Hobbled yet resolute, the Victoria Royals pushed back against the Blazers on Saturday night but ultimately fell short 5-3. While the visitors pushed, 16-year old Logan Stankoven pulled his own weight and then some with a career-best four-goal game for the Blazers.
After a scoreless 20 minutes that saw both teams exchange scoring opportunities, Royals’ captain Phillip Schultz deflected home his 11th of the season to break the goose egg. Momentum favoured Victoria for much of the second period until Stankoven drew his club even with his 20th of the season.
“They made a good play on the first goal when they entered to get it into the middle of the ice,” Royals’ head coach Dan Price offered. “Typically, we’re there, but we were just a little bit wide and it’s just that four or five feet one way or the other that prevents a goal or potentially allows a scoring chance.”
As it so often does, momentum shifted, this time to the Blazers whose fourth line created havoc in front of Royals’ goaltender Adam Evanoff. 27 seconds after Stankoven’s tally, Caedan Bankier corralled a loose puck before beating a sprawling Evanoff to give the Blazers their first lead.
Depth once again played a vital role in the Blazers’ attack, much to the delight of head coach Shaun Clouston, “I think our young line — the guys that play on the fourth line — has been tremendous for us for quite a while now. They’ve either given us lots of energy or chipped in and they did that again tonight.”
Kamloops pressed for more in the final minutes of the second period but took a 2-1 advantage heading into the intermission; the third and final period proved to be a different animal. 2:22 into the frame, Stankoven found a soft spot in the slot and daylight between Evanoff’s pads before firing home his second of the game.
4:08 later, Stankoven’s one-timer from the faceoff dot gave the rookie sensation his first career WHL hat-trick. With a three-goal lead and under 15 minutes remaining in the game, the Blazers looked to be in control until Royals’ defenceman Jacob Herauf was checked from behind by Ryley Appelt.
The hit — which resulted in 17 penalty minutes and a game misconduct for Appelt – created a scrum that sent six players to the penalty box.
“It’s just one of those great rivalries,” Price added. “You have Edmonton and Calgary in the NHL and Victoria-Kamloops is one of the great ones in the Western league. I know our guys love it, I’m sure their guys do too. You never want to see someone injured, of course, so it’s unfortunate that Jacob was hurt but as far as the emotion and the physicality, I think it’s great.”
With six regulars scratched from the line up including their two leading scorers in Brayden Tracey and Tarun Fizer, Price and the Royals leaned heavily on their own depth players.
“[Alex] Bolkshakov, [Carson] Golder, [Riley] Gannon and [Noah] Lamb all played very well in lots of minutes; Ettinger coming up as an AP played lots of minutes. We did lengthen the bench a bit in the third so [Nolan] Bentham who’s only 16 got in, Cage Newans got in as well, they contributed. It was great, a real testament to Cam [Hope] and his staff for how they built the depth chart.”
With Matthew Seminoff serving Appelt’s five-minute major, the Royals made the most of their opportunity with goals from Phillip Schultz and Brandon Cutler to draw within one.
“Rayce [Ramsay] played very well in goal, as did Adam [Evanoff] for us. It came down to one shot each period. One more of theirs went in in the second, one more of theirs went in in the third. We had one great look there where we just hit the knob of Rayce’s stick, which I thought was in for sure and that would have tied it.”
At 4-3, the Blazers turned up the ice and got on the forecheck where Stankoven’s dirty work rewarded the rookie with his fourth goal of the game and 23rd of the season. After scoring all three previous goals from the slot, Stankoven showed he wasn’t afraid of mucking it up in the blue paint when called upon.
“We’ve had some tough games against Victoria this year, there’s another big one coming up but that was a big part of our game plan tonight was to get to the net and crash and bang.”
Individual and team success were both on display, that much was demonstrated by Stankoven’s grin that somehow outshone his glistening player of the game jacket outside the dressing room.
“It’s been a tough season. Obviously, being a young guy coming into the league, there are lots of adjustments to make. The style of play in the WHL — it’s obviously more physical and faster than what I played last year — so you just have to make those adjustments and stick with it.”
Asked what the ceiling is for the Kamloops native, Clouston didn’t hesitate: “I think it’s really high. He’s driven, I think he’s passionate, he’s strong [and] he’s got lots of tools. I think the biggest thing is with his drive and his passion for the game, I think he’s going to get better each year.”
In the meantime, Stankoven and his Blazers will get one day off before renewing hostilities with Victoria on Monday and Price is already champing at the bit.
“I think it will be great; I’m sure the building will be full for family day and I’m sure word will spread about how exciting and entertaining tonight’s game was. Classic Western hockey league game, classic B.C. division rivalry, I hope everyone comes out to watch. We had fans here on the fan bus tonight and we could hear them in the stands, we want to thank them. This is why we play, for games like this going down the stretch with meaningful points on the line.”
