3 Key Ingredients in the Royals' Secret Sauce of Success this Season

The Victoria Royals (knock on wood) are having a pretty solid first half of the season so far. For a team that has only made playoffs twice in the last five years, this is a big change. This week, we're going to break down a few reasons why the Royals are enjoying such a strong start, and some things that have changed from last year to make this possible. Here are three key ingredients to the Royals' success.

1. Coaching

Fans from previous years will know that the Royals' performance under the leadership of former head coach Dan Price certainly left something to be desired. However, after Price was relieved of his duties during last season and new head coach James Patrick was introduced, the Royals have seen a drastic increase in not only wins, but overall competency as well. Patrick, a former ninth-overall draft pick of the New York Rangers, has no shortage of high-end experience. After playing over 1,000 games in the NHL, he also coached the Buffalo Sabres and Dallas Stars for a number of years. Patrick is no stranger to coaching at the WHL level either, as he was named the CHL Coach of the Year in 2022, following back-to-back Eastern final appearances with the Winnipeg Ice.

James Patrick is the experienced coach that the Royals needed to assist in developing the immense potential the team holds, and is a clear driving force behind the team's winning ways.

2. Depth

Every team has its superstars, the players that night after night, seem to outperform just about everyone else on the team and consistently put up points. Hockey is a team game, however, and having a strong first line will only get you so far. This has been one of the Royals' biggest problems over the last few years. Think of Bailey Peach, Jake Poole, Dawson Pasternak, etc. Every season, the Royals bring in a 20-year old player who has an outstanding season and is gone the next year, while the rest of the team struggles to keep up. In a league with as much turnover as the WHL, this is simply not sustainable. The cycle ends here.

While players like Teydon Trembecky and Cole Reschny continue to put up excellent numbers, bottom-six players and rookies such as Nolan Stewart and Markus Loponen are also producing and supporting the team. The depth of this season's Royals roster is even more evident on the back end. Justin Kipkie, Nate Misskey, Keaton Verhoeff, and Cosmo Wilson are all fast, smart, high-end blueliners that fit well within the Royals system.

The Royals seem to be successfully breaking the cycle of unsustainable stars, and are instead focusing on developing their young talents and filling out the roster with strong players that will hopefully propel them well into the postseason.

3. Goaltending

Throughout the ups and downs that the Victoria Royals have faced in recent years, there has been one constant through it all: great goaltending. You would be hard-pressed to find a season where the Royals didn't have some exceptional skill between the pipes. Longtime goalie coach and director of goaltending development Lynden Sammartino continues to keep up his excellent work with the organization, as the dynamic duo of Jayden Kraus and Spencer Michnik have been putting together some very strong starts so far this season. While Kraus has been struggling with consistency, he seems to have found a new level of confidence and speed in his game since inheriting the starter role from last season's netminder Braden Holt.

No team can succeed without skilled presence in the crease, and this season it looks like the Royals are in good hands in the goalie department.