Royals face rival Giants in home-and-home series
Victoria will travel to the Mainland on Friday before returning home to face Vancouver at the SOFMC on Saturday
The Victoria Royals will begin the final month of the 2022-2023 regular season with a home-and-home series against the Vancouver Giants this weekend.
The first leg of the rivalry will take place at the Langley Events Centre on Friday, Mar. 3, while game two will be held at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria on Saturday, Mar. 4.
The Royals and Giants have faced-off eight times this season, with Vancouver winning six to Victoria’s two. However, the two sides have split their last four matchups, with the Royals taking the most recent meeting 6-2 in Langley back on Feb. 11.
Expect defenceman Justin Kipkie to make an impact as Victoria looks to make it two-in-a-row over Vancouver. His presence was apparent last weekend, recording three goals over two contests against the Prince George Cougars and Everett Silvertips.
The 17-year-old blueliner has enjoyed a breakout year in his first full season on the Island. He is currently tied for the lead among Royals defencemen with teammate Kalem Parker, both who have 31 points total points, Kipkie with eight goals and 23 assists and Parker with six goals and 25 assists on the year.
Braden Holt is expected to resume starting duties between the pipes for Victoria. The 19-year-old has made 21 total appearances for the Royals this season, and in total has amassed a 21-22-4-1 record with two shutouts, an .881 save percentage (SV%) and a 4.12 goals against average (GAA) in 49 games split between Everett and Victoria.
With games on back-to-back nights, we could also see backup Nicholas Cristiano get some time in net. The Langley, BC product has earned a 4-12-0-0 record with a 4.25 GAA and a .857 SV% over 24 games this season.
On the other side, the Royals will have to do their best to limit opportunities for Giants’ leading scorer Ty Thorpe, who has recorded 12 points (five goals, seven assists) across the eight meetings between Vancouver and Victoria this season.
The 21-year-old leads all Vancouver skaters with 61 points (31 goals, 30 assists) in 55 contests this year, and comes into the weekend with seven points over his last five games.
Victoria will also have the challenge of beating the ever-steady Jesper Vikman, who has backstopped the Giants in 40 of their 57 games this season and holds a 9-5-0-0 career record against the Royals since entering the league in 2021.
In total, the Stockholm, Sweden native has registered a 17-19-1-1 record with a 3.31 GAA and a .903 SV% this season.
Saturday’s game in Victoria will mark the second annual Island Bowl, presented by Lighthouse Brewing, between Victoria and Vancouver as well as the first BEAT VANCOUVER-themed game.
BEAT VANCOUVER is a partnership between Langford’s Pacific FC and the Royals celebrating the brand-new rivalry between PFC and Vancouver FC as well as the longstanding one between the Royals and Giants.
Victoria took home the win in the first Lighthouse Island Bowl last year, defeating the Giants 5-2 on Dec. 11, 2021.
Specially-designed BEAT VANCOUVER t-shirts will be available for purchase at the Royals Team Store for $25 each, with partial proceeds going towards KidSport Greater Victoria.
The first matchup of the home-and-home set will take place at 7:30 pm on Friday, Mar. 3 at the Langley Events Centre, while game two will begin at 6:05 pm the following night, Saturday, Mar. 4 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.
Saturday’s game will feature $5 beer specials, two live DJs, and a meet-and-greet with multiple Pacific FC players. Tickets starting at $10 can be purchased at selectyourtickets.com.
Players to watch:
Victoria:
#29 Teague Patton (F) – 59 GP, 42 PTS (12 G, 30 A)
#20 Alex Thacker (F) – 47 GP, 33 PTS (7 G, 26 A)
#8 Kalem Parker (D) – 59 GP, 31 PTS (6 G, 25 A)
Vancouver:
#29 Samuel Honzek (F) – 37 GP, 49 PTS (19 G, 30 A)
#15 Jaden Lipinski (F) – 56 GP, 41 PTS (17 G, 24 A)
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About the Victoria Royals
The Victoria Royals are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) owned and operated by GSL Group. The Royals play all their home games at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre and have entered their 12th season of their existence.
About Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (SOFMC) is designed, constructed, developed and operated by GSL Group. SOFMC is Victoria’s premier entertainment facility and the largest arena in British Columbia outside Vancouver. The state-of-the-art 7,000 seat facility is home to the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League and regularly hosts large-scale concerts and other special events such as figure skating, curling, plays, trade shows and conferences. SOFMC also features a fine dining Lion’s Den Restaurant, as well as retail and meeting space.
