By Trevor Redden

No Royal treatment for Pachal’s pals

Oct 24, 2017 | 10:00 AM

Friends will become foes at the Art Hauser Centre on Wednesday night as Prince Albert Raiders defenceman Brayden Pachal faces his former team for the first time.

Pachal was acquired in a January trade with the Victoria Royals that saw Loch Morrison and a fourth round draft pick go the other way. Despite skating in 38 games with the Raiders since then, Wednesday will mark the first clash with the Royals as the annual match between the two teams was played prior to the trade last season.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, I’m still good buddies with a lot of guys on that team, so it’s one I circled on the calendar at the start of the year and I’m looking forward to it,” Pachal said of facing his former team.

Known for bringing a physical presence to the game, Pachal said he doesn’t plan on taking it easy on anybody despite being friends off the ice.

“There’s no friends on the ice, so it’s going to be fun roughing up those guys a little bit. They know how I play, so it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

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The Raiders were without Pachal against Regina and for both games in Brandon two weekends ago, as he served a three-game suspension for a high-sticking major received in Medicine Hat the weekend before. The Estevan native returned to the ice against the Vancouver Giants last week, and set up Parker Kelly for the overtime winner on Saturday night against the Saskatoon Blades.

Now in his first full season with the Raiders, Pachal has taken on a bigger role with the team and said he sees big things ahead. Individually, the 6’3″, 193 lbs defender saw an uptick in offensive productivity with 12 points in 30 games as a Raider after chipping in three assists in 35 games with the Royals. This season, he has continued to help the offensive push with four goals in eight games played.

“Last year, coming in halfway through I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Coming from Victoria, not playing much, and then coming here with a lot bigger role, the coaching staff put a lot of trust in me and my teammates helped me out along the way,” Pachal said. “I think we’re going to surprise some people.”

The Royals enter Tuesday night’s contest in Saskatoon as the top team in the B.C. Division, and fourth best across the WHL by win percentage. Victoria started its eastern road trip with an overtime victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings last Wednesday before a pair of weekend losses to the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings.

Prince Albert is coming off Saturday’s overtime victory over the Blades, and has now secured points in five of its last six games. The puck drops at the Art Hauser Centre Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nedderrovert