Luber's Lounge

Wheat Kings Close Out Road Trip with Win

2012-01-29T00:33:00.000-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings closed out their Central Division road trip Saturday night with a 3-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels.

Mark Stone and Ryan Pulock had a goal and an assist each for Brandon while Corbin Boes made 39 saves in the Wheat Kings’ net.

“That’s what you have to have at this time of the year,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “You have to have guys blocking shots, you going to need some good goaltending the stretch and Corbin was real good.”

Michael Ferland also scored for Brandon as they finished a roller-coaster four-game road trip with a 2-2-0-0 record.

“We knew coming into this road trip that all the teams were tough and I we would have taken .500 on this road trip,” added Ritchie, “Sometimes, it’s the games you do win that might be just as important.”

Turner Elson scored both goals for Red Deer while Deven Dubyk made 21 saves in the Rebels’ net.

The victory moves Brandon four points ahead of the ninth-place Rebels for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and leaves the Wheat Kings five points behind the seventh-place Regina Pats.

Brandon’s next action is Friday night when they entertain the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff…Stone’s two points give him 79 on the season, tied for 3rd in the WHL and six points behind leader Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks…the Wheat Kings did not have a power-play chance for the first time this season.

Brandon Lineup at Red Deer (January 28, 2012)

2012-01-28T20:15:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
1. Corbin Boes
33. Brandon Anderson

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 7. Eric Roy
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 29. Kevin Sundher - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
24. Jens Meilleur - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 14. Jason Swyripa
12. Dylan Kuczek - 18. Bruno Mraz - 20. Daniel Asham

Notes
- Brandon scratches G Curtis Honey (healthy), F Tyrel Seaman (concussion) and F Dominic Favreau (shoulder).

- Brandon Anderson returns from a 3-game absence to backup starting goaltender Corbin Boes (for real, tonight, after last night's lineup mistake).

- last night's loss in Edmonton was the ninth time in the last 14 games the Wheat Kings have scored two or fewer goals. They've got 43 in 15 games since the break, 11 of those in one game in Prince Albert on January 7th.

- This month is the first since January of 2000 that the Wheat Kings have lost 10 games in a single month.

- Red Deer gives Deven Dubyk his 17th straight start in goal tonight. Dubyk is 8-6-2 with a 2.77 GAA and .912 SPCT since joining the Rebels in December.

- Winnipeg product Charles Inglis has started to produce for Red Deer, with five points and a +4 rating in the last two games.

Brandon Can't Beat Oil Kings

2012-01-28T00:10:00.001-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings suffered their tenth loss of January on Friday night, dropping a 6-2 decision to the Eastern Conference leading Edmonton Oil Kings.

Henrik Samuelsson scored a pair of goals for Edmonton while Michael St. Croix had a goal and an assist, upping his season total to 79 points and establishing an Oil Kings’ record for most points in a single season.

It was a game that got away from the Wheat Kings in the second period.

Brenden Walker’s power-play goal 1:04 into the middle frame tied the game 1-1, but St. Croix’s goal 1:10 late allowed the Oil Kings to retake the lead and Edmonton added three more goals before the end of the second period for a 5-1 advantage through 40 minutes.

“After one, I thought we were fine…I thought we were right with them,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “We get the early goal there, the nice power-play goal to start the second, and they came right back the next shift and scored. We gave up 17 shots in the second period and, right now, our second period’s killing us.”

Brandon has been outscored 31-10 in the second period and has trailed through 40 minutes in 10 of 13 games so far this month.

The Wheat Kings did have a fairly strong first period Friday and I asked Ritchie what he liked about his team’s game in the opening 20 minutes.

“I thought we didn’t turn the puck over. I thought we got pucks in deep and played with some pace,” said Ritchie, “What happens when you start trailing, you start trying to do too much yourself and then we start turning pucks over and when you’re playing a first-place team, they’re just going to feast on that.”

Another possible positive for Brandon on Friday was the play of Corbin Boes, who stopped 14 of 15 shots in the third period after relieving Wheat Kings’ starter Curtis Honey.

“I’d say the first three minutes of that period, they could have scored four,” said Ritchie, “He made four great saves for us and, hopefully, that helps him with his confidence and gets him feeling a little more comfortable between the pipes.”

Michael Ferland scored Brandon’s other goal Friday, an inconsequential goal late in the third period with the club already trailing 6-1.

The loss drops Brandon to .500 on the season (24-24-1-2) and leaves the Wheat Kings just two points ahead of ninth-place Red Deer and eight points ahead of tenth-place Swift Current for the final playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

The Rebels came back from a 2-0, third period deficit to beat the Tri-City Americans 3-2 in overtime on Friday night.

Brandon concludes their Central Division road trip Saturday night when they visit the Rebels (8:00 p.m., 880 CKLQ or http://www.cklq.com/)

Chaff...the last time Brandon lost 10 games in a single month was January of 2000...of the Wheat Kings’ 11 losses since the Christmas break, six have been by four or more goals...Mark Stone's assist on Brandon's second goal was the 250th point of his Wheat Kings' career...Brandon product Carson Perreaux scored his first career WHL goal for Prince Albert in the Raiders’ 7-6 shootout win over Kootenay on Friday night...the Western Hockey League unveiled an ‘Ask the Commish’ feature on Friday. Tweet a question mentioning @TheWHL and using the hashtag #AskTheCommish or ask a question via the league facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WHLHockey. WHL Commissioner Ron Robison will ask selected questions on weekly basis.

Brandon Lineup at Edmonton (January 27, 2012)

2012-01-27T19:19:00.004-06:00

Goaltenders
35. Curtis Honey
1. Corbin Boes

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 7. Eric Roy
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
13. Alessio Bertaggia - 29. Kevin Sundher - 24. Jens Meilleur
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 14. Jason Swyripa
12. Dylan Kuczek - 18. Bruno Mraz - 20. Daniel Asham

Notes
- the Wheat Kings scratch G Brandon Anderson (undisclosed), F Tyrel Seaman (concussion) and F Dominick Favreau (shoulder). Edmonton product Curtis Honey gets the start in goal in his hometown.

- Not an easy game for the Wheat Kings to try and bounce back in. The Oil Kings lead the Eastern Conference with a 32-11-2-4 record including a 20-3-1-1 record at Rexall Place.

- Had a chance to speak with former Wheat King Klarc Wilson earlier today, and will play that interview during the second intermission of tonight's broadcast on 880 CKLQ or http://www.cklq.com/.

- Did you know that rookie Edmonton defenceman Ashton Sautner is the son of former Brandon Bobcats' captain and current Regina Cougars' Men's hockey coach Blaine Sautner.

- Brandon's 8-16-0-1 record since November 21st in the second-worst in the Eastern Conference over the last two months. Here's what they look like:

Eastern Conference Records
(Since November 21, 2011)

Team W L OTL SOL Pts
Edmonton Oil Kings 20 3 1 2 43
Calgary Hitmen 18 7 1 0 37
Moose Jaw Warriors 15 7 3 1 34
Medicine Hat Tigers 15 8 1 1 32
Regina Pats 14 9 4 0 32
Lethbridge Hurricanes 14 12 0 0 28
Kootenay Ice 12 10 2 1 27
Saskatoon Blades 12 12 0 0 24
Prince Albert Raiders 10 12 0 1 21
Swift Current Broncos 8 14 0 2 18
Brandon Wheat Kings 8 16 0 1 17
Red Deer Rebels 7 16 1 1 16

Stats Don't Lie in Wheat Kings Slide

2012-01-26T20:53:00.002-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings will continue their Central Division road trip Friday night when they pay a visit to the Edmonton Oil Kings (7:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ or www.cklq.com).

January has been a tough month for the Wheat Kings so far as the club has recorded just three wins in 12 games this month (3-8-0-1), a slump that has put Brandon in danger of falling out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Entering the weekend, the Wheat Kings are sitting four points ahead of ninth-place Red Deer with the Rebels having three games in hand.

There are plenty of issues for Brandon to work through, but some of the more notable come to light when you take a look at some telling statistics.

Brandon has scored 41 goals in 14 games since the Christmas break, with 11 of those coming in the club’s 11-3 win in Prince Albert on January 7th.

Take that game away, and Brandon is averaging 2.3 goals per game since the Christmas break, scoring three or fewer goals 11 times and two or less eight times.

One of the reasons for the lack of goals is the club’s power-play.

It has struggled to the tune of 9-for-57 (15.8%) in the last 14 games, while the penalty-kill has been an Achilles heal the entire season and is at 71.2% (37-for-52) in the last 14 contests.

An even more telling stat is that the Wheat Kings have won the specialty teams battle (scoring more on the power-play than their opponents) just once since the Christmas break, and that was their 3-2 overtime win over Regina in the first game after the break on December 28th.

Yes, I know Brandon’s goaltending has been hot-and-cold since Christmas but even the Wheat Kings’ best two goaltending performances didn’t result in victories.

Those, in my opinion, were Curtis Honey’s 46 save effort in the 4-3 shootout loss to Victoria on January 14th and Brandon Anderson’s 43 saves in a 3-2 loss in Saskatoon on January 20th.

It’s also interesting to note that Brandon’s combined team save percentage this year is .890, the same as the Portland Winterhawks and better than Calgary (.887), Spokane (.886) and Vancouver (.888) -- all teams with better records than the Wheat Kings.

Brandon’s slide in January is just a continuation of a free fall that began in late November.

The Wheat Kings scored a come-from-behind 7-6 overtime win in Moose Jaw on November 20th, a win that improved Brandon’s record to 16-7-1-1 through the first 25 games of the season.

In their last 25 games, Brandon is 8-16-0-1.

The Wheat Kings are already on pace to give up the most shots against in the last 15 years (34.8 per game for the season, 36.2 in last 25 games) and regularly surrender shot totals in the high 30’s or low 40’s.

Brandon has given up 30 or fewer shots just seven times in the last 25 games (they are 4-3-0-0 in those games) and have surrendered 40 or more shots 15 times this season including 11 times since November 20th.

By comparison, Brandon surrendered 40 or more shots just nine times all of last season.

Manitoban Leads Hitmen Past Brandon

2012-01-26T00:25:00.002-06:00

Another step back for the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday night.

Winnipeg product Brooks Macek had three goals and an assist to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 7-2 victory over the Wheat Kings.

Victor Rask added a goal and two assists as the Hitmen won for the 11th time in the last 12 games.

“I thought after (Tuesday’s) game, we’d be really good again today but it just wasn’t our night,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “We had an early power-play, got nothing on it, didn’t generate anything and from there on, we weren’t very good at all.”

The power-play Ritchie speaks of came just past the seven minute mark of the first period, and was Brandon’s second in the early stages of the first period.

“That pretty much dictated the way that we played the rest of the night, just that power-play,” added Ritchie, “We just couldn’t execute, we had no pace to our game and I thought, right from the start, we didn’t have it tonight.”

Alessio Bertaggia and Kevin Sundher scored the goals for Brandon, both coming in the third period with the club already trailing 7-0.

