The Kootenay Ice (13-17-1-0) made a rare trip Vancouver Island to face the Victoria Royals (19-10-3-0) on Friday night and after the result they are likely to not want to return for another while. Kootenay arrived on their first visit since 2015 and featured a full overhaul with new owners, flashy new jerseys, along with many new faces on the roster. The night belonged to Victoria however, as the Royals put on a show for a sold-out home crowd of 7,006 on Teddy Bear Toss night, with a team record 10 goals. With the victory, Victoria looks to have regrouped at home after going win-less on their recent road trip out east, where they lost all four games in five nights.
In the first period it didn’t take long for the first home goal and the teddy bears to fly. Royals forward Eric Florchuk picked up a rebound from a Kaid Oliver shot and put the puck past Ice goalie Bailey Brkin at 5:17. The power play marker lead to the stuffed animals raining down and was the second “teddy goal” for Florchuk in consecutive years. “It was a weird feeling to be honest.” Florchuk said about his second time scoring the unique goal, “I wasn’t expecting to get another one but a lucky shot.”
? IT'S A BARRAGE OF BEARS! Mr. Teddy Bear Toss, Eric Florchuk, makes the fur fly in #yyj for the second straight year! pic.twitter.com/1BewMtuXJm
— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) December 9, 2017
Once play resumed, the Royals’ power play struck once again as Oliver, who was parked out front, banged home the rebound off a Jared Freadrich shot to make it 2-0 at 10:45 of the first. Victoria was not done yet, as Igor Martynov made it 3-0 with yet another rebound goal, just as the Royals’ power play was ending. The period ended with Victoria leading in shots 10-6, with the game a lot closer between the teams than the score showed.
Kootenay started the second period controlling much of the play. Matthew Phillips was hauled down breaking to the net and a rare penalty shot was called. Phillips swung wide and tried to out-wait Brkin, but the Ice goalie stood his ground to deny the Royals’ captain of a goal. The Royals added another power play goal, when Tyler Soy went down on one knee to one-time a nice cross-ice feed from Phillips to make it 4-0 at 10:26. Kootenay got on the scoreboard when Peyton Krebs bounced up from a hit from Royals’ newcomer Kade Jensen to take a pass and get the shot off, beating Griffen Outhouse at 15:49 while the teams were 4-on-4. Victoria responded less than minute later while the teams were still 4-on-4, when Dino Kambeitz squeaked one past Brkin on the glove side to make it 5-1. It was likely one the Ice goalie would definitely like back, and with it Brkin’s night was over as Duncan McGovern came in as relief. Shots in the period favoured the Royals 26-22 and Victoria is 3 for 4 on the power play after two periods.
The third period saw a plethora of goals from both team, seven in total, but it was the Royals new post-goal song “Brass Bonanza” that played the most often. The Royals got goals from Ralph Jarratt, Oliver, Spencer Gerth, Jeremy Masella and Mitchell Prowse. Kootenay countered with goals by Brett Davis and Cole Muir but the damage was already done as the game ended a lopsided 10-3 for Victoria.
Kaid Oliver had a breakout game was selected first star after recording 4pts (2g, 2a) and again was strong in the face-offs going 13/20. Eric Florchuk also seemed to elevate his game and was the night’s second star with 5pts (2g, 3a). “They did a great job and carried a heavy load,” head coach Dan Price said of his two young forwards, “We were down to two centres for a little while. I thought they controlled the face-off circle, they did a good job not just playing good defensively but creating offense as well.”
Victoria now hits the road again, this time north for a pair of BC Division games against the Prince George Cougars on Sunday and Tuesday. Kootenay faces the Giants in Vancouver Saturday, their last game of their five game road trip out west.
