The Victoria Royals are a Canadian major

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

team based in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. The Royals play in the B.C. Division of the Western Conference in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

(WHL). The team began play during the 2011–12 season after the league announced the relocation of the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria. It marked the return of the WHL to

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, 17 years after the departure of the

Victoria Cougars The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the W ...

. The Royals play their home games at the

Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (SOFMC) is an indoor arena located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and is the largest arena in British Columbia outside of Vancouver. It is primarily used for ice hockey, previously the home arena of the Vi ...

History

Victoria was left without a WHL team when the Cougars franchise relocated to Prince George in 1994. The city acquired a professional

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

—the

Victoria Salmon Kings The Victoria Salmon Kings were a professional ice hockey team based in Victoria, British Columbia, and members of the ECHL. The team debuted in the 2004–05 season and folded after the 2010–11 season. The Chilliwack Bruins of the major jun ...

—in 2004 when the

was opened, but the city had made inquiries about returning the WHL to Vancouver Island in the past. While two minority owners of the Chilliwack Bruins hoped to purchase the team and keep it in Chilliwack following the 2010–11 season, they were outvoted by the remaining partners who opted to sell the team to a group planning to relocate the franchise. On April 20, 2011, the WHL announced the approval of the sale and the relocation of the Bruins to Victoria. The relocation was brought about partially by the WHL's desire to protect the Victoria market, as the league feared that a potential summer relocation of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

could result in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre. The fran ...

moving to Victoria. The Royals got off to a relatively strong start in Victoria, making the playoffs in each of the team's first eight seasons; the team was on track to make the playoffs for a ninth straight year in 2019–20 when the season was cut short by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The team's best season came in 2015–16. The Royals reached the 50-win mark for the first time and secured their first

Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy The Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the regular season champion of the Western Hockey League. It is named after one of the league's founders, Scotty Munro. Munro served as the general manager of the Estevan Bruins, one of the ...

as the league's best team in the regular season. They ultimately lost their second-round playoff series against the defending champion

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia. The team plays in the B.C Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, playing their home games at Prospera Place. The Rockets a ...

; the Royals were leading in the seventh and deciding game when the Rockets tied the game with less than a second remaining in regulation, going on to win in overtime.

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''

Players

Team captains

* Hayden Rintoul, 2011–2012 * Tyler Stahl, 2012–2013 * Jordan Fransoo, 2013–2014 *

Joe Hicketts Joseph Hicketts (born May 4, 1996) is a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hock ...

, 2014–2016 * Ryan Gagnon, 2016–2017 * Matthew Phillips, 2017–2018 * Phillip Schultz, 2019–2020 * Tarun Fizer, 2021–2022 * Gannon Laroque, 2022–2023 * Justin Kipkie, 2024–present

NHL alumni

The following is a list of players from the Victoria Royals who have played in the

. * Noah Gregor *

* Brayden Pachal * Matthew Phillips * Brayden Tracey

Head coaches

Marc Habscheid served as the first head coach and general manager of the Royals during the team's inaugural season; in June 2012, he announced that he was leaving both positions. The Royals named Cam Hope as their new general manager. The Royals named Dave Lowry as head coach for the 2012–13 season. He coached the Royals for five seasons, leading the team to franchise highs in wins and points on the way to a Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as WHL regular season champions in 2015-16. He left the club in 2017. In 2017, the Royals promoted assistant coach Dan Price to the head coaching position. Price became the third head coach in franchise history. On November 6, 2023, following a 6–3 loss to the Wenatchee Wild, the Royals dismissed Price and named former

Winnipeg Ice The Winnipeg Ice (officially stylized as ICE) were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded as an expansion Western Hockey League team in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice, the team played in Cranbrook, British Colum ...

head coach James Patrick the fifth head coach in franchise history.

List of coaches

Awards and honours

Team

''WHL Regular Season Champion'' * 2015–16 St. Clair Group Trophy
''WHL Marketing/Business Award'' * 2015–16

WHL Scholastic Team of the Year * 2016–17

Individual

Brad Hornung Trophy The Brad Hornung Trophy is awarded annually to the most sportsmanlike player of the Western Hockey League. First presented in 1967, it was later renamed in honour of former Regina Pats player Brad Hornung who was paralyzed during a game on March 1 ...

''WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player'' * Tyler Soy: 2015–16

Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy The Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy is presented annually to the Western Hockey League player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition. The award is named after Saskatoon Blades founder Jim Piggott, one of the founding fathers ...

''WHL Rookie of the Year'' * Matthew Phillips: 2015–16 Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy
''WHL Coach of the Year'' * Dave Lowry (2): 2013–14, 2015–16 * James Patrick: 2024–25 Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy
''WHL Executive of the Year'' * Cam Hope: 2013–14

WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team *

: 2015–16 * Matthew Phillips: 2016–17, 2017–18 WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team *

: 2014–15 *Tyler Soy: 2015–16 *Scott Walford: 2018–19 *Justin Kipkie: 2024–25 WHL B.C. Division First All-Star Team *Gannon Laroque: 2021–22 *Bailey Peach: 2021–22 *Justin Kipkie: 2023–24 WHL B.C. Division Second All-Star Team *Tarun Fizer: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{British Columbia Sports Ice hockey teams in Victoria, British Columbia Ice hockey clubs established in 2011 Western Hockey League teams 2011 establishments in British Columbia