The loss was Brandon’s tenth in their last 13 games, with five of those coming by four or more goals.

“It has to come from the guys in the dressing room. We can sit and talk and have a lot of meeting, but it has to come from the guys in the dressing room,” said Ritchie, “We believe in our guys. We showed (Tuesday) night, the way we played, we know we can do it. We have to find a way as coaches to harness it and keep bringing it night in and night out.”

The loss leaves Brandon just four points ahead of Red Deer for eighth-place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Wheat Kings will continue their Central Division road trip Friday night when they visit the Edmonton Oil Kings (7:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ or http://www.cklq.com/).

Brandon Lineup at Calgary (January 25, 2012)

2012-01-25T19:26:00.001-06:00

Goaltenders
1. Corbin Boes
35. Curtis Honey

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 7. Eric Roy
12. Dylan Kuczek - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 29. Kevin Sundher - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
24. Jens Meilleur - 8. Brenden Walker - 14. Jason Swyripa
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 18. Bruno Mraz - 20. Daniel Asham

Notes
- Brandon dresses the same lineup tonight in Calgary as they did for Tuesday's 1-0 victory in Cranbrook. G Brandon Anderson (Coaches' decision), F Tyrel Seaman (concussion) and F Dominick Favreau (shoulder) are out for the Wheat Kings.

- Corbin Boes gets the start in goal for Brandon. It's Boes' first action since suffered a fractured hand December 8th.

- The Wheat Kings line combinations above are different from what they were for last night's game, but Brandon's lines fluctuated during last night's contest so I'd be surprised if they stay the same as above the entire night tonight as well.

- Calgary is 10-1-0-0 in their last 11 games and sit six points ahead of Brandon for 7th-place in the WHL's Eastern Conference.

- The Hitmen are without D Alex Roach (2nd game of 3-game suspension) and import F Alex Gogolev (healthy?) for tonight's contest.

Night of Firsts in Brandon Win over Ice

2012-01-24T23:52:00.002-06:00

Curtis Honey makes one of his 34 saves on Tuesday

Curtis Honey made 34 saves for his first career WHL shutout in just his third career start, helping the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 1-0 win over the Kootenay Ice on Tuesday night.

“He didn’t give any second chances…he really controlled his rebounds well,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show.

Kevin Sundher scored the game’s only goal at 16:28 of the first period, his first goal since being acquired by Brandon on January 9th.

“He can just play now, he won’t have to think about it, he can just go out and play” said Ritchie, “I thought Kevin was good at both ends of the ice tonight. He’s such a good skater, he can play a 200 foot game…when you have a guy like that that’s playing, it’s a real good thing for our team.”

Nathan Lieuwen made 27 saves for Kootenay, who went 0-for-4 on the power-play in the contest.

The victory moved Brandon (24-22-1-2) six points ahead of ninth-place Red Deer and to within six points of seventh-place Calgary in the Eastern Conference.

The Wheat Kings will visit the Hitmen on Wednesday night (7:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ or http://www.cklq.com/).

Chaff…it was not only Honey's first career shutout but also the first career win for the Edmonton, Alberta product...Tuesday’s game was Brandon’s first 1-0 victory since February 20, 2008. That night, Joe Caligiuri stopped 30 shots and Jay Fehr had the lone goal for the Wheat Kings...Brenden Walker saw his six-game point streak come to an end on Tuesday...Eric Roy returned to Brandon’s lineup after missing three games with a shoulder injury.

Wheat Kings' Lineup at Kootenay (January 24, 2012)

2012-01-24T18:53:00.003-06:00

Curtis Honey starts in goal for the Wheat Kings tonight

Goaltenders
35. Curtis Honey
1. Corbin Boes

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 7. Eric Roy
12. Dylan Kuczek - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
13. Alessio Bertaggia - 29. Kevin Sundher - 16. Mark Stone
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 14. Jason Swyripa
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 24. Jens Meilleur
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- Brandon scratches G Brandon Anderson (Coaches' Decision), F Dominick Favreau (shoulder) and F Tyrel Seaman (concussion). Corbin Boes is in the lineup for the first time since fracturing his hand December 7th in Edmonton and will backup starting goaltender Curtis Honey.

- D Eric Roy returns to the Brandon lineup tonight after missing three games with a shoulder injury. Roy is tied for fourth in defencemen scoring in the WHL with 38 points but, like the Wheat Kings, has slowed down in December and January. He's got two goals, seven points and a -7 rating in the last 15 games.

- Some new line combinations for the Wheat Kings tonight (see above). Interesting to see Dyzurzynski with Ciarelli and Meilleur and Swyripa on a line with Walker and Ferland.

- Brandon head coach Cory Clouston is back behind the bench in Cranbrook for the first time since April 4, 2007. The Ice dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Calgary Hitmen that night in Game #7 of their first round playoff series. It was an upset, as the Ice had finished the regular season with a 49-17-3-3 record and 19 points higher in the standings than the Hitmen. The game was the final one of Clouston's six-season tenure as Kootenay's head coach, as he left in that off-season to become head coach of the AHL's Binghamton Senators.

- Kootenay's lineup is the same as it was for Saturday's 7-3 win in Brandon with an exception in net, where Nathan Lieuwen starts instead of rookie MacKenzie Skapski, who made 33 saves in Saturday's victory. Ice captain Drew Czerwonka (upper body) and Winnipeg product Luke Paulsen (upper body) are Kootenay's two scratches.

- A good omen for the Wheat Kings? They're 6-3-0-1 in their last ten regular season visits to the Cranbrook Rec-Plex.

Wheat Kings Look to Right Ship

2012-01-23T18:37:00.000-06:00

Eric Roy could return to Brandon's lineup Tuesday

The Brandon Wheat Kings open a four-game road trip Tuesday night when they pay a visit to the Kootenay Ice (7:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ or www.cklq.com).

It’s been a tough January so far for the Wheat Kings, winning just two of ten games this month and eight of their last 24 contests after a 15-7-1-1 start to the season.

“Obviously, we were one of the top teams in the Conference at the start of the season and we’ve kind of got away from that the last couple of months,” said Brandon captain Mark Stone after Monday’s practice in Cranbrook, “If we can get back to the things that we had success doing, we should be fine.”

Stone went on to talk about improving their specialty teams and cleaning up the defensive zone as two key areas of improvement.

“I thought our power-play and our penalty-kill won us some games in the first half and it’s really struggled here in the last little bit,” said Stone, “If we can get a few goals from our power-play, it really helps our bench. If we can get that going, it can certainly help and we also need to tighten up our defensive zone and keep pucks from the outside.”

Brandon’s power-play was operating at a 31.4 per cent success rate through the first 24 games of the season – 19.6 per cent since including just 11 power-play goals in their last 18 games.

Defensively, the Wheat Kings are on pace to set a franchise record for most shots allowed, at least in the ‘modern era’ (since 1996-97) and have surrendered an average of 36.6 shots against over their last 24 games including a dozen games of 39 or more shots against.

The club has spoken publicly about sticking together as a team through this rough stretch, and Stone feels that’s the only way they’re going to pick themselves back up.

“Going through these times, it’s tough and there is a lot of negative energy going through the locker room,” said Stone, “We just need to stick together…there’s nothing we can say much more, we just need to let our actions speak for themselves.”

Brandon looks like they’ll get some help back on their blueline on Tuesday night as Eric Roy practiced without restrictions on Monday after missing the previous three games with a suspected shoulder injury.

However, Dominick Favreau didn’t practice after hurting his shoulder late in Saturday’s home-ice loss to the Ice.

Brandon enters Tuesday’s game with a four-point lead over the Red Deer Rebels for eighth-place and the final playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, with the Rebels having two games in hand.

Chaff…Brenden Walker takes a six-game point-scoring streak into Tuesday’s contest (3 G, 6 A)… F Kevin Sundher leads the WHL with 25 power-play assists…F Darian Dziurzynski is second in the WHL with five shorthanded goals this season…F Mark Stone has 33 power-play points this season (13 G, 20 A), second-most in the WHL behind Portland’s Ty Rattie…the Wheat Kings are averaging 14.9 penalty-minutes per game, the lowest amount in the WHL, while their 42 fighting majors ranks 14th in the league… Brandon has attracted fewer than 4,000 fans to five of their last six home games, and is averaging 4,043 fans per game through 24 home games this season. That is down 233 fans per game from last year.

Ice Hand Wheat Kings Fifth Straight Home-Ice Loss

2012-01-21T23:55:00.001-06:00

Dylan Kuczek recorded his first career WHL point, an
assist in Saturday's loss.

The Brandon Wheat Kings suffered their fifth straight home-ice loss Saturday night, dropping a 7-3 decision to the Kootenay Ice.

Jesse Ismond and Levi Cable had two goals apiece for the Ice, who led 2-0 and 6-2 at the period breaks.

The loss was particularly disappointing for Brandon, who showed signs of life as far as their compete level was concerned during a doubleheader with the Blades in Saskatoon earlier this week.

"We just kind of wait for something to go wrong, and we're our own worst enemy right now," said Brandon coach Cory Clouston, "The last couple of games, we battled and competed and felt we could have easily had two points and tonight, we weren't good enough."

Ryley Miller, Michael Ferland and Jens Meilleur scored the goals for Brandon while Brandon Anderson and Curtis Honey combined to stop 32 shots in the Wheat Kings' net.

The Wheat Kings have now lost six of seven and 13 of their last 18 games.

"We're not sticking with it for 60 minutes," added Clouston, "We get down a goal or two and we start cheating and try to do everything ourselves instead of sticking with our game."

Brandon's loss coupled with Red Deer's 5-1 home-ice win over Prince George leaves the Wheat Kings four points ahead of the Rebels for eighth-place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Red Deer still has three games in hand.

Chaff...with no home games remaining this month, Brandon will be winless on home ice in January for the first time since 2001...Sam Reinhart recorded an assist for Kootenay, his 40th point of the season. That ties the Ice franchise record for points by a 16-year old, set by Steve McCarthy in 1997-98...Minnedosa product Chad Robinson scored his sixth goal of the season in Red Deer's victory on Saturday.

Brandon Lineup vs Kootenay (January 21, 2012)

2012-01-21T18:56:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Curtis Honey

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 9. Rene Hunter
12. Dylan Kuczek - 6. Ayrton Nikkel

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 29. Kevin Sundher - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 8. Brenden Walker - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 14. Jason Swyripa
24. Jens Meilleur - 20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- the Wheat Kings are scratching G Corbin Boes (hand), F Tyrel Seaman (concussion) and D Eric Roy (shoulder).

- Brandon will be trying to break a four-game home-ice losing streak as they look for their first win at Westman Communications Group Place in 2012. Brandon is 1-5-0-0 in their last six homes games and 2-6-0-1 in their last nine.

- the Wheat Kings surrendered 46 shots to the Blades in Saskatoon last night including 20 in the second period alone. Its the 15th time this season Brandon has given up 40 or more shots in a game, and 8th time they've given up 20 or more shots in a period. By comparison, Brandon gave up 40+ shots nine times all of last season and 20+ shots in a period just four times a year ago.

