The Victoria Royals begin a three-game road trip through the U.S. Division, and forward Graeme Bryks will be seeing some familiar faces.
Bryks played two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds — the first opponent for the Royals — before being traded just before training camp this year. For the Edmonton native, it is always extra motivation to face his old team.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” said Bryks when asked if facing Seattle gives him a little more jump to his play. “It makes me more excited to play and a little bit more competitive, because I get to see the Seattle guys after and kind of give it to them if we win.”
Like many players, friendships remain even after a trade occurs. “I’m still in touch with the guys, which is nice. But all that goes off to the side as soon as the puck drops.”
The friendships will have to be cast aside, as the Royals are likely in for a tough battle. Bryks knows firsthand the physical play to expect.
“When I was with them [Seattle], our identity was making sure we were hard to play against and be physical all the time.”
“The U.S. Division is always a hard, competitive division,” said Bryks. “It’s great hockey. They love to hit and be physical, so it’s always a fun game to play against the U.S. teams.”
When asked which of the buildings was the best to play in, Bryks gave the nod to his former club as well. The Thunderbirds play in the ShoWare Center in Kent, WA.
“The fan base there is unbelievable. It’s loud in that building and makes it fun to play against that.”
The Royals struggled on an early road trip this season through the U.S. Division — something Bryks feels the team has overcome.
“We’ve had up and downs. The team had a bunch of new guys, including myself, and now that we’re becoming healthy and we’ve gelled quite a bit over the past couple of weeks, it’s now coming together, and I feel like we’re going to be one of the top teams in the league.”
In search of his first goal as a Royal, Bryks is not letting that pressure get to him. “It happens sometimes that you go through a stretch. But there are a lot of games left and I’m trying to not think about it too much. Once the first one comes, then the rest seems to start coming along too.”
Up Next for the Royals
Victoria’s three-game road trip versus the U.S. Division takes place during American Thanksgiving weekend. The Royals will look to correct their record against the rivals south of the border. This season, Victoria is winless as visitors to the U.S. Division, going 0-4 with a minus-14 goal differential. Coming off a big win against the Edmonton Oil Kings, the Royals face the Thunderbirds on Wednesday in Kent, WA. In their previous meeting on October 5th, Seattle took a 5-3 victory.
Following that contest, it’s a Black Friday matchup in Kennewick, WA, as they face the Tri-City Americans on November 29th. Finally, they close out the trip against the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday, November 30th.
