It was a storybook ending for the Victoria Royals last weekend.
The team ended the season with a solid 4-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips and was awarded the Scotty Munro Trophy for finishing atop the Western Hockey League (WHL) regular-season standings — all on home ice at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Saturday.
“We’re extremely pleased,” said head coach Dave Lowry.
“At the beginning of the year, I don’t think we envisioned our team having the success that we’re able to have this year and it’s a credit to our leadership and how they (the team) prepared everyday.”
It was an impressive season for the team, finishing with a 50-16-3-3 record and 106 points.
A number of players ended with career highs.
Centre Tyler Soy finished the season with 46 goals, while left winger Jack Walker was on a 19-point game streak from February to the end of March.
Rookie Matthew Phillips also earned the WHL rookie scoring title with 76 points, after notching his final point against the Silvertips over the weekend.
Rookie netminder Griffen Outhouse and Coleman Vollrath both closed out the season in the top three goalies with a 0.937 and 0.912 save percentage, respectively.
“We have standards and our guys hold each other accountable to our standards and they don’t let anyone deviate from the way we play to have success,” Lowry said.
Up next, the Royals will take on the Spokane Chiefs in the first round of WHL hockey beginning this week.
The Royals have faced the Chiefs four times this season, trading wins each time the two teams have met.
But Lowry was quick to note, the game changes heading into playoffs.
“Playoffs are a different animal, we have to be weary of our opponent. Every game and round will get tougher to win,” he said.
“The biggest thing is we want to make sure we maintain our game and we play at our level. It will be up to the coaches to put a plan in place, but it will be up to our leadership to make sure that we execute it.”
The Royals will have home ice advantage when they face off against the Chiefs for games one and two on Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March. 26.
Single game tickets are on sale at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre’s box office, over the phone at 250-220-7777 or at selectyourtickets.com.