From Pucks and Paws Night, to Marty the Marmot’s 14th birthday, to the Royals naming their 7th captain in franchise history.. they sure had a lot to celebrate this weekend!
Though there was much speculation leading up to Friday night’s game versus the Kamloops Blazers, the official announcement of the Victoria Royals’ new ‘C’ happened just prior to puck drop.
After 18 months of no captain, the club awarded forward Phillip Schultz with the honour, following in the footsteps of Hayden Rintoul, Tyler Stahl, Jordan Fransoo, Joe Hicketts, Ryan Gagnon and Matthew Phillips.
Schultz is a product of Rodovre, Denmark, and was chosen 38th overall by the Royals in the 2018 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft.
He also brings previous captaincy experience to the Royals, having led Denmark’s Under-18 team during the 2017-18 season.
The forward tallied 36 points in 19 goals and 17 assists last 2018-19 regular season, including eight multi-point games and the first hat trick of his WHL career.
Schultz currently has one goal through five games during the 2019-20 Western Hockey League Regular Season.
The @victoriaroyals have named @p_schultz72 the seventh captain in Royals history.
DETAILS 📰 | https://t.co/eDPmB8olv8 pic.twitter.com/DV9QJn1xMi
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 26, 2019
This weekend saw back-to-back contests for the Royals against the visiting Kamloops Blazers – Friday night being Pucks and Paws night – including a ceremonial puck drop by VicPD K9 Jonny, though Victoria fell to Kamloops 2-1.
Thank you to the @victoriaroyals for having PSD Jonny drop the puck last night. Here’s a few highlights of the puck drop and PSD Maverick getting lots of love from the Royals fans during the 1st intermission. pic.twitter.com/gSVnV30LmN
— Victoria Police K9 (@VicPDK9) October 26, 2019
The second of the two bouts were more successful, Victoria this time securing the win with their own score of 2-1 against the Blazers – and plenty of hugs, cake and birthday love for mascot Marty the Marmot to make it even better!
Come down to Gate 1 to see @Marty_Marmot and all his Mascot pals who are here to celebrate his birthday! pic.twitter.com/0rGzWtYVmF
— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) October 27, 2019
The Royals will be back at it again on Tuesday, October 29th versus the Kelowna Rockets for Victoria Buzz night – puck drop is at 7:05 p.m., and you can stop by and say hi after doors open at 6 p.m.!