The Victoria Royals had a tough start to their 2021 RE/MAX Hub season as they dropped a 5-0 decision to the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Place in the Okanagan on Friday night. The Rockets scored two goals in each of the first two periods to propel the home team to the victory.

 

Game Summary

 

Gamesheet –  https://whl.ca/gamecentre/1017477/boxscore

 

Scoring:

Royals – None

 

Kelowna – Alex Swetlikoff 2g, Elias Carmichael 1g-1a, Jake Lee 1g-1a, Steel Quiring 1g (Game Winner), Andrew Cristall 2a, Turner McMillen 1a, Nolan Flamand 1a, David Kope 1a, Dillon Hamaliuk 1a, Kaden Korczak 1a, Jake Poole 1a

 

Goaltending:

Royals – Adam Evanoff (L) – 60:00 min, 30 saves on 35 shots.

 

Kelowna – Cole Schwebius (W) – 60:00 min, 19 saves on 19 shots.

 

Powerplay:

Royals – 0/4 – 0.0%.

 

Kelowna – 1/5 – 20.0%.

 

Notes

 

Opening Night Debuts: The Royals saw a pair of 16-year-old players make their Western Hockey League debuts tonight. Defenceman Jason Spizawka and forward Carter Dereniwsky both got their first taste of regular season action. Spizawka, a Victoria native, was the Royals’ first round draft choice (19th overall) in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. Dereniwsky was Victoria’s second round draft choice (39th overall) also in 2019 draft, and hails from Canora, SK.

 

Déjà vu All Over Again: The Royals had a tough start in their season opener last year as well. Victoria was blanked 6-0 on the road by the Everett Silvertips.  The following weekend, Victoria welcomed the Prince George Cougars to the island for a pair of games. The Royals came away with the two-game sweep. The Island boys will see if history repeats itself this year as they face the Cougars in their next game.