- the Ice are coming off a 6-5 overtime loss in Moose Jaw last night. It was the fourth straight game that Kootenay has gone to extra time.

- Ice captain Drew Czerwonka (upper body, week-to-week) and Winnipeg product Luke Paulsen (upper body, indefinite) are out of Kootenay's lineup tonight while rookie MacKenzie Skapski starts in goal.

Anderson Spectacular in Brandon Loss to Blades

2012-01-20T23:03:00.000-06:00

Brandon Anderson was outstanding in Friday's
3-2 loss in Saskatoon

The Brandon Wheat Kings wasted a spectacular goaltending performance in dropping a 3-2 decision to the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night.

Brandon Anderson made 43 saves in the Wheat Kings’ net including 19 in the second period in giving Brandon every opportunity to win back-to-back games for the first time since early December.

“He made about three or four highlight of the night saves for us. He was steady, shots he got he covered and he gave us a chance and that’s what you want from him,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “He was focused right from the start of the game and it was real good to see.”

The game had a playoff feel to it, which might have been expected considering the two teams were meeting in the back half of a doubleheader.

Nick Zajac opened the scoring for Saskatoon 9:07 into the 1st period but Brandon captain Mark Stone tied it just 15 seconds later and the teams went the dressing roon tied 1-1.

Michael Burns scored a power-play goal 1:40 into the second to give the Blades a 2-1 lead and Saskatoon pressed to expand that advantage but were unable to beat Anderson the rest of the middle frame.

Kyle Schmidt gave the Blades a brief 3-1 lead with 3:03 left in the third but Michael Ferland pulled Brandon back to within a goal with a power-play marker just 37 seconds later.

Alex Moodie made 33 saves in the Saskatoon net including a handful of quality saves to match Anderson on this night.

Despite Friday’s loss, Ritchie has been encouraged by his team’s play so far this week.

“It shows our guys care, the care about each other, they want to win for each other. Our bench has been excellent that last two nights, just the emotion with the guys and keeping thing positive,” said Ritchie, “It’s progress, and right now we’re going the right way.”

The loss was Brandon’s eighth in their last 10 games and leaves the Wheat Kings with a 23-21-1-2 record, six points ahead of Red Deer for eighth-place and the final playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

The Rebels do have three games in hand.

Brandon is back on home-ice Saturday when they entertain the Kootenay Ice (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff…D Brodie Melnychuk played his 293rd career game Friday, moving him past Brett Thurston and into ninth-place on the Wheat Kings’ all-time list…Brandon product Joel Edmundson had a Gordie Howe Hat-Trick for Moose Jaw on Friday, scoring his first goal of the season in the final minute, setting up Andrew Johnon’s overtime winner and was involved in a first period fight with Joe Antilla in Moose Jaw’s 6-5 win over Kootenay on Friday night.

Brandon Lineup at Saskatoon (January 20, 2012)

2012-01-20T18:22:00.001-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Curtis Honey

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 9. Rene Hunter
12. Dylan Kuczek - 6. Ayrton Nikkel

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 29. Kevin Sundher - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 8. Brenden Walker - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 14. Jason Swyripa
24. Jens Meilleur - 20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- the Wheat Kings are scratching D Eric Roy (shoulder), G Corbin Boes (hand) and F Tyrel Seaman (concussion). Boes could be ready to return to the Brandon lineup as early as tomorrow night, when Brandon hosts the Kootenay Ice. If not, then certainly by Tuesday's rematch in Cranbrook.

- Brandon is looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since November 30 - December 2, when they picked up home-ice victories over Vancouver and Red Deer respectively. The last time the Wheat Kings won two straight on the road was October 18-19, when they downed Seattle and Everett on successive nights.

- Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone has been held pointless in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Stone enters Friday's game four points shy of 250 for his WHL career and in third place in the WHL scoring race, two points behind Regina's Jordan Weal and five back of Portland's Ty Rattie.

- The Blades welcome Josh Nicholls back to their lineup tonight after a 16-game absence because of a knee injury. Nicholls had 20 goals and 35 points in 30 games at the time of the injury.

- Goaltender Andrey Markarov apparently had a setback in his return from a concussion and will not play this weekend.

- Blades' defenceman Duncan Siemens also returns for Saskatoon tonight after a one-game absence because of a team-imposed suspension for violating team rules.

- Saskatoon's specialty teams have been on fire lately. The Blades power-play is 11-for-35 (31.4%) and their penalty kill is 38-for-42 (90.5%) in the last ten games. Conversely, Brandon is 10-for-65 (15.4%) on the power-play in their last 16 games and are 24-for-36 (66.7%) on the penalty-kill on their last nine games.

Swyripa Brandon's 'Ironman'

2012-01-19T20:33:00.001-06:00

Jason Swyripa

Jason Swyripa is officially the Brandon Wheat Kings undisputed ironman.

Eric Roy’s injury means the second-year forward is the only member of the Wheat Kings to appear in all 46 games this season after being one of just two players to play in all 72 games in his rookie season a year ago.

“Nope, none at all,” said Swyripa on Thursday when asked if there was any secret to being able to be in the lineup every night, “You just play hard every night and I’ve been fortunate enough not to get hurt.”

Swyripa has produced six goals and 14 points so far this season, offensive numbers that appear to be a little disappointing considering his nine goal, 22 point totals from a year ago.

“I thought I’d step up a little more but it’ll come. Things haven’t been going my way but once the team starts to pull through here, hopefully, things start to go my way and things start to click,” said Swyripa, “I’m going to keep on doing what I can do to contribute to the team.”

Brandon returns to action Friday night with a second straight matchup in Saskatoon against the Blades (6:35 p.m., 880 CKLQ).

The club is hopeful that Wednesday’s 6-4 win over the Blades is the start of a similar run to a year ago, when Brandon won 18 of their final 25 regular season games.

“We just came together more as a team last year at this point of the season. We just have to keep working hard and bonding as a group and I think we can pull through here,” said Swyripa, “It’s all a mentality…we’re in it for each other here.”

On Friday night, the Wheat Kings will be looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since November 30 – December 2.

Brandon enters Friday’s game in eighth-place in the Eastern Conference, six points ahead of ninth-place Red Deer and four behind the seventh-place Calgary Hitmen.

Chaff…after Friday, the Wheat Kings return home for a matchup against the Kootenay Ice on Saturday night (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place). It’ll be Brandon’s only home game between now and February 3rd…four of the top seven scorers in the WHL this season are from Winnipeg. Wheat Kings’ captain Mark Stone (3rd), Adam Hughesman and Brendan Shinnimmin from Tri-City (4th and 7th respectively) and Edmonton’s Michael St. Croix (6th)…Brandon has qualified for the WHL playoffs for 11 straight years and 18 of the last 19 seasons. The 11 straight is the 2nd-longest active streak in the WHL, behind the Kootenay Ice (13).

Wheat Kings Snap Losing Skid

2012-01-19T00:02:00.000-06:00

Brenden Walker

The Brandon Wheat Kings snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday night.

Brenden Walker had his second career hat-trick plus an assist for the Wheat Kings, who scored five goals in the third period after trailing 2-1 through 40 minutes.

“We had to keep our pace, keep our structure to our game and just stay with it and things will happen for you,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “Lately, we’ve been finding ways to lose the game in the third period...tonight, for our guys to really stick with it and get rewarded for their hard work is well deserved.”

Paul Ciarelli, who returned from a two-game absence, Darian Dziurzynski and Michael Ferland also scored for the Wheat Kings.

Brandon offensive outburst in the final frame was surprising considering the club had scored five goals in a game just once in their previous ten outings.

One of the keys – goals from being around the net for capitalize on loose pucks, the so-called ‘greasy goals’ around the net.

“We kind of stressed it early and we weren’t doing it and I thought as the game went along, we did it and we got rewarded,” added Ritchie, “Once the guys start seeing you get rewarded, then the next line goes it and they get rewarded. It’s like an avalanche, it just keeps coming and coming…give our guys full credit.”

Brandon Anderson made 25 saves in the Wheat Kings’ net but was victimized by some sloppy team play late that allowed the Blades to score twice in the final two minutes.

The victory allowed Brandon to move six points ahead of ninth-place Red Deer in the race for the final playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.
The Wheat Kings and Blades will play the second half of their doubleheader in Saskatoon on Friday night (6:35 p.m., 880 CKLQ)

Chaff…Darian Dziurzynski tangled with Saskatoon’s Lukas Sutter in the third period, Dziurzynski’s first fight since November 26th…Dziurzynski’s goal was his fifth shorthanded goal of the season, moving him into second in the WHL in that department…Brandon went 0-for-5 on the power-play and have scored ten power-play goals in their last 16 games (10-for-65)…Wheat Kings’ captain Mark Stone was held without a point for just the fifth time this season but second straight contest. Brandon is 1-4-0-0 in those games…D Brodie Melnychuk appeared in his 292nd career game Wednesday, tying Brett Thurston for ninth-place on the Wheat Kings’ all-time list…Kevin Sundher celebrated his 20th birthday on Wednesday.

Brandon Lineup at Saskatoon (January 18, 2012)

2012-01-18T18:19:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Curtis Honey

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 9. Rene Hunter
12. Dylan Kuczek - 6. Ayrton Nikkel

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 29. Kevin Sundher - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 8. Brenden Walker - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 24. Jens Meilleur
18. Bruno Mraz - 14. Jason Swyripa - 20. Daniel Asham

Notes
- The Wheat Kings are out to break a four-game losing streak tonight while the Blades are seeking a sixth consecutive victory.

- Brandon scratches D Eric Roy (shoulder?), G Corbin Boes (hand) and F Tyrel Seaman (concussion). Seaman was sent home to Choiceland last week but will be attendance at tonight's game.

- Rene Hunter returns after missing two games with an upper body injury, while Paul Ciarelli could return. He has also missed the last two games with an upper body injury.

- The Wheat Kings have flip-flopped centres on their top two lines, with Kevin Sundher now between Stone and Ferland while Walker is between Bertaggia and Dziurzynski. Bertaggia and Dziurzynski have combined for 0 points during Brandon's four-game losing streak.

- Unusual fact - Michael Ferland and Darian Dziurzynski have combined for 0 fights since the end of November.

- Saskatoon is rolling along with Lukas Sutter leading the way. The son of Rich Sutter is on a four-game goal streak and has 10 goals and 16 points in the last nine games for the Blades.

- Saskatoon will be without defenceman Duncan Siemens tonight. The first round pick of the Colorado Avalanche will sit for a violation of Team Rules.

Boes Returns to Practice, Few Days Away

2012-01-18T06:01:00.001-06:00

Corbin Boes returned to practice on Tuesday

The Brandon Wheat Kings welcomed Corbin Boes back to practice on Tuesday.

The second-year goaltender hasn't played since fracturing his hand December 7th, and is likely still a few days away from returning to the lineup.

