This week’s edition of Friday Night Hockey (10 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 360) takes us to the beautiful town of Victoria, BC. The Victoria Royals play host to the Kelowna Rockets for just the second of eight meetings this season. Victoria prevailed 3-0 in the first meeting back on October 9 in Kelowna. The contest also represents the first of Friday-Saturday twin bill.

The rivalry between these two clubs has heightened considerably thanks to the teams finishing 1-2 in the BC division of the WHL in each of the last two seasons, and a second round meeting in the 2015 playoffs.

The Rockets have had the upper hand on each occasion, and once again these two clubs find themselves in a battle for top spot, not just in the division or conference, but for league supremacy as well. Kelowna sits in the WHL’s penthouse with 37 points, including points in 10 straight games. Victoria is tied with Red Deer for second place in the league standings with 34 points, including points in three straight.

For the third time in three seasons, Kelowna has a new bench boss. Two years ago, Ryan Huska left for the AHL and late this summer, Dan Lambert accepted an assistant’s coach’s position with Dan Bylsma and the Buffalo Sabres. The late departure of Lambert put owner/GM Bruce Hamilton in a difficult spot to find a replacement, but it looks as if he’s come up with another gem in Brad Ralph. After taking time to adjust to Ralph’s ways, the Rockets have been on fire since October 17, having registered points in all but one of 14 games.

Several high-end returnees from a team that came to within one game of winning the Mastercard Memorial Cup have eased Ralph into his new job. Tyson Baillie continues to get little respect, but his goal-scoring prowess is impressive. Nick Merkley continues to shine, while Dillon Dube and Tomas Soustal have taken big leaps forward from a season ago. Kelowna has been able to withstand the lengthy loss of San Jose Sharks prospect Rourke Chartier and glue guy Riley Stadel. Dube has also missed time with an eye injury that could have been much more serious.

The most noticeable deletions from a year ago are recognized on defence, where Josh Morrissey, Madison Bowey and Cole Martin have moved on. The Rockets have leaned on Sabres prospect Devante Stephens, draft-eligible Lucas Johansen and the steadying Joe Gatenby to keep things simple and move the puck.

The Rockets have the same tandem in goal as they did a year ago, with overage Jackson Whistle and backup Michael Herringer. The duo’s numbers don’t dazzle except for where it counts most; in the win column.

Victoria is a different team than it was a year ago. Although the numbers don’t bear it out, word around the league last season was when you played the Royals it would take a few days to shake off the bumps and bruises sustained against them. This year Victoria is a skilled group that can really skate. They’re smaller and quicker than they were last year. The big difference to this point in the season is the Royals is goal prevention as the team has shaved off more than half a goal per game against (3.04 in ’14-15 to 2.32 in ’15-16). Better goaltending and more of a puck-possession game have led to the difference.

Although last weekend was not kind to him, overage netminder Coleman Volrath has performed well, tied for the league lead in wins (13) while playing the second most minutes in the league.

Defensively, Joe Hicketts leads the way for Victoria. Not only is he piling up points, but he’s playing a tonne, and is as good at preventing goals as he is point producing. LA Kings prospect Chaz Reddekopp provides size, toughness and durability, while Ryan Gagnon rounds out a solid top three.

Rookie Matthew Phillips is serving notice with excellent smarts, speed and puck-handling ability. He’s been great on the powerplay and is living up to his billing. Overager Alex Forsberg leads the team with 31 points, thanks to 24 assists. Dante Hannoun and Tyler Soy have benefitted from the generosity of Forsberg and Hicketts, leading the team with 14 and 11 goals respectively. If there is cause for concern, it’s the shooting percentages of Victoria’s top scorers. All but Joe Hicketts are have a 20%+ shooting percentage, led by Phillips who’s scored at a 48.1% clip. Those high percentages are tough to maintain over the course of an entire season.

Head Coach Dave Lowry is building up currency prior to leaving the club in early December to lead Canada’s world junior team. The Gatineau Olympiques serve as a cautionary tale as they went 1-11 without Head Coach Benoit Groulx behind the bench while he was away at the world juniors last year.

Kelowna Rockets

Record:

18-5-1-0 (9-3-1-0 Road) PTS 37, 1st BC Division, 1st WHL

Team Stats

Team Stats Rank PP 25/97=25.8% 2nd PK 17/98=82.7% 7th GF/gm 4.17 1st GA/gm 2.96 7th

NHL Drafted/Signed Players

Nick Merkley (ARI 30th 2015)

Justin Kirkland (NSH 62nd 2014)

Devante Stephens (BUF 122nd 2015)

Rourke Chartier (SJ 149th 2014)

NHL Central Scouting

PTW B

Dillon Dube

Lucas Johansen

PTW C

Tomas Soustal

Under The Radar

Cole Linaker- plays hard at both ends of the ice, extremely coachable, and has developed into a solid point producer.

Victoria Royals

Record:

16-7-1-1 (6-4-0-1 Home), PTS 34, 2nd BC Division, T-2nd WHL

Team Stats

Team Stats Rank PP 20/104=19.2% 11th PK 14/96=85.4% 1st GF/gm 3.48 10th GA/gm 2.32 2nd

NHL Drafted/Signed Players

Joe Hicketts (DET signed FA)

Chaz Reddekopp (LAK 187th 2015)

NHL Central Scouting

PTW C

Ralph Jarratt

Tyler Soy

Under the Radar

Jack Walker- listed by Victoria in 2012, has transitioned from D to be a top 6 FWD.