Victoria 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.

Victoria Royals
CityVictoria, British Columbia, Canada
LeagueWestern Hockey League
ConferenceWestern
DivisionB.C.
Founded2011
Home arenaSave-On-Foods Memorial Centre
ColoursRoyal blue, silver, white, black
       
Owner(s)Graham Lee (Chairman - GSL Group)
General managerJoey Poljanowski
Head coachDan Price
CaptainGanon Laroque
Websitechl.ca/whl-royals/
Franchise history
2006–2011Chilliwack Bruins
2011–presentVictoria Royals
Championships
Regular season titles1 (2015–16)

History
Marc Habscheid, head coach of the Royals during their inaugural season.
Dave Lowry, Royals head coach from 2012–17.

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 and became the St. John's 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.

Season-by-season record

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

SeasonGPWLOTLSOLGFGAPointsFinishPlayoffs
2011–1272244134233325554th B.C.Lost Western Conference quarter-final (0–4, KAM)
2012–1372353025223252773rd B.C.Lost Western Conference quarter-final (2–4, KAM)
2013–14724820132381811002nd B.C.Won Western Conference quarter-final (4–0, SPO)
Lost Western Conference semi-final (1–4, POR)
2014–1572392931244219822nd B.C.Won Western Conference quarter-final (4–1, PRG)
Lost Western Conference semi-final (1–4, KEL)
2015–16725016332811661061st B.C.
1st WHL		Won Western Conference quarter-final (4–2, SPO)
Lost Western Conference semi-final (3–4 KEL)
2016–1772372951239219804th B.C.Lost Western Conference quarter-final (2–4, EVT)
2017–1872392742287264842nd B.C.Won Western Conference quarter-final (4–3, VAN)
Lost Western Conference semi-final (0–4, TRI)
2018–1968343022199227722nd B.C.Won Western Conference quarter-final (4–2, KAM)
Lost Western Conference semi-final (0–4, VAN)
2019–2064342462176190722nd B.C.Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in North America
2020–212231711489685th B.C.Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in North America
2021–2268233951193275525th B.C.Did not qualify
2022–2368174362199323425th B.C.Did not qualify

Head coaches

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] Lowry coached the Royals for five seasons, leading the team to franchise highs in wins and points on the way to a Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as WHL regular season champions in 2015-16. After failing to achieve significant playoff success with the Royals, Lowry left the club to take a job as an assistant coach with the NHL's Los Angeles Kings in 2017.[6]

On June 12, 2017, the Royals promoted assistant coach Dan Price to the head coaching position. Price became the fourth head coach in franchise history, and third since the team relocated from Chilliwack to Victoria.[7]

List of coaches

Players

Current roster

Updated October 6, 2023[8]

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# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Drafted
2 United States Hudson Bjornson D L 17 2021 Scottsdale, Arizona Eligible 2024
34 Canada Escalus Burlock RW R 17 2023 Regina, Saskatchewan Eligible 2024
17 Canada Hayden Chaloner C L 18 2023 Winnipeg, Manitoba Undrafted
36 Canada Alex Edwards RW R 18 2021 Grand Forks, British Columbia Undrafted
10 Canada Ben Edwards RW L 18 2023 Grand Forks, British Columbia Undrafted
20 Norway Casper Evensen RW L 18 2023 Oslo, Norway Undrafted
4 Canada Seth Fryer D R 17 2021 Victoria, British Columbia Eligible 2024
11 Canada Matthew Hodson (A) RW R 20 2018 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Undrafted
31 United States Braden Holt G L 20 2022 Bozeman, Montana Undrafted
24 Canada Matthew Keller D L 17 2021 Calgary, Alberta Eligible 2024
32 Canada Deegan Kinniburgh LW L 17 2021 Taber, Alberta Eligible 2024
3 Canada Justin Kipkie D L 18 2020 Calgary, Alberta 2023, 160th Overall, ARI
33 Canada Jayden Kraus G L 16 2021 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Eligible 2025
27 Canada Grady Lane LW R 20 2023 Virden, Manitoba Undrafted
23 Canada Nate Misskey D R 18 2020 Melfort, Saskatchewan Undrafted
25 Canada Reggie Newman RW R 18 2020 Kamloops, British Columbia Undrafted
29 Canada Dawson Pasternack RW R 20 2024 Winnipeg, Manitoba Undrafted
28 Canada Logan Pickford RW R 17 2023 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Eligible 2024
7 Canada Cole Reschny C L 16 2022 Macklin, Saskatchewan Eligible 2025
19 Canada Ben Riche C L 18 2023 Bethune, Saskatchewan Undrafted
21 Czech Republic Robin Sapousek C L 19 2022 Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic Undrafted
9 Canada Tanner Scott LW L 19 2019 Sherwood Park, Alberta Undrafted
15 Canada Ryan Spizawka D L 19 2019 Victoria, British Columbia Undrafted
22 Canada Teydon Trembecky LW L 18 2022 Strathcona, Alberta Undrafted
5 Canada Austin Zemlak D L 18 2020 Fort McMurray, Alberta Undrafted

Team captains
  • Hayden Rintoul, 2011–2012
  • Tyler Stahl, 2012–2013
  • Jordan Fransoo, 2013–2014
  • Joe Hicketts, 2014–2016
  • Ryan Gagnon, 2016–2017
  • Matthew Phillips, 2017–2018
  • Phillip Schultz, 2019–2020
  • Tarun Fizer, 2021–2022
  • Gannon Laroque, 2022–2023

NHL alumni

The following is a list of players from the Victoria Royals who have played in the National Hockey League.

Club records

Note: The following club records do not include statistics from the Chilliwack Bruins and are complete through the end of the 2018–19 WHL season.

Season

Individual

Team

Career
  • Most goals: 151, Tyler Soy, 2012–18
  • Most assists: 176, Tyler Soy, 2012–18
  • Most points: 327, Tyler Soy, 2012–18
  • Most penalty minutes: 470, Austin Carroll, 2011–15
  • Most games played, skater: 323, Tyler Soy, 2012–18
  • Best goals against average: 2.73, Coleman Vollrath, 2012–16
  • Most shutouts: 10, Griffen Outhouse, 2015–19
  • Most games played, goaltender: 196, Griffen Outhouse, 2015–19
  • Most saves, goaltender: 5,595, Griffen Outhouse, 2015–19[9]

Awards and honours

Team

Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy
WHL Regular Season Champion

St. Clair Group Trophy
WHL Marketing/Business Award

WHL Scholastic Team of the Year

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. Epp, Sharie (April 1, 2011). "Western Hockey League's Bruins moving to Victoria: report". Victoria Times-Colonist. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  2. Olsen, Tyler (April 1, 2011). "Keith confirms Bruins have been sold, confidentiality agreements now in place". The Province. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  3. Olsen, Tyler (April 20, 2011). "WHL's Chilliwack Bruins are no more, moving to Victoria". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  4. Maki, Allan (April 20, 2011). "Phoenix failure felt as far away as Victoria". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  5. "ROYALS ANNOUNCE DAVE LOWRY AS HEAD COACH – Victoria Royals".
  6. "LA Kings Bolster Staff as Dave Lowry is Named Assistant Coach".
  7. "ROYALS NAME DAN PRICE AS HEAD COACH – Victoria Royals".
  8. "Victoria Royals 2023 - 24 Regular Season". Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  9. "Victoria Royals all-time player roster". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
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