"My right hand is a little bit slow, harder to get my stick on the pucks and stuff like that," said Boes after Tuesday's practice, "Obviously, I'm adjusting back to game seed and stuff. I'll all come over the next few days, and hopefully I can get back as soon as I can."

Boes was 11-5-1 with a 3.00 goals against average and .908 save percentage in 22 games before the injury.

Since his injury, the Wheat Kings have gone 4-12-0-1 and the second-year netminder admits its been tough watching.

"With the guys struggling a little bit here, it's sometimes tough to watch," said Boes, "We were in the same situation last year and we managed to find a way to come through that and put on a pretty good run near the end there."

In other injury news, defencemen Rene Hunter, Ryley Miller and Ryan Pulock all practiced on Tuesday but Eric Roy was not on the ice.

Hunter had missed the last two games with an upper body injury while Miller and Pulock both left Sunday's loss in Moose Jaw early because of lower body injuries.

The news wasn't all good on the back-end. Eric Roy is being listed as being out for two weeks with an upper body injury.
Meanwhile Paul Ciarelli skated before practice as he tries to return from a two-game absence due to an upper body injury.

The Wheat Kings look to end a four-game losing streak when they visit the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday night (6:35 p.m., CKLQ).

The Blades will take a five-game winning streak into the contest.

Chaff...Blades' voice Les Lazaruk reported Tuesday that Saskatoon is hopeful goaltender Andrey Makarov (concussion) and forward Josh Nicholls (knee) will return to their lineup on Friday...the Wheat Kings are 21-for-33 (63.6%) in their last eight games...D Brodie Melnychuk has played in 291 career games with the Wheat Kings, one shy of tying Brett Thurston for ninth-place on the club's all-time list...Brandon has qualified for the WHL playoffs for 11 straight years and 18 of the last 19 seasons. The 11 straight is the 2nd-longest active streak in the WHL, behind the Kootenay Ice (13)…Fourth-year defenceman Ryley Miller leads the Wheat Kings with six fighting majors this season followed by rookie blueliner Ayrton Nikkel with five.

Can January 15 be the Turning Point Again?

2012-01-16T14:28:00.001-06:00

Things have been struggle for the Brandon Wheat Kings for the last six weeks, to say the least.

A 6-13-0-1 record in 20 games since their dramatic 7-6 overtime win in Moose Jaw on November 20th has dropped the club into eighth-place in the Eastern Conference.

The latest setback was an 8-2 loss in Moose Jaw on Sunday night, January 15th - a date that is etched in stone from a year ago.

On January 15, 2011, the Wheat Kings dropped an embarassing 9-0 decision on home-ice to the Edmonton Oil Kings -- a fourth straight defeat and ninth in their last ten games and hit the proverbial rock bottom.

At 14-25-1-7, Brandon certainly looked like a team that was not going to be part of the WHL's post-season party. But then, something mysterious happened -- the club started winning.

The Wheat Kings began an amazing streak six days later with a 6-4 home-ice win over Lethbridge on January 21st and never look back, going 18-6-0-1 in their last 25 games while outscoring their opponents 133-93.

Brandon finished the season at 32-31-1-8 and in sixth-place in the Eastern Conference.

Fast forward one year to January 15, 2012.

Brandon lost 8-2 in Moose Jaw to finish a tough week that included three consecutive home-ice losses ahead of the drubbing by the Warriors.

Can the 2011-2012 edition of the Wheat Kings do the same thing the group did a year ago -- pick itself up, dust itself off and play some inspired hockey for the final two months of the regular season?

Time will tell!

Wheat Kings Lose Fourth Straight

2012-01-16T02:53:00.002-06:00

The Moose Jaw Warriors scored five unanswered third perod goals to beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 8-2 on Sunday night.

Justin Kirsch had two goals and an assist for the Warriors while Eric Roy and Ryan Pulock scored the goals for Brandon.

"We had a couple of chances to score, our power-play had a couple of chances to score and we just had a feeling that if we got the next one things would go or we were one shot away," said Brandon assistant coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk on CKLQ's post-game show, "I just thought throughout the night that we were there and then in the third period, we just let it go, made some bad mental mistakes, it cost us and they put the puck in the net when those mistakes were made."

Brandon has now lost four in a row, seven of eight and 14 of their last 20 games and are in eighth-place in the WHL's Eastern Conference with a 22-20-1-2 record, four points ahead of Red Deer for the final playoff spot.

"The only way we can better right now is to stick together as a group. We've dug ourselves this hole and they only way we're going to get out of it is to get ourselves out of it," said Gylywoychuk, "We've got to learn from our mistakes, learn from how we play the game. We have to play the game with more composure."

Curtis Honey made his second straight start in the Brandon net and stopped 17 of 23 shots before being relieved by Brandon Anderson after the sixth Moose Jaw goal 7:09 into the third period.

Anderson stopped eight of ten shots the rest of the way.

Despite their slump, Brandon (22-20-1-2) remains eighth in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of ninth-place Red Deer and four back of seventh-place Calgary.

The Wheat Kings next action is Wednesday when they visit the Saskatoon Blades.

Chaff...D Ryley Miller left the game early in the first period with what appeared to be a leg or knee injury and did not return...D Ryan Pulock was limping noticeably after taking a shot off his foot late in the third period.

Brandon Lineup at Moose Jaw (January 15, 2012)

2012-01-15T18:24:00.001-06:00

Goaltenders
35. Curtis Honey
33. Brandon Anderson

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 6. Ayrton Nikkel
32. Ryley Miller - 12. Dylan Kuczek

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 29. Kevin Sundher - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 14. Jason Swyripa - 24. Jens Meilleur
20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- Paul Ciarelli and Rene Hunter (known) missed their second straight games for Brandon while Tyrel Seaman (concussion) and Corbin Boes (hand) are the other Wheat Kings' scratches.

- It's a battle of struggling teams. Brandon has lost six of their last seven games while Moose Jaw is 2-5-1-0 in their last eight contests. The Warriors still lead the East Division by a single point over Regina and two points over Saskatoon.

- This is Moose Jaw's first home game since December 28th, and the club will be recognizing Quinton Howden and Mark Stone for their efforts at the WJHC prior to the contest.

- Brandon product and Warriors' defenceman Joel Edmundson will be our guest during the second intermission of tonight's broadcast on 880, CKLQ.

Wheat Kings Waste Honey of an Effort

2012-01-14T23:55:00.003-06:00

Curtis Honey made 46 saves Saturday night

The Brandon Wheat Kings lost for the sixth time in seven games on Saturday night, dropping a 4-3 shootout decision to the Victoria Royals.

Brandon Magee scored the game-tying goal for the Royals at 13:43 of the third period as Victoria broke a 10-game losing streak.

Dominick Favreau, Mark Stone and Michael Ferland scored the goals for Brandon while Kevin Sundher scored his first points as a Wheat King, registering a pair of assists.

Brandon had a 2-0 lead over the first period and a 3-1 advantage until late in the second frame and Wheat Kings' coach Cory Clouston said on CKLQ's post-game show that he believes their mental approach hurt them over the final 25 minutes.

"We played not to lose..when you do that, you start to hesitate, you sit back. Instead of being the aggressor, you sit back and are waiting to see what happens and you start to second guess yourself," said Clouston, "It's the physcology and the mental part of the game right now that we have to overcome."

Jordan Fransoo had an assist
and was +2 on Saturday

Curtis Honey made 46 saves in the Brandon net including 19 in the third period but was beaten by Victoria's Robin Soudek and Ben Walker in shootout attempts.

The rookie netminder was making his first career start on home ice and was disappointed not to come away with the win.

"I just went out there and tried to battle hard. The D in front of me did a good job in keeping most of the shots to the outside and I was able to see most of them," said Honey, "It wasn't a bad game for myself but you're never happy when you don't get the win so it's tough right now."

Former Wheat King Dakota Conroy had a power-play goal in the second period for Victoria while Jordan Fransoo had an assist on that goal and finished the evening with a +2 rating.

Brandon concludes a busy weekend by visiting the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sunday night (6:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ).

Dakota Conroy had a power-play
goal for the Royals on Saturday

Chaff...the Wheat Kings have now lost 11 straight shootout games, going without a shootout victory since January 15, 2010...the WHL is holding a Prospects Information Night on Monday, January 16th at 6:30 p.m. at Canad Inns Polo Park in Winnipeg. WHL Manager, Player Development and Recruitment Tyler Boldt, a former Wheat King, will be making a presentation on the benefits of playing in the WHL. Boldt guested with me during the second intermission of Saturday's broadcast...

Wheat Kings' Lineup vs. Victoria (January 14, 2012)

2012-01-14T18:43:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
35. Curtis Honey
33. Brandon Anderson

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 32. Ryley Miller
12. Dylan Kuczek - 6. Ayrton Nikkel

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 29. Kevin Sundher - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 14. Jason Swyripa - 24. Jens Meilleur
20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- Paul Ciarelli and Rene Hunter join the Wheat Kings' injury list for tonight's game. Ciarelli looked like he hurt his neck after being hit-from-behind by Red Deer's Alex Petrovic late in the third period of last night's game. I didn't see what happened to Hunter.

- Tyrel Seaman (suspected concussion) is apparently back home to continue his recovery from his injury while Corbin Boes (fractured hand, 10-14 days) is the other Brandon scratch.

- Curtis Honey makes his 2nd career WHL start and first on home-ice tonight. Honey played well in Brandon's 4-1 loss in Prince Albert last Friday night and a good performance tonight may lead to more starts in the near future.

- Brandon needs improved play from a couple of their veteran players and they try to pull themselves out of their funk that has seen them go 6-12-0-0 in their last 18 games. D Ryley Miller has a -15 rating in the last 14 games; F Darian Dziurzynski has four points (2 G, 2 A) and is -4 in the last seven games, numbers that would look a lot worse if not for his four points and +4 rating in the 11-3 win in Prince Albert last Saturday.

- Victoria enters Saturday's game on a 10-game losing streak. The Royals have given up at least one power-play goal in 18 consecutive games (60-87 on the PK, or 69.0% in that span).

- Jordan Fransoo and Dakota Conroy return to Brandon after being dealt by the Wheat Kings to the Royals on Monday night. Fransoo had an assist and was even in his Victoria debut last night, a 7-3 loss in Regina. Conroy was pointless and -3.

Former Wheat Kings' Captain Enjoying Leaf Nation

2012-01-14T00:54:00.000-06:00

I'm a little late to the party on this one, but former Brandon Wheat Kings' captain and currenet Toronto Maple Leafs' defenceman Keith Aulie guested with myself and Tyler Crayston on CKLQ's Monday Sports Talk this past Monday.

Here's the audio...

Robinson's Third Period Goal Sinks Wheat Kings

2012-01-14T00:40:00.000-06:00

Brodie Melnychuk had a 'Gordie Howe Hat-Trick' the
first period of Friday's loss to Red Deer

The Brandon Wheat Kings' grip on a playoff spot has gotten a little looser.

Minnedosa product Chad Robinson's goal 2:18 into the third period snapped a 4-4 tie and lifted the Red Deer Rebels to a 5-4 victory over the Wheat Kings.

