2025 WHL Playoffs Preview: 2) Victoria Royals Versus 7) Tri-City Americans
Victoria Royals vs Tri-City Americans (Photo Credit: Jay Wallace/Victoria Royals/WHL)The two-versus-seven seed in the West will see the Victoria Royals take on the Tri-City Americans. These two teams last faced off in 2018, when Tri-City swept Victoria in the second round. 2018 was also the last time the Americans captured a series win, while the Royals last advanced past the first round in 2019.
Victoria dominated the season series, winning three of the four games. The last time these two met was early February, when the Royals skated away with a commanding 9-1 victory. As for Tri-City's win, that came back on September 21, when they pulled off an overtime victory at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
The key to Victoria's success during this series will be scoring from the blue line. Defensive scoring has been a key part of the Royals game all season, with Justin Kipkie, Nate Misskey and Keaton Verhoeff all recording double-digit goals and at least 40 points this year. If these three can continue to produce, it will be hard for the Americans, or really any team in the WHL, to keep up with Victoria.
As for Tri-City, they need to play a physical game and try to wear down the Royals. The Americans are one of the heaviest teams in the WHL and have 10 players on their roster listed at 6'0" or taller and over 200 lbs. If Tri-City can finish their checks on every shift, it could impact Victoria's game plan.
Overall, this series should be a fun one to watch, as the Royals and Americans play very different styles of hockey. There are some intriguing players on each side, including goaltenders Jayden Kraus and Lukas Matecha, who should be able to come up with some huge saves. Despite this potential being a short series, there should be plenty of highlight-reel moments when these two hit the ice.
Prediction:
Victoria in 4
Season Series:
Victoria Wins 3-0-1-0
Scoring Leaders During Season Series:
Victoria:
Keaton Verhoeff: 4 GP, 3 G, 3 A, 6 P
Cole Reschny: 3 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
Kenta Isogai: 5 GP, 3 G, 2 A, 5 P
Teydon Trembecky: 4 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 P
Escalus Burlock: 4 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 4 P
Tri-City:
Jake Sloan: 4 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 P
Jackson Smith: 4 GP, 0 G, 4 A, 4 P
Cash Koch: 3 GP, 2 G, 1 A, 3 P
Cruz Pavao: 4 GP, 2 G, 1 A, 3 P
Austin Zemlack: 3 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 P
Schedule:
Game 1: @ Victoria, Friday, March 28, 7:05 p.m. PT
Game 2: @ Victoria, Saturday, March 29, 6:05 p.m. PT
Game 3 @ Tri-City, Tuesday, April 1, 7:00 p.m. PT
Game 4: @ Tri-City, Wednesday, April 2, 7:00 p.m. PT
Game 5: @ Tri-City, Friday, April 4, 7:00 p.m. PT
Game 6: @ Victoria, Sunday, April 6, 3:05 p.m. PT
Game 7: @ Victoria, Monday, April 7, 7:05 p.m. PT
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