Victoria twins taken by Royals in first, seventh rounds in WHL Bantam Draft

Victoria twins taken by Royals in first, seventh rounds in WHL Bantam Draft
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Jason Spizawka of Victoria is the Royals first round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. His twin brother, Ryan, was selected by the team in the seventh round. Photo courtesy Canadian Sport School Hockey League.

Jason Spizawka of Victoria is the Royals’ first round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. His twin brother, Ryan, was selected by the team in the seventh round. Photo courtesy Canadian Sport School Hockey League.

The Victoria Royals not only stayed close to home in Thursday’s WHL Bantam Draft, but in the same household.

For the second year in a row, the Royals took a defencemen in the first round from Victoria, selecting Jason Spizawka 19th overall.

In the seventh round, the Royals added his identical twin brother, Ryan, in the seventh round who is also a defenceman.

Both played last season in Abbotsford at Yale Hockey Academy, with Jason collecting two goals and 25 points in 28 games.

“He is a very good skater who has vision and thinks the game well. He has puck handling skills and makes good execution with his passes. It is an added bonus that he is from Victoria,” Royals’ General Manager Cam Hops said in a statement of the team’s first pick in the draft, being held in Red Deer, Alberta.

Ryan, meanwhile, had eight goals and 20 points in 29 games.

In the 2018 draft, the Royals took another local defenceman in the first round with Nolan Bentham chosen 13th overall.

Bentham also played at Yale Academy, and this past season recorded seven goals and 18 points in 36 games.

Bentham is eligible to play full-time with the Royals next season and was the first of four Island prospects Victoria took in last year’s draft.

He was followed by Parksville forward Cage Newans, goalie Keegan Maddocks of Langford and defenceman Ross Roloson of Victoria.

The Royals also added 20-year-old goalie Shane Farkas in a trade with the Portland Winterhawks, in exchange for a 2019 fourth round pick and conditional compensation.

Farkas had a record of 30-12-3-3, a 2.71 goals against average and 0.906 save percentage in 50 games for the Winterhawks last season, and posted four shutouts.

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