Robinson's goal came just 68 seconds after Mark Stone had tied the game for Brandon and was his first goal since November 26th.

It was Brandon's fifth loss in six games and leaves the Wheat Kings just three points ahead of the ninth-place Rebels in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"I don't understand how we're not able to put some of those in the back of the net," said Brandon coach Cory Clouston on CKLQ's post-game show, "Last game, we ended up with 21 chances to their 10 and don't come away with a win. I don't know what the chances would have been tonight but we had so many good chances. We have to be a little bit more patient and bury them, and we have to be a little more resilient as well."

Stone finished the night with two goals and two assists while Brodie Melnychuk and Ryan Pulock also scored for the Wheat Kings.

Brandon led 3-1 after the first period but trailed 4-3 going into the final frame.

"We need to play more consistent for 60 minutes, that's plain and simple" said Stone, "We've been having lots of lapses in certain parts of the game that we definitely need to fix."

Brandon Anderson made 33 saves for the Wheat Kings while Deven Dubyk stopped 29 shots for the Rebels.

Brandon looks to escape their six-week funk Saturday night when they host former teammates Jordan Fransoo, Dakota Conroy and the Victoria Royals (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff...the line of Kevin Sundher, Darian Dziurzynski and Alessio Bertaggia were pointless and a combined minus-eight in Friday's contest...the WHL is holding a Prospects Information Night on Monday, January 16th at Canad Inns Polo Park in Winnipeg. WHL Manager, Player Development and Recruitment will be making a presentation on the benefits of playing in the WHL. The session begins at 6:30 p.m.

Wheat Kings' Lineup vs Red Deer (January 13, 2012)

2012-01-13T18:47:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Curtis Honey

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 32. Ryley Miller
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 16. Mark Stone - 8. Brenden Walker
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 29. Kevin Sundher - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 24. Jens Meilleur
14. Jason Swyripa - 20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- Corbin Boes (broken hand), Tyrel Seaman (suspected concussion) and Dylan Kuczek (healthy) are Brandon's scratches. The Wheat Kings' lineup doesn't change from Wednesday's alignment vs. Saskatoon, including the line combinations.

- Some interesting stats to consider - Brandon is 6-11-0-0 in their last 17 games. During that time, they've scored the first goal of the game five times, and outshot their opposition six times.

- Throw out the 11-goal outburst in Prince Albert last Saturday and the Wheat Kings have scored a total of nine goals in their last six games (that would be 20 in their last seven overall).

- Devan Dubyk is 4-3-2 with a 2.57 GAA and .918 SPCT since joining the Rebels in mid-December. He's started every game since arriving in Red Deer, with tonight's contest in Brandon is 10th straight start.

- Dubyk was originally an 11th round pick of Brandon in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft and seems to enjoy playing against the Wheat Kings. Throw out his rookie season of 2008-09, when he played on an aweful 19-win Moose Jaw team, and he is 5-1 lifetime against Brandon including a 48 save effort in the Warriors 4-3 win in Brandon back on September 23rd.

- Minnedosa product and former Yellowhead Chief Chad Robinson has four goals and 24 points in 41 games with Red Deer in his sophmore season. His last goal came November 26 vs. Medicine Hat.

Nikkel Poised for more D Time

2012-01-13T07:52:00.000-06:00

Ayrton Nikkel

Brandon's acquisition of Kevin Sundher will have an impact on the Wheat Kings' blueline.

With Jordan Fransoo dealt as part of the package for Sundher, rookies Ayrton Nikkel and Dylan Kuczek should be in the lineup as defencemen on a more regular basis.

"It's pretty exciting for me to get more ice time, but you never really want any of your friends or teammates to go," said Nikkel after Thursday's practice, "Some things have to happen. It was good for me...I'm looking forward to the second half."

Nikkel played in 28 games prior to the deal but only a handful were on the blueline, with the rest coming as a winger as the club filled out its forward ranks because of injuries and/or suspensions.

"I was just really trying to stay in the lineup. I would have taken forward, just getting in and playing with everyone and getting into the game was good," said Nikkel, "I kept watching guys like Melnychuk, Miller and all the D-Men, just watching them and trying to stay into D and learning. I got a couple of practices but it was pretty tough...watching a lot of the guys helped."

Nikkel has two goal, three points and a minus-six rating in 29 games this season -- numbers that could improve with the expected additional ice time over the remaining 30 games of the regular season.

"I have to learn to be patient. After watching some video, I realize that I have more time than I think I do," said Nikkel when asked what he feels could be his biggest area of improvement, "Just being poised and being patient and trying to stay on my feet a little bit."

The Wheat Kings host the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night.

Brandon is sitting five points ahead of Red Deer for eighth-place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Chaff...G Corbin Boes' recovery from a broken hand is going better than expected, and he could return to the lineup within the next 10 days...F Tyrel Seaman still isn't practicing as he continues to recover from a suspected concussion...Alessio Bertaggia and Mark Stone were both given the day off practice on Thursday. The duo will be honoured prior to Friday's game for their accomplishments at the World Junior Hockey Championship...Stone spent Thursday evening signing autographs and meeting fans at Murray Chev Cadillac Buick GMC in Brandon.

McCrimmon Talks Trade Deadline

2012-01-12T12:08:00.000-06:00

Brandon Wheat Kings' GM Kelly McCrimmon joined me in the second intermission of Wednesday night's broadcast to talk about the WHL trade deadline including how it may have changed over the 23 years he's been on the job.

Moodie, Blades Blank Brandon

2012-01-12T07:49:00.001-06:00

Saskatoon's Alex Moodie made 37 saves
for his first career WHL shutout

Alex Moodie made 37 saves to lead the Saskatoon Blades to a 2-0 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday night.

Lukas Sutter and Darren Dietz scored the goals for the Blades, who handed Brandon their fourth loss in the past five games.

"We had enough chances. The other night, they all went in. Tonight, for whatever reason...obviously, the goaltender played well but we weren't as sharp as we needed to be around the net," said Brandon coach Cory Clouston on CKLQ post-game show, "He made a couple of saves that he didn't see and had a little bit of lady luck on his side. I wouldn't have thought that if we fired 37 shots at him and with the quality of chances that we had that we wouldn't have scored a goal."

Part of the reason for the goose egg was a Wheat Kings' power-play that went 0-for-6 including a 5-on-3 opportunity to open the third period.

"We just didn't pull the trigger and didn't execute the way we needed to and a couple of poor decisions," said Clouston, "That would have been a huge momentum shift if we could have scored on that."

Kevin Sundher made his Wheat Kings' debut Wednesday

Brandon Anderson made 27 saves in the Wheat Kings' net in a contest that also featured the Brandon debut of centre Kevin Sundher.

"I wasn't making plays that I like to make. I'm a little bit tired, I can tell," said Sundher, "I just going to get ready (Thursday), practice hard and start building some chemistry with these guys. There's some very smart players here and I'm really looking forward to moving on with these guys."

The loss leaves Brandon with a 22-18-1-1 record and in eighth-place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind seventh-place Calgary and five points ahead of ninth-place Red Deer.

The Rebels visit the Wheat Kings on Friday night (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff...Brandon captain and Canadian Junior team member Mark Stone will be Murray Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC from 5 - 7 p.m. today to sign autographs...former Wheat King Jason Chimera continues to build on his career year. Chimera scored his 14th goal of the season in helping the Washington Capitals to a 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in NHL action on Wednesday night.

Wheat Kings' Lineup vs Saskatoon (January 11, 2012)

2012-01-11T18:13:00.001-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Curtis Honey

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 32. Ryley Miller
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 16. Mark Stone - 8. Brenden Walker
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 29. Kevin Sundher - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 24. Jens Meilleur
14. Jason Swyripa - 20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- Kevin Sundher makes his Wheat Kings' debut and, as expected, will centre a line between Darian Dziurzynski and Alessio Bertaggia while the Ferland, Walker, Stone trio stays together.

- Mark Stone is listed as a centre tonight, which is a subtle change although he took the majority of the faceoffs for the line this past weekend.

- Ryley Miller returns to the lineup after missing Saturday's game with illness. The veteran defenceman is minus-9 in the last three games he's played.

- Wheat Kings' goaltender Brandon Anderson was a teammate of Kevin Sundher on the Burnanby Winter Club team that won the Western Canadian Bantam AAA title in 2007.

- Saskatoon is missing G Andrey Makarov (suspected concussion) so Winnipeg product Alex Moodie starts in goal. Josh Nicholls (knee), Kyle Haas (upper body) and Tommy Stipancik are also scratched.

- Lukas Sutter, Locke Muller and Ryan Olsen are all back in the Blades' lineup tonight after missing Saturday's home game against Regina for reportedly violating team rules.

- If you're listening to the broadcast tonight, I talked with Kevin Sundher (again) for our pre-game show while Brandon GM Kelly McCrimmon will be our guest during the second intermission to talk a little bit more about the WHL trade deadline.

CSS Releases Midterm Rankings

2012-01-11T10:05:00.000-06:00

Tyrel Seaman was #50 among NA skaters in the
NHL CSS Midterm rankings

The NHL Central Scouting Service released its midterm rankings for the 2012 draft today.

Two members of the Brandon Wheat Kings were included on the list, with Tyrel Seaman ranking 50th among North American skaters while Alessio Bertaggia was ranked 122nd.

Seaman has missed 13 of the last 14 games because of concussions but the 6-foot-2, 196 pound centre has six goals and 17 points in 28 games this season.

Bertaggia is ranked among the North Americans because he is playing in the CHL this season and the 5-foot-7 1/2, 160 pound Swiss import has 18 goals and 36 points in 37 games this season.

Curiously, Brandon goaltender Corbin Boes was not among the 36 North American goaltenders ranked by the CSS after being ranked #5 among WHL netminders in November's preliminary rankings.

As far as other WHLers are concerned, Everett's Ryan Murray was #3, Moose Jaw's Morgan Rielly was #5, Mathew Dumba of Red Deer was #7, Griffin Reinhart of Edmonton was #8 and Portland's Derrick Pouliot was #10.

The top-rated WHL forward was Kelowna's Colton Sissons at #14 while the top WHL goaltender was Saskatoon's Andrey Makarov at #8.

For the complete NHL Central Scouting Service rankings, click here.

Stone Set to Play Wednesday

2012-01-10T18:18:00.001-06:00

After it was originally expected that Mark Stone would miss Wednesday's home game against Saskatoon for some R & R at home in Winnipeg, the Wheat Kings announced late Tuesday that their captain would be in the lineup for the start of their three-game home stand.

It'll be Stone's first appearance before the home crowd since returning from the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship with a bronze medal.

Alessio Bertaggia and Ayrton Nikkel was also be playing at home for the first time since their International tournaments.

Bertaggia helped Switzerland to an 8th-place finish at the WJHC while Nikkel played with Team Pacific at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

One player who won't be in action Wednesday is Tyrel Seaman, who missed practice again on Tuesday and continues to be sidelined by a suspected concussion.

