PREVIEW: Giants Head to Victoria Saturday to Face Royals
STORY BY NEVYN YACKEL
Victoria, B.C. – The Vancouver Giants (1-0-0-0) play their first road contest of the season tonight against the Victoria Royals (1-0-0-0) at 6:05 p.m. at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
The Giants are coming off a 3-2 overtime win over Kelowna in their home opener last Saturday night. Forward Mathis Preston and goaltender Burke Hood are both back with the Giants following NHL camps and are expected to be in the lineup tonight.
Vancouver went 3-0-1-0 in the preseason, including back-to-back wins over Victoria on Sept. 12 and 13 (5-3 both times). After tonight’s road game, the G-Men return home on Sunday to take on Prince George at Langley Events Centre at 4 p.m.
Victoria also won their first game of the new season, beating the Kamloops Blazers on the road 4-2 last Saturday. Victoria had a bit of a rough go in their preseason, posting a record of 1-4-0-0, which included splitting a pair of games against the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights.
Last season, Vancouver went 3-5-0-0 against the Royals, with two of the wins coming on the road.
HOW TO TUNE IN
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TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Tonight is the first of eight head-to-head meetings between Vancouver and Victoria this season.
| vs. VIC – LAST 8 H2H (3-5-0-0) | ||
| DATE | LOCATION | RESULT |
| Sept. 26, 2026 | Save On Foods Memorial | 6:05 PM |
| Oct. 30, 2026 | LEC | 7:00 pm |
| Dec. 17, 2026 | Save On Foods Memorial | 7:05 PM |
| Dec. 18, 2027 | LEC | 7:00 PM |
| Feb. 19, 2027 | Save On Foods Memorial | 7:05 PM |
| Feb.20, 2027 | LEC | 7:00 PM |
| Mar. 26, 2027 | Save On Foods Memorial | 7:05 PM |
| Mar. 27, 2027 | LEC | 7:00 PM |
PRESEASON (3-0-1) | 20 GF, 13 GA
| DATE | VAN RESULT | SCORE | VAN SCORERS | IN GOAL | GWG |
| Sept. 13 | WIN | VAN 5 vs. VIC 3 | Chorney (2), Charko, Emesibe, Kovich | Bell (9/11)
Bryks (18/19) |
Emesibe (VAN) |
| Sept. 12 | WIN | VAN 5 vs. VIC 3 | Tomik, Miller, Gerrior, Charko (2) | Bryks (16/18)
Knapp (10/11) |
Gerrior (VAN) |
| Sep. 6 | WIN | VAN 7 vs. WEN 3 | Hartmann, Oreskovic, Preston (2), Jugnauth, Miller, Hayes | Knapp (16/18)
Hood (16/17) |
Jugnauth (VAN) |
| Sep. 4 | LOSS (OT) | VAN 3 at SEA 4 (OT) | Emesibe, Hayes, McNeil | Bell (23/26)
Bryks (10/11) |
Lovsin (SEA) |
TALE OF THE TAPE (2026-27 REG SEASON)
| VANCOUVER | TRI-CITY | |
| 1-0-0-0 — 2 points | Team Record | 1-0-0-0 — 2 points |
| 4th/10th | Conf./WHL Ranking | 1st/5th |
| N/A | Past 10 Games | N/A |
| 1-0-0-0 | Streak | 1-0-0-0 |
| 3-2 OTW vs KEL (Sep. 19) | Last Game | 4-2 W vs. KAM (Sep. 19)) |
| 1-0-0-0 | Home Record | 0-0-0-0 |
| 0-0-0-0 | Away Record | 1-0-0-0 |
| 3 (0.60 – 15th) | GF | 4 (0.66 11th) |
| 2 (0.40 – 7th) | GA | 2 (0.33 – 4th) |
| +1 (Tied 4th) | Goal Differential | +2 (Tied 3rd) |
| (2/8) 25.0% | PP (Overall) | (1/3) 33.3% |
| (5/6) 83.3% | PK (Overall) | (1/3) 33.3% |
| (0/0) 0% | PP vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% |
| (0/0) 0% | PK vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% |
| Holowaychuk (0-1-1) | Leading Rookie | N/A |
| Tomik (1-1-2) | Top Scorer | Matthews (1-1-2) |
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Vancouver – Mathis Preston: The Giants are now officially back at full strength with the return of both Preston (Anaheim Ducks) and Hood (New York Islanders) from NHL camps. Preston was named an alternate captain on Friday – along with Blake Chorney and Jakob Oreskovic – and the expectation is he will have a breakout offensive season after being limited to just 46 games last year (18G-28A). He ended the 2025-26 season on a seven-game point streak (3G-6A) and three months later the Ducks took him with the 50th overall selection in the NHL Draft.
Victoria – Cameron Schmidt: Schmidt was returned to junior by the Dallas Stars last weekend as well, and just like Preston, the expectation is the 19-year-old will be one of the top scorers in the WHL this season. Schmidt led the league in goals last season with 51 and was eight points back of Markus Ruck for the scoring lead. The former Giant will obviously be playing with a chip on his shoulder too. In three games against the Giants with Seattle last season, Schmidt had four points (2G-2A).
WHAT ARE WE WEARING
The Giants will be wearing their primary white jerseys tonight.
UPCOMING
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME |
| Sunday, September 27 | Prince George | Langley Events Centre | 4:00 PM |
| Friday, October 2 | Penticton | South Okanagan Events Centre | 7:05 PM |
| Saturday, October 3 | Swift Current | Langley Events Centre | 7:00 PM |
