The Western Hockey League (WHL) has officially returned to the Capital Region.
The Victoria Royals beat the Vancouver Giants 5-3 in front of a thunderous crowd of 7,006 at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Center on the evening of Saturday, September 24.
The first ever win for the franchise avenged a 5-2 loss to the Giants in Vancouver the night before, and from the anthem to the final whistle the atmosphere was electric.
“When we came out there and got introduced to a packed house it gives you shivers and gets you really excited to play,” said Royals captain Hayden Rintoul, post-game.
Vancouver Canucks national anthem singer Mark Donnelly started the night off with his classic audience-participated version of “O Canada.”
As the game got underway, the roof exploded when Royals forward Jamie Crooks scored the first goal of the game at 3:09 of the first period.
Leading 2-1 going into the second period, the Royals padded their lead with two quick goals coming off the sticks of Logan Nelson and Brandon Magee.
The Giants pushed back with goals from Nathan Burns and Dalton Sward in the third to make it 4-3 Royals, but veteran forward Kevin Sundher put the game away, scoring an empty net goal late in the frame to seal the victory for Victoria.
Out-shot 51-25, the key to the Royals’ triumph was goalie Keith Hamilton, making 48 saves in the inaugural win and getting first-star honours on the night.
All the talk after the game, though, was about the amazing atmosphere in the rink. Head coach and general manager Marc Habscheid said that the energy of the fans really helped his team.
“You can tell just the energy of the players, the hits, the couple altercations,” said Habscheid, “and the fans were really into it and that really helps these young guys.”
That energy was felt off the ice as well, as the fans were wild, celebratory, and supportive of their new team.
Nothing on the scoreboard in sports is for certain, but one thing that’s for sure so far is Victoria is giving their new WHL team the royal treatment.