The second-year centre has missed 13 of the last 14 games.

Sundher Deal Lone Trade for Wheat Kings

2012-01-10T17:28:00.000-06:00

The acquisition of centre Kevin Sundher from the Victoria Royals on Monday night turned out to be the only deal completed by the Brandon Wheat Kings prior to Tuesday's WHL trade deadline.

The Wheat Kings sent defenceman Jordan Fransoo, forward Dakota Conroy and a first round pick in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft to the Royals for the high-scoring Sundher.

Several moves were completed by other WHL teams on Tuesday, with the major moves being:

- Portland acquiring C Marcel Noebels from the Seattle Thunderbirds for Seth Swenson and first round picks in 2012 and 2013.

- The Moose Jaw Warriors acquired F James Henry, 20, from the Vancouver Giants for 2nd in 2012 and 3rd in 2014.

- The Regina Pats got D Martin Marancin, 19, and three mid-round draft picks from the Prince George Cougars for D Ricard Blidstrand, 19, and 1st, 2nd and 5th round picks.

- The Tri-City Americans acquired the rights to Brett Connolly, 19, for a 5th round pick, plus conditional 1st and 2nd round picks.

For the complete breakdown of the WHL trade deadline deals, click here...

Sundher Looking Forward to Being a Wheat King

2012-01-10T12:50:00.000-06:00

The Western Hockey League trade deadline is at 4:00 p.m. today (CST).

I had a chance to talk to the newest member of the Brandon Wheat Kings, Kevin Sundher, on Tuesday morning as he was en route to the Wheat City.

Sundher a Wheat King

2012-01-10T07:22:00.000-06:00

Kevin Sundher

The Brandon Wheat Kings didn't wait unti Tuesday's deadline to pull the trigger on a major deal.

The Wheat Kings have acquired centre Kevin Sundher from the Victoria Royals for two players and a draft pick.

Sundher was a third round pick of Buffalo in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, signing an entry-level contract with the Sabres in December.

He is currently seventh in the Western Hockey League in scoring with 64 points

18-year old defenceman Jordan Fransoo, 17-year old forward Dakota Conroy and a first round pick in the 2012 Bantam Draft are headed to Victoria in the deal.

Sundher is expected to make his Wheat Kings' debut Wednesday night when Brandon hosts the Saskatoon Blades.

I caught up to Wheat Kings' general manager Kelly McCrimmon early Tuesday morning to discuss the Sundher deal.

Assessing Some of Brandon's Assets

2012-01-09T14:28:00.001-06:00

The Western Hockey League trade deadline is Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. (CST).

With that in mind, here's a look at the Brandon Wheat Kings' current draft pick allotment.

Thanks to Alan Caldwell (Small Thoughts at Large) for helping with some of the information.

2012 Bantam Draft
1st Round
1st Round (from Saskatoon for F Brayden Schenn, January of 2011)
2nd Round (to Saskatoon for F Darian Dziurzynski, October of 2011)
3rd Round (to Saskatoon with F Brayden Schenn, January of 2011)
3rd Round (from Lethbridge along with Anderson for Liston/Galbraith, October of 2011)
4th Round
4th Round (from Vancouver along with F Matt MacKay for D Darren Bestland in January, 2011)
5th Round
5th Round (from Spokane for F Carter Proft, November of 2011 (either ’12 or ‘13))
6th Round
6th Round (from Lethbridge along with Anderson for Liston/Galbraith, October of 2011)
6th Round (from Prince George for G Ty Rimmer, October of 2010)
7th Round
8th Round
9th Round
10th Round

2013 Bantam Draft
1st Round
2nd Round (to Saskatoon for F Darian Dziurzynski, October of 2011)
3rd Round
4th Round
5th Round
5th Round (from Spokane for F Carter Proft, November of 2011 (either ’12 or ’13)
6th Round (to Regina for F Hampus Gustafsson, October of 2011)
7th Round
8th Round
9th Round
10th Round

2014 Bantam Draft
1st Round
2nd Round
3rd Round (to Saskatoon for F Darian Dziurzynski, October of 2011)
4th Round
5th Round
6th Round
7th Round
8th Round
9th Round
10th Round

Interviews with International Duty Players

2012-01-08T15:30:00.000-06:00

Wheat Kings Bomb Raiders

2012-01-08T05:41:00.000-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings broke a three-game losing streak in convincing fashion on Saturday night, downing the Prince Albert Raiders 11-3.

Darian Dziurzynski had two goals and two assists for Brandon while Michael Ferland and Jens Meilleur also scored a pair of goals each for the Wheat Kings.

Ferland and Eric Roy scored power-play goals 1:36 apart midway through the second period to snap a 2-2 tie and the Wheat Kings never looked back, leading 5-3 through 40 minutes before scoring six unanswered goals in the third period.

Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie thought the back-to-back power-play goals were key in the win.

“Our power-play was a lot better tonight. We went 2-for-5 on it and we had such good movement and quality chances,” said Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “I know, lately, it hasn’t been great but to get two goals tonight and timely goals when we got them, that was key.”

Brandon set the tone early in the first period with Michael Ferland and Mark Stone both laying solid checks on the opening shift, a contrast to Friday’s 4-1 loss when the Raiders seemed to initiate a lot of the physical play.

The Wheat Kings took advantage, with Paul Ciarelli and Meilleur giving Brandon a 2-0 lead before the game was two minutes old.

“I thought right on the first shift Mike had a great hit, and then Stoner,” said Ritchie, “It just leads into everybody hitting, everybody going and gets momentum on your team. I thought everybody bought in tonight and did a good job of it.”

Alessio Bertaggia, Dakota Conroy and Daniel Asham also scored for the Wheat Kings, who got points from 16 of their 18 skaters on the night.

Brandon (22-17-1-1) returns to action Wednesday night when they open a three-game home stand by hosting the Saskatoon Blades (7:00 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff…Brandon captain Mark Stone had a pair of assists Saturday to push his season point total to 68…prior to Saturday’s game, the Wheat Kings had scored nine goals in their previous five games combined…the Everett Silvertips dealt F Jesse Mychan, 19, to the Tri-City Americans on Saturday for a fourth round pick in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft…the WHL trade deadline is at 4:00 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday.

Brandon Lineup at Prince Albert (January 7, 2012)

2012-01-07T18:14:00.001-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Curtis Honey

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 5. Jordan Fransoo
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 14. Jason Swyripa - 24. Jens Meilleur
26. Dakota Conroy - 20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- D Ryley Miller (illness) is out tonight for Brandon along with G Corbin Boes (hand), F Tyrel Seaman (suspected concussion) and D Dylan Kuczek (healthy).

- The Wheat Kings haven't had the greatest of starts as of late, scoring first in just five of their last 19 games. One of the keys for them to get out of their slide, IMHO, is to became instigate more physical play and be the agressors, rather than being reactive.

- One of the amazing stats in my study earlier today (see below) is the fact the Wheat Kings have only led for a grand total of 30:10 in their ten losses since November 20th, more than half of which was in one game. It's tough sledding when you have to try and come from behind night after night after night. By the way, during their current three-game losing streak, Brandon has not held a lead.

- Brandon product Carson Perreaux (shoulder) missed his eighth straight game for the Raiders but did skate earlier today and is close to being healthy enough to return to the lineup.

- The Raiders take a seven game home-ice winning streak into tonight's contest.

Brandon's Slide - a Statistical Analysis

2012-01-07T13:20:00.001-06:00

As I sit in my hotel room in Prince Albert and ponder what has led to the Wheat Kings' 5-10-0-0 record in their last 15 games, I thought some statistical analyst might be helpful.

I'm not 100 per cent sure what to make of these numbers, but here they are none-the-less:

First 25 Games of the season:
Record: 16-7-1-1
Goals For: 110 (4.40 per game)
Goals Against: 85 (3.40 per game)
Power-Play: 31.1% (37-for-119)
Penalty-Kill: 74.5% (79-for-106)
Scored First: 13 Times
Shots Against: 794 (31.8 per game)
Goaltenders Combined SPCT: .893
Shots For: 847 (33.9 per game)
Outshot Opponents: 13 times

Last 15 games of the season:
Record: 5-10-0-0
Goals For: 46 (3.07 per game)
Goals Against: 66 (4.40 per game)
Power-Play: 15.7% (8-for-51)
Penalty-Kill: 76.0% (38-for-50)
Scored First: 4 Times
Shots Against: 540 (36.0 per game)
Goaltenders Combined SPCT: .878
Shots For: 465 (31.0 per game)
Outshot Opponents: 4 times

Here's some other interesting notes I discovered on my deep venture into hockey sabermetrics.

Since beating Moose Jaw 7-6 in overtime on November 20th, Brandon has had a lead in just seven of the 15 games they've played.

In those 15 games, they've played with the lead for a total of 195 minutes and 48 seconds but, in the ten losses in that stretch, they've played with the lead for a grand total of 30 minutes and 10 seconds (18:34 of that was in the 7-6 home-ice loss to the Warriors on November 25th when they had a 6-4 lead after two periods).

Like I said, I'm not 100 per cent sure what it all means other than the fact that, statisically, Brandon's play over the last 15 games matches their record.

Wheat Kings Continue Losing Ways

2012-01-06T23:56:00.000-06:00

Mark Stone had an assist in his return to Brandon's
lineup on Friday night

Justin Maylan had a goal and two assists to pace the Prince Albert Raiders to an 4-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday night.

Maylan’s goal with 17.7 seconds left in the second period gave the Raiders a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes after the teams had been scoreless after the opening period.

“I thought we were starting to come there at the end of the second and we had some great chances and then the turnover and they score,” said Wheat Kings’ assistant coach Darren Ritchie, “Any time you give a team a goal in the last minute of the period, it gives them momentum and I thought, in the third, we really didn’t sustain anything.”

Kellan Tochkin, Jonas Knutsen and Mike Winther also scored for the Raiders while Michael Ferland scored the lone goal for Brandon.

Prince Albert seemed to impose themselves physically on the Wheat Kings, who had little push back for those tactics for much of the night.

Cole Holowenko made 29 saves in the Raiders’ net while Curtis Honey stopped 33 of 37 shots in his first career Western Hockey League start.

“I thought Curtis played really well. He made a great save early on the first period and from then on, I thought he was real solid,” said Ritchie, “He gave us the opportunity to win the hockey game tonight and that’s what you ask of your goaltenders.”

The loss was Brandon’s third in a row and 10th in their last 15 games, dropping the Wheat Kings to 21-17-1-1 overall and sitting in eighth-place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

The Wheat Kings and Raiders will go it all over again on Saturday night in Prince Albert (6:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ or http://www.cklq.com/).

Chaff…Brandon went 0-for-5 on the power-play on Friday and are now 4-for-36 in their last ten games…D Brodie Melnychuk played his 286th career game on Friday, tying him with Kelly Smart for 10th-place on the Wheat Kings’ all-time list…Friday’s game was the 200th in the career of Brandon captain Mark Stone…Regina acquired D Luke Fenske, 18, from Vancouver on Friday for a 3rd round pick in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft…Swift Current dealt D Tanner Muth, 18, to Kootenay on Friday for F Adam Rossignol, 18…the WHL trade deadline is Tuesday (January 10th) at 4:00 p.m. (CST).

