Searching high and low for a way to cover a variety of Victoria Royals topics in one article.
Behold the Royal Rumblings. This will be a series to cover small stories from throughout the season as well as the off-season.
It has been a quiet few weeks for the Royals, since the announcement of the resumption of the WHL season. That changed recently and now there are a variety of topics to discuss around the team so let’s dive in.
Roster Changes
We have four players who have aged out and will not be returning. Jacob Herauf and his 52 points in 225 career WHL games, will be moving to Montreal to play for the Concordia University Stingers.
Carson Miller and Sean Gulka have yet to commit to another team. The Royals will be without their 28 and 17 points (respectively) from last season.
The biggest loss will undoubtedly be former captain Phillip Schultz. Due to travel and quarantine complications, the former Royal will be staying in Rodovre, Denmark to play in the Metal Ligaen playoffs with his hometown team. Chosen 38th overall in the 2018 CHL Import Draft, Schultz provided 35 goals and 62 points in 106 regular-season games. He also scored two goals and nine points in 10 playoff games for Victoria over two seasons. After having a chat with Schultz earlier this offseason, I know he is disappointed to not be able to finish what was started last season.
However, he is excited to be able to play in the playoffs with his hometown team the Rodovre Mighty Bulls. We wish him the best of luck, both this year and in the years to come.
Roster Additions
The batch of returning 20 year-olds includes defenceman Matthew Smith, forward Brandon Cutler, and goaltender Adam Evanoff.
Evanoff is coming off of a pro tryout deal with the Stockton Heat of the AHL. The Penticton, BC native last played during the 2019-2020 season where he posted a 3.69 goals-against average (GAA), a 0.897 save percentage, and one shutout in 47 games. His season was split between the Royals and Moose Jaw Warriors — before being cut short due to COVID-19.
Not a 20-year-old returnee, but Brayden Tracey will also be returning. Tracey is coming off 12 games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. A valuable addition to the team last season, he posted 23 points in 24 games. It will help the team to have his level of offense back.
Oh Captain my Captain
Tarun Fizer has been named the eighth captain in club history. A product of Chestermere, AB, Fizer is coming off a career season, where he set new personal bests in points (53), goals (19), and assists (34). The 5-foot-11, 168-pound winger has spent his entire WHL career with Victoria.
He was selected by the Royals in the fourth round, 69th overall, in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. Fizer has accumulated 94 points (34g-60a) to go along with 34 penalty minutes through his 170 career regular-season games.
The entire roster was announced today and includes 12 rookies. Look for more coverage of the roster in the coming days as well as future editions of ‘Royal Rumblings’.
