On an Island: Game Day #10

The Rebels travel to Victoria for game 3 on the 4 game BC road trip. They have lost both games so far to Kamloops and Kelowna.

Red Deer Rebels AT Victoria Royals

The Rebels head in to tonight's contest on a 2 game losing streak and have only won 1 of their last 5 games. Red Deer has also only 1 win in 5 road games this season, that win coming in the first road game of the season back on September 27th. The team is now 6th in the Eastern conference on a 5-4-0-0 record on the season.

The Royals are first in the Western Conference with a 7-1-0-0 record. 6 of their 8 games have come at home and they are 5-1-0-0 at the Save On Foods Memorial Centre. Victoria has won their last 3 and are coming off 3-1 road win at Kamloops on Saturday October 10th.

Last year the Rebels went 0-1-1-1 against the Royals and have gone 4-2-1-2 against them since the move from Chilliwack in 2011.

Wyatt Johnson - Getty Images

Just before the last game the Rebels announced on twitter (@Rebelshockey) that they had decided to change the captaincy. Conner Bleackley was given an 'A' instead of the C he has had since Nov 8, 2013. Coach Sutter was on 106.7 the drive during the first intermission and discussed some of the reasons, which I will not go into detail about here, but basically saying that the pressure needed to be relieved from Bleackley and that he needed to get back to "his game."

So out with the old and in with the new so to speak. It was then announced that Wyatt Johnson has been named captain. Wyatt has shown leadership in the games that Conner was injured for last season and before he was returned to the Rebels after Colorado Avalanche camp. It is also believed that Wyatt is well respected in the dressing room.

Coleman Vollrath - source unknown

Victoria is a team that is scoring by committee, they don't have a scorer in the top 20 but have 4 players scoring at better than a point per game. Joe Hicketts is a defenseman to watch out for. He has played for the Canadian National Junior Team and was second in the WHL in points by a defenseman last season (12g-52a) This season he is 6th in D scoring (0g-9a).

Coleman Vollrath is likely to be the starting goalie for the Royals tonight. He comes in with a 7-1-0-0 record, playing every minute thus far for Victoria. He has a 1.63 GAA good for 6th in the league, his 5th ranked save percentage sits currently at .938.

For those of you who like to compare numbers in the statistical department, please check out Figler Files WHL Spreadsheet

Tonight's game will be live from Victoria at 7:50PM, Cam Moon will start us off with the pre-game show. Puck drop is scheduled for 8PM.