Brandon lineup at Prince Albert (January 6, 2012)

2012-01-06T18:23:00.003-06:00

Mark Stone holds up his bronze medal from the the
2012 World Junior Hockey Championship after arriving
at Saskatoon airport earlier today.

Goaltenders
35. Curtis Honey
33. Brandon Anderson

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 5. Jordan Fransoo
7. Eric Roy - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 14. Jason Swyripa - 24. Jens Meilleur
26. Dakota Conroy - 20. Daniel Asham - 18. Bruno Mraz

Notes
- Brandon scratches F Tyrel Seaman (suspected concussion), G Corbin Boes (broken hand), D Dylan Kuczek (healthy) and D Ayrton Nikkel (healthy).
- G Curtis Honey gets his first career WHL start in goal for Brandon. The 17-year old Honey has made a pair of relief appearances since joining the Wheat Kings after Christmas.

- Don't let the 13-point difference in the standings fool you. This is an important weekend for the Wheat Kings, having back-to-back lopsided losses and have going 5-9-0-0 in their last 14 games has dropped Brandon into eighth-place in the Eastern Conference and, all of a sudden, they can see teams in the rear-view mirror rather than looking at moving up in the standings. Red Deer sits ninth, seven points behind Brandon with two games in hand.

- The Raiders have lost two straight after a five-game winning streak and going 8-1-0-1 in their previous 10 games. They've, at the very least, gotten themselves back into the conversation when it comes to the playoffs.

- Brandon product Carson Perreaux misses his seventh straight game with a shoulder injury for the Raiders.

Stone, Bertaggia, Nikkel Back in Lineup Friday

2012-01-05T23:09:00.000-06:00

Bertaggia celebrates his only goal of the WJHC
Photo: JC Pinheiro / HHOF-IIHF Images

The Brandon Wheat Kings will get some reinforcements Friday night when they open a weekend doubleheader in Prince Albert.

Mark Stone is expected to join the team on Friday after helping Canada to a bronze medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Alberta while Alessio Bertaggia re-joined his Brandon teammates on Thursday night.

Bertaggia had one goal and four points in six games with Switzerland at the World Junior Hockey Championship, helping the Swiss to an eighth-place finish.

“I think it’s a good experience to learn and, hopefully, next year will be better and we can get into the medal round,” said Bertaggia on Thursday night, “For me, I think I improved every game. I didn’t play that good the first game but I think it went better after the Sweden game.”

Bertaggia had 17 goals and 34 points in 35 games with Brandon during the first half of the season and the 18-year old hopes to building on those numbers in the second half.

“Now I’m really excited to come back and play with Brandon,” said Bertaggia, “I’m happy to see the guys and I hope the team is going to have a good second part of the season and get into a good spot for the playoffs.”

In addition to Stone and Bertaggia, the Wheat Kings will also get Ayrton Nikkel back after he helped Team Pacific to a fifth-place finish at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Windsor, Ontario.

Brandon is trying to break a two-game losing streak after back-to-back blowout losses to Edmonton and Saskatoon.

The two games mark the first time since March of 1999 that Brandon had surrendered at least 15 goals against in back-to-back games.

Chaff… Brandon is just 4-for-31 (12.9%) on the power-play in their last nine games…D Brodie Melnychuk will play his 286th career game on Friday, tying him with Kelly Smart for 10th-place on the Wheat Kings’ all-time list…F Mark Stone will play his 200th career WHL game on Friday.

Marty Murray Talks '94, '95 WJHC, Minot Minotauros

2012-01-04T10:39:00.001-06:00

Former Brandon Wheat Kings' captain Marty Murray was among the players Hockey Canada invited to Calgary this week for a reunion of Canada’s National Junior Team alumni.

The reunion celebrated and commemorated the 30th year anniversary of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence.

Marty Murray joined Tyler Crayston and myself on this week's edition of 880, CKLQ's Monday Sports Talk to discuss the reunion, the 1994 and 1995 WJHC (he won gold medals both years) and his current job as head coach of the Minot Minotauros of the NAHL.

You notice that on the picture of Marty's hockey card above that it says three-time World Champion.

That's because he also played for Canada when they won gold at the 1999 World Hockey Championship.

Canada Won't Go for Gold

2012-01-04T07:47:00.001-06:00

Canada won't be playing for gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship for the first time since 2001.

Russia jumped out to a 6-1 lead and held on for a 6-5 win over Canada in semifinal action last night.

Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone was held pointless for the first time in the tournament.

Canada will face Finland in tomorrow's bronze medal game while Russia will play Sweden for gold.

Here's some stories on last night's game to check out:

Terry Jones (Edmonton Sun)

Scott Fisher (Calgary Sun)

Randy Turner (Winnipeg Free Press)

Canadian Press

----------------------------------------------------

Josh Morrissey of the Prince Albert Raiders scored a power-play goal 3:12 into overtime as Team Pacific beat Quebec 5-4 in the fifth-place game at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Wheat Kings' rookie Ayrton Nikkel was held off the scoresheet and finished the tournament pointless in five games.

Meanwhile, Team West was winless at the tournament, falling 6-3 to Germany in yesterday's ninth-place game.

Wheat Kings Take It to the ODR

2012-01-03T14:56:00.000-06:00

It was a break from the usual rigors of practice for the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday.

The club spent just under an hour playing a little 3-on-3 shinny on an outdoor rink at the West End Community Centre in Brandon.

It was old hat for forward Michael Ferland, who grew up honing his skills on Brandon's outdoor rinks.

"It's always was a thing I did when I was younger and I still love it," said Ferland after the shinny session, "It's fun to do stuff like this. To get all the guys together and get on the rink out here is a lot of fun."

"I practiced a lot, with my minor hockey, we practiced on the outdoor rink all the time," added Ste. Anne, Manitoba product Brenden Walker, "I had a pond in my back yard that we used to play on. I've grown up playing on outdoor rinks and really enjoyed it."

The Wheat Kings' experience also included the players from the 'losing team' having to scrape the ice with shovels midway through the ice session.

As you might expect, the Wheat Kings attracted a bit of an audience, mainly a group of about 20 kids from a local day care close to the Community Centre, and the club spent some time signing some autographs afterward.

Dziurzynski Named Wheat Kings' POM

2012-01-03T11:53:00.002-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings' Tip Top Tailors Player of the Month for December is Darian Dziurzynski.

Dziurzynski had a team-high seven goals and nine points in nine games last month including three power-play goals and a pair of shorthanded goals.

The 20-year old has 19 goals and 27 points in 28 games with Brandon since being acquired from Saskatoon on October 16th.

Stone Set for Semifinal

2012-01-03T07:23:00.002-06:00

Brandon Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone and Team Canada continue their quest for gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship on Tuesday night.

Canada will look for redemption when they face off with Russia in semifinal action in Calgary.

The Russians scored five unanswered third period goals to beat Canada 5-3 in last year's gold medal game.

I had a chance to catch up to Mark Stone on Monday afternoon...

Also on the International Hockey scene, Wheat Kings' rookie Ayrton Nikkel and Team Pacific won't earn a medal at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Windsor, Ontario.

Pacific dropped a 4-2 decision to the United States in their final round-robin game Monday and finish third in Group B.

They'll play Quebec in the fifth-place game on Tuesday.

Team West finished the preliminary round with an 0-and-4 record and will face Germany in Tuesday's ninth-place game.

--------------------------------------------------

One other quick thing this morning. I got a note with a little more information about Kyler Hehn's outstanding Mac's Midget Tournament.

Hehn earned two MVP game player awards, was named to the Mac's first All-Star team and was the tournament Most Sportsmanlike Player.

A seventh round pick of Brandon in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, Hehn had four goals and 12 points in six games at the Mac's for the St. Albert Raiders.

Bertaggia, Schenn Score - No Pickard

2012-01-02T16:01:00.001-06:00

Sorry to disappoint everyone that was visiting the blog today, looking for information on the big Calvin Pickard trade.

If I've learned anything in the 19 years of broadcasting the Wheat Kings it's that most rumours are just that, rumours.

Anyways, a quick update for today. Alessio Bertaggia scored a goal in Switzerland's 4-3 win over Denmark this afternoon at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Calgary -- his first of the tournament. I think he was pretty happy -- what do you think?

Photo: JC Pinheiro / HHOF-IIHF Images

Bertaggia also set up the overtime winner by Tanner Richard and now has one goal and four points in five games at the tournament. The Swiss win guarantees them at least eighth-place and a spot in the 2013 World Junior Hockey Championship in Ufa, Russia.

Meanwhile, former Wheat Kings' captain Brayden Schenn scored his first career NHL goal in this afternoon's NHL Winter Classic between the Flyers and New York Rangers in Philadelphia. Congrats to him.

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Blades Drop Wheat Kings on Opening Day of 2012

2012-01-01T19:58:00.000-06:00

Daniel Asham had one of Brandon's
two goals on New Year's Day

The Brandon Wheat Kings opened 2012 the same way they closed 2011, with a lopsided loss.

Matej Stransky had his first career hat-trick plus an assist as the Saskatoon Blades beat the Wheat Kings 8-2 on New Year’s Day.

One major difference between Sunday’s game and Friday’s 7-1 home-ice loss to Edmonton – Brandon was never really in the game in Saskatoon.

“I think we’ll have their attention now. I think whatever we start talking about, I think we’ll have their attention,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “It’s something that has to be addressed and we have a week here to things turned around, and we will.”

Dalton Thrower added a goal and three assists for the Blades, who have scored 17 goals in winning back-to-back games after scoring just 26 in their previous 12 contests – 10 of those losses.

Rookie Daniel Asham scored his first goal since October 1st and Dominick Favreau added his fifth of the season for the Wheat Kings.

The goaltender duo of Brandon Anderson and Curtis Honey combined to stop just 21 of 29 shots, with each giving up four goals.

The loss was the Wheat Kings’ tenth in their last 16 games (6-10-0-0) and dropped Brandon to fourth-place in the East Division and seventh-place in the Eastern Conference.

Brandon’s next action is Friday when they visit the Prince Albert Raiders.

Chaff…16-year old callup Tim McGauley ended his three-game stint with the Wheat Kings Sunday. He was pointless, but Ritchie felt he might have been their best player in Sunday’s loss to Saskatoon…Wheat Kings’ captain Mark Stone and Team Canada will see their next action at the World Junior Hockey Championship on Tuesday when they face either Russia or the Czech Republic in a semifinal…Alessio Bertaggia and Switzerland are playing in the relegation round starting with Monday’s game against Denmark…former Wheat Kings’ captain Shayne Wiebe was granted his release by the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps over the week. He is slated to join the University of New Brunswick Reds.

