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WHL Playoffs: Blazers vs. Royals, Round One

By Melissa Kania

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The Kamloops Blazers and Victoria Royals are set to face each other in round one of the WHL playoffs beginning March 22. Twelve points separated the teams in the final regular season standings.

• Series begins Friday, March 22 at 7:00 PM MDT in Kamloops.

Kamloops Blazers (47-20-2-3, 99 points — 261 GF, 180 GA)

  • Top Scorer: Colin Smith (C), 41G, 65A, 106 points
  • Left winger Tim Bozon and right winger JC Lipon each had 36 goals this season; Bozon had 55 assists, while Lipon had 53, for second and third in points scoring on the team, respectively.
  • Defenseman Joel Edmundson had 141 penalty minutes this season between Moose Jaw and Kamloops.
  • Kamloops ended the regular season with a pair of wins over Prince George. The Blazers defeated the Cougars 5-2 on March 15 and 7-0 the following day to close the season.

Victoria Royals ((35-30-2-5, 77 points — 223 GF, 252 GA)

  • Top Scorer: Alex Gogolev (LW), 20G, 45A, 65 points
  • Center Brandon Magee had 60 points (30-30) in 72 games this season, good for second in points scoring on the team, while left winger Jamie Crooks led the Royals with 33 goals this season.
  • Brett Cote led Victoria blueliners in the regular season, scoring 41 points (8-33) in 72 games.
  • Defenseman Keegan Kanzing led the Royals with 159 penalty minutes in 70 games this season.
  • Like Kamloops, Victoria is also coming off consecutive wins to end the season. The Royals defeated the Silvertips 4-1 on March 15 before defeating Everett 4-3 in overtime on March 16.

The Season Series

The Royals and Blazers split the season series, with each team winning four games. Victoria won by scores of 4-3, 6-4, 3-2 and 5-4. Meanwhile, Kamloops’ wins came by scores of 3-0, 5-2, 5-2 and 6-0. The Blazers took the last meeting of the season on March 5.

SCHEDULE

Game #1: Fri Mar 22 7:00 PM Victoria at Kamloops

Game #2: Sat Mar 23 7:00 PM Victoria at Kamloops

Game #3: Tue Mar 26 7:05 PM Kamloops at Victoria (Bear Mountain Arena)

Game #4: Thu Mar 28 7:05 PM Kamloops at Victoria (Bear Mountain Arena)

Game #5: Sat Mar 30 7:00 PM Victoria at Kamloops * if necessary

Game #6: Mon Apr 1 7:05 PM Kamloops at Victoria (Bear Mountain Arena) * if necessary

Game #7: Wed Apr 3 7:00 PM Victoria at Kamloops * if necessary

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