Royals preseason news and notes

*cover photo Kevin Light Photography

The Victoria Royals begin their preseason action Friday night at the McArthur Island Sports in Kamloops, taking on the Blazers and moving one step closer to the start of the regular season.  The Royals ended training camp with the intrasquad scrimmage Wednesday night, which saw Team White defeat Team Blue of 8-5. Team White was powered by the efforts of second year defenceman Jeremy Masella, the Phoenix, AZ product led offensively with five points (2g-3a). Eric Florchuk and Jared Legien each added a pair of goals for Team White, while Nico Marini and Reid Lindsay rounded out the squad’s scoring.

Showing strong for Team Blue was recently signed import pick Igor Martynov. The forward from Belarus notched a hat trick, which included a high-end breakaway goal for his third goal of the evening. Fellow import player Yan Khomenko also had a tally, as did young defenceman Kaden Reinders.

Following tonight’s action in Kamloops, the Royals will face off Saturday at the Prospera Centre in Kelowna against the Rockets.

New Royalty: The Royals announced on Thursday, August 31st the signing of forward Jared Legien (’98) to a Western Hockey League Standard Player Agreement. Originally drafted by the Kootenay Ice ninth overall in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, the native of Pilot Butte, Sask. looked sharp in training camp, contributing offensively and playing top minutes. The newly signed forward caught up with Royal’s play-by-play broadcaster Marlon Martens (@VoiceVicRoyals) and spoke of his move to the Royals organization. Signed to the Royal’s 50-man protected player list earlier this year, the addition of Legien could prove to be yet another savvy move by Royals general manager Cameron Hope, following the success of prior pickups Alex Forsberg  and Vladimir Bobylev.

Also signing in training camp were a pair of defencemen, Kaden Reinders (2002) and Remy Aquilon (2001).   Reinders was selected this past WHL Bantam Draft in the third round, 52nd overall and showed well defensively in his first Royals camp. Remy Aquilon of Kelowna, B.C. also had a strong camp, showing great positioning in both ends of the rink. After spending last season with the Pursuit of Excellence Midget Elite 15s of the Canadian Sport School Midget Elite League (CSSME), Aquilon was also listed to the Royal’s 50-man protected player list.

Veteran Presence: The Royals had only two 20-year-old players in camp with Tyler Soy and Regan Nagy participating in full training camp. Los Angeles Kings draft pick Chaz Reddekopp was absent while he prepares for the Kings NHL camp. Forward Vladimir Bobylev was also away after being selected to play in the Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 Rookie Tournament. As the preseason continues, it is looking like the Royals will be actively following league movement involving 20-year-old players, looking to fill their final over-age spot.