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Victoria Royals Take Centre Ice
Get ready to rumble, Victoria! The WHL is back in town with the Victoria Royals, the capital city’s new major junior hockey team. Whether you are a hockey fan or not (and by that, I mean whether you are Canadian or not), take part in the action and join thousands of fans at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre to cheer on our new team all the way to the Memorial Cup!
Victoria hockey teams—and fans—have had their ups and downs in recent years. Many of us still cling to the 1925 Victoria Cougars’ Stanley Cup win as a great moment in the city’s history. But we’ve also had some hockey heartbreaks in recent years. First, our beloved WHL team, the Victoria Cougars (unconnected to the Stanley Cup-winning Cougars), were relocated to Prince George in 1994; then last year, we learned with great sadness that our ECHL Salmon Kings were dissolving. While watching the Salmon Kings lose their franchise-closing game to long-time rivals, the Alaska Aces, fans hoped against hope that the end of the Salmon Kings might not be the end of high level hockey in Victoria. Both pucks and rumours flew around the arena that night, with suggestions Victoria just might be acquiring another WHL team…
Thankfully, the fans weren’t kept in suspense too long. Just one week after the end of the Salmon Kings’ season, the official announcement was made: after a 17-year absence, the WHL was returning to Victoria! The decision to move the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria has been met with tremendous support by the fans. The newly-formed Victoria Royals played their home opener to a sold out audience of over 7,000 referee-hounding, cow-bell ringing fans, and won the hearts of Victorians with a 5-3 win over the Vancouver Giants, a team you can bet will be one of the Royals’ greatest rivals, pinning the Island against the Mainland in a healthy—yet justifiably fierce—rivalry.
Over the next several months, the Royals will play another 35 home games at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. If you’re looking to experience true Victorian culture, you can bet this is where the locals will be on game nights, enjoying the end-to-end excitement of our good ol’ hockey game. Tickets range from just $12 to $25, and can be purchased online or at the Save-On-Foods Box Office. The schedule is also available online, to help you plan your visit to the city.
- Photo and logo courtesy of Victoria Royals
