For the first time in a decade and just the second time in franchise history, the Victoria Royals are B.C. division champions.
Victoria finished the regular season with a record of 40-17-4-7, earning 91 points and securing second place in the Western Conference, trailing only the Everett Silvertips.
Those 91 points are the third-most in franchise history, just behind their 2013-14 (100 points) and 2015-16 (106 points) campaigns.
The Royals will face the Tri-City Americans in the opening round, who finished seventh in the Western Conference, 20 points behind Victoria.
During the regular season, the Royals and Americans met four times, with Victoria emerging victorious in three of those matchups. They outscored the Americans 24-12 across those games, including a 9-1 thumping in their most recent game on Feb. 7.
Victoria’s success this season wasn’t just a team effort; four players maintained a point-per-game pace or better.
Sophomore superstar and NHL draft-eligible forward Cole Reschny led the charge with 92 points, including a franchise-record 66 assists, surpassing the previous record set by Matthew Phillips in 2017-18.
Soon-to-be 20-year-old Teydon Trembecky also had a career season, recording 46 goals and 42 assists for 88 points.
Both Reschny and Trembecky’s point totals rank in the Royals' top six all-time for single-season points.
The Royals will aim for their first playoff series victory since the 2018-19 season, when they defeated the Kamloops Blazers in six games before falling in the Western Conference semifinals to the Vancouver Giants.
Other series in the Western Conference will feature the Silvertips facing off against the Seattle Thunderbirds, Vancouver meeting Spokane, and the Prince George Cougars battling the Portland Winterhawks.
The league also had a momentous day on Monday, announcing an expansion franchise in Penticton starting next season. The storied BCHL franchise will become the newest team in the B.C. Division, with the expansion draft slated for May 7.
They also announced the potential for a new franchise starting in 2026-27 in Chilliwack, the city in which the Royals originated as the Bruins before moving to Victoria in 2011.
Game one of the series is set for Friday, March 28, at 7:05 p.m. at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
