Rivalry renewed as Victoria Royals book home opener against Vancouver Giants
Published 7:30 am Thursday, June 18, 2026
A duel against your cross-pond rival is usually enough spark to fire a home opener, but this one carries even more. The Victoria Royals will face off against a familiar opponent to kick off their 34-game home portion of the 2026-27 season.
The Vancouver Giants will take on the Royals at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 6:05 p.m.
This will come after the Royals start their season on the road, with their first game taking place in Kamloops against the Blazers on Sept. 19.
It will be the sixth time in the 15-year franchise history of the Royals in Victoria that their home opener will include a visit from the Giants. Victoria has won three of the five home openers against Vancouver to date. Overall, Victoria has gone 8-6-0 in their home opener history, including wins in the past two seasons.
The matchup will serve as the first home game for Cameron Schmidt, who the Royals acquired from the Seattle Thunderbirds on draft day in May.
Prior to his brief stint in Seattle, the Dallas Stars draft pick played 162 games for the Giants after being selected by Vancouver in the 2022 WHL draft.
“He is a game breaker. There aren’t any players like Cameron in the league that can generate offence quite like he can,” Royals general manager Jake Heisinger told Victoria News following the May trade.
He has also consistently tormented the Royals. In 24 career games against Victoria, Schmidt has recorded 28 points.
Other than the acquisition of Schmidt, the Royals have been busy this off-season, acquiring the likes of Nate Yellowaga and signing Sam Schulte.
They also dealt the rights of centreman Graham Jones and a second-round pick in the CHL Import Draft to Kelowna in exchange for a first-round pick in the Import Draft, along with two more draft picks in the WHL Prospects Draft.
Days ago, they sent the rights of defenceman Dane Sorensen to the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for a pair of conditional draft picks.
Neither Jones nor Sorensen played a single game with the Royals.
Last season, the Royals finished ninth in the WHL Western Conference at 28-30-6-4, finishing with 66 points, just two points back of the final playoff spot.
The full 68-game schedule for the Royals is expected to be released in the coming weeks, while CHL Import Draft will take place on June 30.
Training camp will begin in late August or early September, right before the Royals meet the OHL’s London Knights in a pair of preseason games.
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