playing against 20 year olds and I want more from him, but you step back and you go holy smokes and, you know, not too many 16 year olds in the league played the role that he did and played it as big as he did.”

While Patrick did say he could go throughout the entire line up, discussing the areas the players all grew, he did make a point to bring up his rearguards Nate Misskey, who is expected to hear his name at the NHL draft this June, and Arizona Coyotes property, Justin Kipkie.

“Misskey had such a good year until he got hurt, he opened so many eyes around the league. The guy who step made steps from his 17 year old year to his 18 year old year was playing a pretty top role defenseman and playing power play and really solid two way hockey who could skate, move the puck, and had some physical parts to his game. I just think (the injury) was really tough on him, having to miss 2.5 months and then coming back up to speed in the playoffs. I look at the year he had and I thought it was pretty impressive.”

The Royals strength next season will be their back end. Misskey, Kipkie and Zemlak will all be entering their fourth season together as now veterans on the club. Keaton Verhoeff (fourth overall) will officially enter his rookie season after being arguably one of their best players in the post season as a 15 year old. Ryan Spizawka will be an overager, and rookies Seth Fryer, Hudson Bjornson and Matthew Keller played valuable minutes. Even affiliate Jarrett Ross didn’t look out of place.

“We have to get them to play more physical.” said Patrick about his back end looking to next season.

“Every player has a role, a type of game that’s probably best for him. And I look at some of those guys and they have to be more physical, they have to bring a little bite to their game. Some of it comes with maturity, growing up, getting stronger, realizing what their role is, how they have to be effective – we need some of that.”

Victoria will also see many players returning as 19 year olds, and could be considered a more veteran group, and will be looked upon to produce.

“That message is gonna be sent in our individual meetings. What type of player are you as a 19 year old, you have to be a core player. Next year your team will look different, this group will not be the same so we’ll see what it looks like at the start of the year.”

Each player spends quite a bit of time in the coaches office with the staff on locker room clean out day before heading back to their respective homes, receiving a directive about what’s expected of them.

“My message is we don’t want to just make the playoffs, we want to keep getting better. We want to set higher standards…You have to play a more engaged game, a heavier game. You have to have more compete and battle in your game. That’s the way the game is now.

“So when you’re bringing up the 19 year olds, that’s how you have to play the game and that’s how I have to get these guys playing.”

Patrick will also have his first training camp with the team, and practice time leading up to game number one of the regular season.

“It’s important to set the tone, set the message right away. The work ethic and the battle, those are not taken for granted, those are musts. That message is obviously for some of the (affililates) that started now, but for everyone coming into camp, it’s really important for me to set that tone.”

by Marlon Martens

Locker Room Clean Out Day

Next Games

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

What's Trending

Next Games