Weekend Preview: Royals vs. Blazers – January 17th – 18th, 2025
Victoria, B.C. — The Victoria Royals will host the Kamloops Blazers for a back-to-back set of games this weekend, Friday, Jan. 17 and Saturday, Jan. 18.
The Royals hold a 2-2-1-0 record against the Blazers this season, their last meeting came on Nov. 6, in Victoria. The home side would fall 6-4 but saw nine players record points, with Cole Reschny earning two.
On Wednesday the Royals played host to the Brandon Wheat Kings but came up short in a 5-4 loss. Brandon Lisowsky continued his hot streak, scoring his sixth goal in just as many games with the Royals. Justin Kipkie, Brayden Boehm and Markus Loponen all tallied two-point nights.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
VICTORIA
Markus Loponen — The 18-year-old is amid an impressive point streak with 5 points over his last three games, including a two-goal night on Jan. 10 in Wenatchee. Hailing from Oulu, Finland, Loponen has totaled 28 points with 12 goals and 16 helpers after 40 outings in this season. The Winnipeg Jets selected Loponen in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
KAMLOOPS
Emmitt Finnie — The Blazers’ leading scorer, who hails from Lethbridge, Alta, has been red-hot over the past two months. The 19-year-old has put together an 11-game point streak, tallying 20 points including 16 helpers. For the season, Finnie has totaled 57 points with 23 goals and 34 helpers in 36 outings. The Detroit Red Wings selected Finnie in the seventh round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
CURRENT SEASON RECORDS
VICTORIA — (23W-12L-3OTL–4SOL-TP53) — 4th in Western Conference
KAMLOOPS— (15W-21L-3OTL-0SOL-TP33) — 10th in Western Conference
ROYALS UPCOMING SCHEDULE
- January, 17 v. KAM • 7:05 pm
- January, 18 v. KAM • 6:05 pm
- January, 24 @ SEA • 7:05 pm
- January, 25 v. SC • 6:05 pm
- January, 29 @. KEL • 7:05 pm
LUNAR NEW YEAR 2025
Join the Royals on Friday, Jan. 17, as they celebrate the Lunar New Year.
While taking on the Blazers, the Royals will dawn a special 2025 Lunar New Year Jersey which is available for auction. All proceeds from the jerseys will be donated to support our local communities, you can place your bid here.
WATCH & LISTEN
Radio broadcast
All Victoria Royals games can be heard on JACK 103.1, a division of Canada’s #1 sports media brand, for the 2024-25 season.
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 the web using Safari or Google Chrome web browsers. Visit watch.chl.ca for complete details and subscription options.
Written by Erick Dominguez