Victoria Royals’ forward Brandon Magee scored the shootout winner in a 4-3 victory over the Everett Silvertips to cap off the regular Western Hockey League season Saturday night.
Victoria trailed Everett 3-2 after 40 minutes before Taylor Crunk would score his second goal of the night to force extra time. Joe Hicketts tallied the Royals’ other marker. The Silvertips’ goals were notched by Graham Miller, Remi Laurencelle, and Matt Fonteyne.
Royals’ netminder Justin Paulic stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced, while Everett’s goaltender Carter Hart turned away 24 of 27 shots.
Victoria finished the regular season in second place in the BC Division with a record of 39-29-3-1. This marked the second highest win total in franchise history.
Friday night saw the Royals and the Silvertips combine for five goals in the second period as the homeside fell 4-3 in the final home game of the 2014-15 regular season.
The Silvertips took a 3-2 lead into the final frame before Everett’s Noah Juulsen registered the game-winner. Victoria’s markers were notched by Brandon Magee, Tyler Soy and Austin Carroll. With the goal, Carroll set the Royals’ single season goal record at 38. Everett’s other goals were tallied by Ivan Nikolishin, Brayden Low and Remi Laurencelle.
Victoria’s netminder Coleman Vollrath stopped 24 out of the 28 shots directed at him. Vollrath set a new Royals’ shutout streak record, as he did not allow a goal in 152:10 minutes.
Everett’s goaltender Carter Hart turned aside 18 out of the 21 shots on the night.
The Victoria Royals 2014-15 capped off their regular season at the fourth annual Awards Ceremony on Sunday afternoon at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
This year’s event included New York Rangers’ executive Mike Barnett and BC Minister of Finance Michael de Jong as special guest speakers.
Cliff Lequesne, from 100.3 The Q!, hosted the event that saw the organization hand out 10 awards in total and celebrate the personal achievements of the Royals’ players on-and-off of the ice.
Joe Hicketts was chosen as the team’s most valuable player as he took home the National Bank Financial MVP Award. The product of Kamloops, BC also earned the Wilson’s Transportation Top Defenceman award and The Keg Fans’ Choice award, which was chosen by a vote on www.victoriaroyals.com.
The Royals will have home ice advantage in the first round of the 2015 WHL Playoffs vs. the Prince George Cougars, with Game 1 & 2 of the best-of-seven series occurring at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Game 1 will take place on Friday, March 27th and Game 2 on Saturday, March 28th.