Preview | Mar. 15 | Cougars @ Royals

Victoria, BC – It’s time for game two of the Victoria Royals regular season ending five-game home stand. Tonight, the Prince George Cougars are in town for the first of back-to-back games against the Royals. Puck drop is set for 7:05 PM at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

FIRST CAREER GOAL

Royals forward Hayden Chaloner picked up his first career WHL goal in Saturday’s game against the Everett Silvertips. The 5’8” forward wired a shot past former Royal Tyler Palmer for his first goal. For the Royals this year, Chaloner has one goal and five points in 45 games. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native is in his first full season in the WHL, having previously appeared in 9 games for the Brandon Wheat Kings across two seasons.

ROYALS LAST GAME

Last Saturday, the Everett Silvertips came to town to wrap up their season series against the Royals. Six minutes into the game, the Silvertips took a 1-0 lead when Julius Miettinen (29) finished off a beautiful pass, scoring into a wide open net. A few minutes later, Hayden Chaloner (1) scored his first career goal off a nice pass from Teydon Trembecky to tie the game 1-1. In the second period, Escalus Burlock (7) deflected a pass from Cole Reschny past Silvertips goalie Tyler Palmer to give the Royals a 2-1 lead through two periods. Just 21 seconds into the third period, Ben Hemmerling (28) would tie the game for Everett. A minute later, Dominik Rymon (33) gave the Silvertips a 3-2 lead. Midway through the third, Austin Roest (33) jumped on a loose puck and wired it past the Royals goalie to make it 4-2. Dominik Rymon (34) would pick up his second goal of the game and fourth point as he beat Royals goalie Braden Holt to make it 5-2. 20 seconds later, Lukas Kaplan (7) fired a one-timer on goal that Braden Holt appeared to save, with the ref waiving “no goal”, but video replay clearly showed the puck crossing the line, giving Everett the games last goal, as the Silvertips won 6-2.

THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET

PRINCE GEORGE

Just over a month ago, on February 10th, the Victoria Royals made a trip to the CN Centre to take on the Cougars in Prince George. The Cougars started the game with a bang, as Hunter Laing (9, 10) scored twice in the first six minutes to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. Reggie Newman (15) would score short handed to cut the lead to one, but that was short lived as Zac Funk (47) and Terik Parascak (31) sent the Cougars to the first intermission up 4-1. In the second period, then just 55 seconds in, Justin Kipkie (16) cut the deficit to 2, and then 55 seconds later Tanner Scott (19) made it 4-3. Midway through the period, Jaren Brinson (2) scored his first as a member of the Victoria Royals to tie the game 4-4. Late in the second, Casper Evensen Haugen (10) scored to give the Royals their first lead of the game, making it 5-4. In the third, the Cougars took a commanding lead scoring five consecutive goals, from Zac Funk (48, 49), Borya Valis (16, 17) and Ephram McNutt (3) to leap ahead 9-5. Ben Riche (14) would score for the Royals in the final minute of the game, which ended with the Cougars winning 9-6. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

COUGARS

• 20-year-old forward Zac Funk leads the league with 64 goals in 63 games for the Cougars, with a massive 14 goal lead on the next closest goal scorers (Moose Jaw’s Jagger Firkus and Spokane’s Berkly Catton, both with 50 goals). Funk’s 110 points are also good for second in the WHL, one point behind Jagger Firkus for the league lead. Funk, undrafted in the NHL, was rewarded for his spectacular season with an entry-level contract from the Washington Capitals.
• Sitting one point behind Funk on the WHL leaderboard is his line mate Riley Heidt. A second round pick (64th overall, 2023 NHL Entry Draft) of the Minnesota Wild, Heidt has 34 goals and 109 points in 61 games this season.

VICTORIA

• Rookie Cole Reschny has been a standout player all season long for the Royals. The Macklin, Saskatchewan native has 21 goals and 54 points in 57 games this season for Victoria. The Royals drafted Reschny with the 3rd overall pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.
• Veteran Tanner Scott has been a consistent contributor for the Royals this year. Scott has 19 goals, 35 assists and 54 points through 64 games this season, all of which are career highs.

SEASON RECORDS

vs PRINCE GEORGE

• Sep. 29 v. PG • 11-2 L
• Sep. 30 v. PG • 5-3 L
• Dec. 08 @ PG • 5-3 W
• Dec. 09 @ PG • 1-0 L
• Feb. 09 @ PG • 4-1 L
• Feb. 10 @ PG • 9-6 L

LAST 5 GAMES

ROYALS

• 6-2 L v. Everett (03-09-2024)
• 4-1 L @ Everett (03-08-2024)
• 6-3 L @ Spokane (03-05-2024)
• 5-4 OTL @ Portland (03-02-2024)
• 6-4 W @ Tri-City (03-01-2024)

COUGARS

• 6-5 OTW @ Kelowna (03-13-2024)
• 6-3 W v. Vancouver (03-09-2024)
• 5-3 W v. Vancouver (03-08-2024)
• 5-4 OTW v. Spokane (03-02-2024)
• 5-4 OTL v. Spokane (03-01-2024)

ROYALS UPCOMING SCHEDULE

• Mar. 16 v. PG • 6:05 pm
• Mar. 20 v. WEN • 7:05 pm
• Mar. 22 v. WEN • 7:05 pm
• Playoffs: Dates TBD

WATCH AND LISTEN

Radio broadcast

Royals games will be broadcast on 91.3 FM the Zone this season with Marlon Martens calling all of the action.

Online video stream

All Royals games will be available on WHL Live.  WHL Live is available to fans anywhere in the world, providing high-quality streaming of WHL games on Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV platforms, via mobile with iOS and Android, and on web using Safari or Google Chrome web browsers. Visit watch.chl.cafor complete details and subscription options.

Written by Graham Morrison