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“My confidence is high because they’ve shown a lot of confidence in me. They have made it pretty clear that they picked me for a reason and that they see something in me. That’s pretty special.”

You can see for yourself Friday, when the Royals roll into the Saddledome for a rare clash with the Calgary Hitmen.

Phillips will be wearing No. 11 on his back, although you probably don’t need to spy the digits to pick out the wee whiz, who carries about 145 lb. on his tiny frame.

“I think you ask any smaller guy who has had success, they’ve learned to play a certain way. They haven’t had a choice,” Phillips said. “Playing small, I’ve always been the smallest guy on my team, so it’s kind of my style. It’s how I play. I might be a little lost if I was a big guy.

“Guys in the NHL that are having success being smaller guys, you watch them and they just don’t have any fear. They’re relentless. They don’t back down from those bigger defencemen. But they’re smart. They know that if Johnny Gaudreau is going into a battle with Zdeno Chara, he’s probably not going to run him over and win the puck that way. So you have to be quick and you have to smart with your stick and things like that.

“You learn what works and what doesn’t pretty quick.”

He certainly seems to have figured out what works at the junior level.

The 18-year-old Phillips notched a hat-trick Thursday against the Edmonton Oil Kings and has racked up 32 tallies in 45 contests so far as a sophomore for the Royals, tied for fourth in the WHL’s goal-scoring race.