Ryan Murray is just one the many hockey treats this weekend as Victoria hosts three major tilts in three days as Team WHL plays Team Russia tonight (Nov. 15), Friday is the Everett Silvertips and Saturday the Regina Pats at Victoria Royals.
Murray played in Team WHL’s 1-0 shootout win over Team Russia at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver on Wednesday, a game that pitted him against the NHL’s first overall pick in 2012, Nail Yakupov of the Edmonton Oilers. Murray went second overall, behind Yakupov to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Murray and Yakupov are both considered NHL-ready by the standards of many hockey analysts, made available to the Super Series because of the NHL lockout.
However, Murray will watch tonight’s Subway Super Series game at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre as he takes a break between. He’ll be back on the ice when the Silvertips visit the Royals tomorrow.
Royals forward and Florida Panthers third round draft pick in 2012, Steven Hodges, will be on the ice for Team WHL tonight. Royals coach Dave Lowry will be on the bench as an assistant coach and his son, Adam Lowry (Swift Current Broncos) will be the WHL captain.
The Royals are trying to right the course after a six-game losing streak, all on the road. The tailspin ended with a 5-3 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday (Nov. 10), paced by a hat-trick from Logan Nelson. But the downward spiral has the Royals at .500 in the standings, slipping from a 9-4 record to 10-10.
Wednesday’s WHL vs. Russia match was scoreless through regulation. Hunter Shinkaruk (Medicine Hat Tigers), Mark McNeill (Prince Albert Raiders) and Sam Reinhart (Kootenay Ice) scored in the shootout, with WHL goalie Laurent Brossoit (Edmonton Oil Kings) making all three stops against Russia, including Yakupov.
Face-offs for all three games are 7 p.m.
