Royals hire Jake Heisinger as associate general manager

Victoria, B.C. – The Victoria Royals have named Jake Heisinger as associate general manager, the Club announced Tuesday.

“For me, it was an easy decision to join the Royals. They are in a fantastic market, with a great fan base,” stated Heisinger. “Our goal is for the Victoria Royals to be one of the top programs in the entire CHL.”

Jake joins the Royals organization after spending six seasons with the Winnipeg / Kootenay ICE, where he served as the vice-president of hockey operations and assistant general manager since 2020. During his time in Winnipeg, the ICE captured two East Division titles and reached the WHL Championship Series this past May.

Heisinger will work closely with newly appointed vice-president of hockey operations, Joey Poljanowski. While the two will work collaboratively, Heisinger will have a primary focus on scouting and player development; a role he is very familiar with, having been an integral part of the group in Winnipeg that scouted first-round NHL Draft selections including Conor Geekie, Matthew Savoie, Carson Lambos, and Zach Benson.

“We are extremely excited to have Jake join and help lead the Victoria Royals. Jake is an excellent talent evaluator and has a significant background in building winning franchises, as was showcased in his success as the architect of the Winnipeg ICE,” stated Poljanowski.”Jakes onboarding signifies the emphasis our Club has on scouting, player development and creating a competitive, winning culture for our players, staff and Royals fans in Victoria and across the Western Hockey League”

“There are obviously some really exciting players within the organization who will be key contributors now and in the future.” stated Heisinger. “We want to be a fast, skilled team that works hard and competes every night. We’re going to do our best here right out of the gate to make sure that there is some internal competition to ensure that players are pushing each other for ice time.”

NEWS: The Victoria Royals have named Jake Heisinger as Associate General Manager.

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— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) July 25, 2023