Interesting matchup with two struggling teams

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The BC Division First Team All-Star would have undoubtedly garnered a first-round prospect pick, in a worst-case scenario, much like the Rockets received when they dealt Captain Colton Dach to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

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If you interpret Royals GM and Head Coach Dan Price’s comments when speaking to local media, that wasn’t enough value for the San Jose Shark prospect, who like Dach, is a second-round, signed player, meaning the team obtaining him in trade would have essentially acquired a rental, with the belief that the Edmonton product will play pro next season.

Price said the return for Laroque, likely an invite to Canada’s world junior team main camp had he been healthy, should have fetched something in the neighbourhood of what the Vancouver Giants received for captain Zach Ostopchuk, which included three-first round picks from the Winnipeg Ice.

Price says with no significant offers to his liking, Laroque is of greater value to his team, where he can mentor the younger players.

Whether this is fact or fiction on the quality of the offers, only Price really knows, but one thing is clear, it’s playoffs or bust for the 48-year-old, who’s team missed the post season by one-point last season after winning just 23 times.

Meanwhile, the Kelowna Rockets came as close as one game below the .500 mark before a devastating loss to the last place Spokane Chiefs on December 2nd.

Was that the breaking point?

With 10 losses in 15 games since the start of December, GM Bruce Hamilton decided to pivot at the trade deadline, with several returning players, not named Andrew Cristall, failing to have career seasons.

Retooling the roster was priority number one.

For the Royals, after the trade deadline they are very much in the same spot from a year ago, yet the fanbase is getting even more agitated at the tunnel vision.

The Royals have 10 wins. Last season they had 12 victories at the trade deadline, yet they never dealt away key assets like 20-year-old’s Bailey Peach and Tarun Fizer.

The Royals would go winless in 16 straight games after that, while the Rockets would win eight of their next nine, leaving their BC Division brethren in the dust to fight with Tri City, Spokane and Vancouver.

The Chiefs and Giants would make post season. The Americans and Royals didn’t.

For context, after 39 games this season, the Royals are 10-25-3-1. Last season, after 39 games, they were just two wins better at 12-22-4-1.

Heading into tonight’s game, the Rockets have a slim five-point lead for the 8^th and final playoff spot, with the Royals, who have played two more games, in the 9^th spot, seven points better than Spokane, who sit in 10th.

Should a game between the Rockets and Royals with a combined win total of 23, the same number as the first place Kamloops Blazers have in the BC Division, be so intriguing?

Indeed it is, with the prospect of playing more games when the WHL regular season comes to a close on March 25th.

104-7 – The Lizard – has the pre-game show at 6:35 pm and the play-by-play at 7:05 pm, or stream it by clicking on the ‘Listen Live’ button on the right side of the screen.