‘I can feel the chemistry’: The Victoria Royals gear up for their home opener this Friday

This Friday is the Victoria Royals home opener against the Spokane Chiefs at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

The team won three and lost two in their pre-season and are excited to get into their 12th season. 

Most of the players are returning to the roster with only a few fresh faces. 

Alex Edwards is a 2005 born winger, Logan Cunningham is a goaltender who played a handful of games in  the 2021-22 season, two 2005 born defensemen, Nate Misskey and Justin Kipkie as well as Luke Rybinski. He is a 2003 born defenseman who will be playing a bit of forward as well.

This year the team likely won’t have any 16-year old players in their roster given the amount of veterans returning to the ice for the Royals.

Given the amount of returning players, the Royals say they are confident in their team entering the 2022-23 regular season starting this Friday, September 23rd.

“Everyone in the room is really, really good. We all get along really well. So we all bring a lot of competition to practice every day,” veteran goaltender Tyler Palmer told Victoria Buzz. “So every day is a workday but we all make it really fun.”

Because of the travel restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even the returning players on the Victoria Royals haven’t had the opportunity to face off against some American and Canadian teams.

“I think we played Prince George, like eight times in a row at one point,” Head Coach and General Manager of the Victoria Royals, Dan Price said in an interview.

“[The last couple seasons] were creating great rivalries, but the diversity of environments, cities, arenas, styles of play, coaching, player personnel and systems and storylines–that’s one of the best parts about our league, in my view.”

When asked what he foresaw in the team entering into this new season with such a similar roster, Price said, “I definitely sense a real sense of increased maturity and increased camaraderie in the group.”

“Year by year, [the players] come to learn each other more and form a stronger bond and a stronger connection. So I just feel that already strong camaraderie, strengthening even more.” 

“I can feel the chemistry much more quickly this year as far as line combinations and personnel groupings,” remarked Price on the chemistry of the team as a whole.

“We did have to work out some of those kinks as far as teaching the tactics and the structure to the younger players. But by the end, we got there and I thought the team was operating at a really high level by the end of the preseason,” said Price about some of the development the team worked on through the preseason.

Their first two games are a home stand against the Spokane Chiefs.

Last season the Royals went 1-2 against the Chiefs

Do you have your tickets yet? We’ve scored an exclusive deal on tickets for this Friday’s game and you get them online here!

Victoria Royals home opener

• Where: Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre – 1925 Blanshard Street
• When: Friday, September 23rd at 7:05 p.m.
• Tickets: Grab discounted tickets  here