Dawson Pasternak scored the Victoria Royals' first goal with six seconds left in the first period to unleash a torrent of stuffed animals thrown onto the ice for charity by a season-high crowd of 6,203.
VICTORIA 4 TRI-CITY 3
At 30 years old he still has legs. And usually two matching hairy arms.
A great Canadian hockey tradition, originating in the WHL in Kamloops in 1993 when Blazers forward and later two-time Stanley Cup champion Brad Lukowich scored the first goal from the teddy bear toss, developed Saturday night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Center.
Dawson Pasternak scored the Victoria Royals' first goal with six seconds left in the first period to unleash a torrent of stuffed animals thrown onto the ice for charity by a season-high crowd of 6,203.
The only thing that puts a stop to this annual night on the slopes is if the home team loses. The problem was that the Tri-City Americans already had three goals in the first period when the Royals connected for the first time through Pasternak. But Victoria wasn't done and recorded another three goals in the second period through Cole Reschny, Logan Pickford and Pasternak's second of the night en route to a 4-3 WHL comeback.
"It's great to have all of you in the crowd," Pasternak said over the public address system after the game.
It was the rising Royal team's sixth win in its last seven games to move to 20-12-2. The last two wins, a sweep by the Americans in Blanshard, were without Robin Sapousek and Casper Haugen Evensen, who are in Sweden for the 2024 world junior championships with Czechia and Norway, respectively.
It was the last game on the Island in a Tri-City jersey for 20-year-old Campbell River graduate Parker Bell, the six-foot-four winger under NHL contract with the Calgary Flames, as the Americans fell to 15 - 14-2.
At the other end of the age scale, Saturday was the fifth and final WHL regular-season game that Keaton Verhoeff, the Royals' 15-year-old blueliner of the future, was able to play this season, who was selected fourth in the general for Victoria. in the first round of this year's WHL prospect draft. The young rearguard showed poise beyond his years and did not look out of place against players up to five years older.
โIt felt pretty good. I just tried to play the way I can,โ said Verhoeff, a native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., who plays for the Roller Hockey Academy under-18 team in Kelowna under head coach and former NHL great Jarome Iginla.
โIt's good to see what it's like to play at this level. Having the experience here was good.โ
Finishing so low in the rankings the past few seasons has in some ways paid off for the Royals, as they were able to take Verhoeff high in the draft this year after taking forward Reschny third overall in 2022. Reschny continued his excellent season as a rookie for the Royals by scoring on Saturday to once again show why Elite Prospects ranked him in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Reschny and Verhoeff are the cornerstones of the Royals' future.
โThis team looks like it should have a good run this year and I think we should be able to continue to make progress as we go. Itโs good to see what this place will be like in a couple of years,โ Verhoeff said.
The Royals head into the Christmas break and will play the Vancouver Giants again at the Langley Events Center on Dec. 27 and the Wild in Wenatchee, Wash., on Dec. 28 before returning to the Memorial Center to face the Edmonton Oil Kings in December. .30 and Calgary Hitmen on January 1.
ICE CHIPS: The WHL is represented by eight players from Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships beginning Boxing Day in Gothenburg, Sweden.