This is an oil painting of Mark Stone that was displayed in the Molson House in

Edmonton during the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Thanks to Wanda Hayes (Andrew’s Mom) for sending it to me.

Wheat Kings' Lineup at Saskatoon (January 1, 2012)

2012-01-01T15:23:00.001-06:00

Wheat Kings' Prospect Thrives at Mac's Midget Tournament

2011-12-31T11:32:00.005-06:00

Kyler Hehn (#17 in Blue) had a good Mac's Tourney

Kyler Hehn has a seventh round pick of the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft but has certainly made a name for himself in the 20 months that have followed.

Hehn and the St. Albert Sports Raiders qualified for the quarter-finals at the Mac's Midget Tournament in Calgary with a perfect 4-and-0 round-robin record.

Hehn has two goals and six assists for eight points in those four round-robin games.

He added two goals and an assist in the Raiders 6-5 win over the Beardy's Blackhawks in the quarter-final and had an assist in St. Albert's 3-2 loss to Russia Severstal/Locomotiv in the semifinals.

Hehn is currently sitting 11th in the Alberta AAA Midget Hockey League in scoring with nine goals and 27 points in 25 games.

Six other Wheat Kings' prospects played with their teams at the Mac's Tournament, although none of their squads qualified for the playoffs.

Mitch Collett (Calgary Royals) – 4 GP 1-0-1 Royals were 2-1-1

Jordan Papirny (SSAC Athletics) – 2 GP, 3.00 GAA (57 Shots, 51 Saves). SSAC was 2-1-1

John Quenneville (SSAC Athletics) – 4 GP 1-3-4 SSAC was 2-1-1

Taylor Cooper (Sherwood Park Kings) – 1 GP 1-1-2 Kings were 0-3-1
Note: Cooper missed the final three games of the round-robin with an upper body injury.

Tyler Fuhr (Sherwood Park Kings) – 1 GP, 5.00 GAA (35 Shots, 30 Saves) Kings are 0-3-1

Kord Pankewicz (Leduc Oil Kings) - 4 GP 3-3-6 Oil Kings are 2-2-0

Wheat Kings Stumble in Loss to Oil Kings

2011-12-31T02:35:00.000-06:00

Laurent Brossoit stole the show Friday,
stopping 41 shots in Edmonton's win
over Brandon.

Laurent Brossoit stopped 41 shots to lead the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 7-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday night.

Michael St. Croix had two goals and an assist and Dylan Wruck a goal and two helpers to pace the Oil Kings offence and help the Eastern Conference leaders to their 13th win in their last 15 games.

The score likely wasn't indicative of the play for at least 40 minutes but the Oil Kings still found themselves leading 3-0 and 5-0 at the period breaks.

"The first 40 minutes we outchanced them, outplayed them, outworked them and we were down 5-0," said Brandon coach Cory Clouston on CKLQ's post-game show, "We didn't score on our chances in the second period when we put a lot of pressure on them and they came down and scored two late ones."

"I thought we had a pretty good game. We just weren't physical from the puck drop but give them credit, they came into our building and they got some goals," said Brandon centre Paul Ciarelli, who scored the only goal for the Wheat Kings, "I think from that standpoint, we have to make sure that doesn't happen again in our building."

The loss leaves the Wheat Kings tied with Regina for second-place in the East Division, six points behind front-running Moose Jaw.

Brandon is back in action on New Year's Day, visiting the Saskatoon Blades (3:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ).

Chaff...Curtis Honey made his WHL debut on Friday, stopping 10 of 12 shots in the third period after relieving Brandon starter Brandon Anderson...Wheat Kings' F Alessio Bertaggia notched his first points of the World Juniors Friday, drawing an assist in Switzerland's 5-3 victory over Latvia...Wawanesa product Jordan Thomson scored his first career WHL goal in Kamloops' 6-3 loss to Calgary on Friday night...former Wheat King Spencer Galbraith sat out Lethbridge's 3-2 loss to Medicine Hat on Friday night because of a concussion.

Brandon Lineup vs Edmonton (December 30, 2011)

2011-12-30T18:41:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Curtis Honey

Defencemen
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 5. Jordan Fransoo
7. Eric Roy - 9. Rene Hunter

Forwards
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 14. Jason Swyripa
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 26. Dakota Conroy
22. Dominick Favreau - 18. Bruno Mraz - 24. Jens Meilleur
12. Dylan Kuczek - 23. Tim McGauley - 20. Daniel Asham

Notes
- Brandon scratches do including F Tyrel Seaman (upper body), G Corbin Boes (hand), F Mark Stone (Cdn Jr. Team), F Alessio Bertaggia (Swiss Jr. Team) and Ayrton Nikkel (Team Pacific, World U17). Brandon Anderson makes his sixth straight start in goal for the Wheat Kings.

- The Oil Kings are missing six players who are either at the WJHC or the World U17 Hockey Challenge including captain Mark Pysyk, who is playing with the Canadian team. Kristians Pelss (Latvia) and Martin Gernat (Slovakia) are also at World Jrs while Curtis Lazar, Tristan Jarry and Mason Geertsen are all with Team Pacific at the U17's.

- One of the keys for the Wheat Kings will be limiting the offensive opportunities for the Oil Kings' line of Tyler Maxwell, Michael St. Croix and Dylan Wruck. The threesome has combined for 77 points in the 13 games Maxwell has played since joining Edmonton in a trade with the Everett Silvertips.

Swyripa Settling Into Stone's Spot

2011-12-30T07:45:00.001-06:00

Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone continued his torrid pace at the World Juniors Thursday night, notching two goals and an assist in Canada's 10-2 win over Denmark.

The victory improved Canada's record to 3-and-0 heading into their New Year's Eve showdown with the United States.

Stone now has six goals and seven points in three tournament games, goals in seven straight games or scrimmages while with the Canadian team, and in 25 of his last 31 games if you include his November and December hot streak with Brandon.

Stone also appeared to suffer a bit of a hand injury in the second period of Thursday's contest but did finish the game.

By the way, the record for goals in a single tournament by a Canadian player was set by John Anderson, who had 11 in 1977.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Jason Swyripa

While Mark Stone is busy scoring at the World Juniors, Jason Swyripa is, figuratively, trying to fill his skates with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Swyripa is patrolling the wing on a line with Brenden Walker and Michael Ferland, which is Stone's usual spot in the lineup.

"You have more confidence playing with those guys, knowing they're going to make the play," said the second-year forward after Thursday's practice, "You kind of feed off their level of play and it helps out your game."

The 18-year old Calgary product, who has played 109 consecutive games since joining the Wheat Kings at the start of last season, is also penalty-killing for the first time in his WHL career.

"It's more ice time for me and I just want to go out there and help out the team," said Swyripa, "If penalty-kill is what the team is calling for, I'm happy to fill in."

Swyripa and new teammate Curtis Honey have something in common.

They were both MVP's of the prestigious Mac's Midget Tournament, which is being held this week in Calgary.

Swyripa earned the honour in 2009 when his UFA Bisons lost in the final while Honey and fellow Wheat King Dakota Conroy helped the SSAC Athletics win last year's title with Honey earning the 2010 MVP Award.

"It's a great tournament and something that you always look up to growing up," said Swyripa, "A lot of people come out and you have to work hard and bring your compete level every game or else you're out of the tournament."

Swyripa has bragging rights in thhe Brandon dressing room after his former team beat SSAC 6-4 on Thursday at the Mac's.

The Wheat Kings have seven prospects playing at the tournament including 2010 seventh round pick Kyler Hehn.

Hehn is among the tournament leaders in scoring with two goals and eight points in four games for the undefeated St. Albert Raiders.

Meanwhile, the Wheat Kings host the Eastern conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday night (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff...Wheat Kings' rookie Ayrton Nikkel and Team Pacific opened the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Windsor with a 5-2 win over Team West on Thursday. Nikkel was held off the scoresheet...the Red Deer Rebels were involved in a pair of trades on Thursday. Red Deer sent F Daulton Siwak and a third-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft to the Prince George Cougars for F Charles Inglis and also acquired D Devan Fafard and a seventh-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft from the Saskatoon Blades for D Matthew Pufahl and F Locke Muller...former Wheat King Aris Brimanis has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Hannover Indians (German Division Two).

Seaman Sidelined Again

2011-12-29T12:52:00.003-06:00

Tyrel Seaman

There could be bad news for the Brandon Wheat Kings on the injury front.

Tyrel Seaman missed practice today (Thursday) with an 'upper body' injury that was suffered late in the third period of last night's overtime victory over Regina.

It appears there may have been a whiplash affect on Seaman after he was on the back end of a domino collision involving defenceman Ryley Miller and Regina forward Jordan Weal.

Seaman seemed to be 'out of sorts' when he went to the bench after the collision.

His status for Friday's home game against the Edmonton Oil Kings is not known.

Seaman had just returned to the Brandon lineup Wednesday night after missing more than a month and nine games with a concussion.

-----------------------------------------------

Canada looks to improve to 3-and-0 tonight at the World Junior Hockey Championship when they faceoff with Denmark in Edmonton.

Wheat Kings' forward Mark Stone will try to continue his remarkable run.

Including the Canadian Team Selection Camp, Stone has scored a goal in six consecutive games or scrimmages and, including Brandon games, has scored in 24 of the last 30 games he's played.

-----------------------------------------------

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge opens for real tonight in Windsor.

Wheat Kings' rookie Ayrton Nikkel and Team Pacific face off with Team West in their opening game.

Nikkel was pointless in Pacific's 4-1 exhibition win over Sweden last night.

Miller Wheat Kings' OT Hero

2011-12-29T07:04:00.000-06:00

Brenden Walker had two goals and an assist in
Wednesday's victory

With Mark Stone and Alessio Bertaggia representing their countries at the World Junior Hockey Championship, the Brandon Wheat Kings knew they'd have to get offensive production from some different sources over the next ten days.

They probably didn't expect Ryley Miller to be one of those sources.

The fourth-year defenceman scored 1:23 into overtime as the Wheat Kings downed the Regina Pats 3-2 Wednesday night to open the second half of their WHL schedule.

Brenden Walker had two goals and an assist for the Wheat Kings while Michael Ferland set up all three Brandon goals.

"It was a great play by Mike there. He went around that D and set me up there and I just put it top shelf," said Walker in describing his two power-play goals, "The second one there, I was just such a quick play. I was wide open and I was yelling Mike, Mike, Mike. He got me the pass and I banged it home."

Special teams proved to be key for Brandon.

In addition to scoring twice on the power-play, the Wheat Kings were also a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty-kill.

"Overall, I thought our power-play was very good," said Brandon coach Cory Clouston on CKLQ's post-game show, "I thought our penalty-kill over the last three games, I don't think we've given up a goal. We're getting much better at that, and credit to the guys to going out there and executing."

Lane Scheidl scored both goals for Regina including one with 4:09 left in the third period that sent the game to overtime while Matt Hewitt made 28 saves in the Pats' net.

Brandon Anderson stopped 26 shots for the Wheat Kings.

Brandon remains six points behind Moose Jaw for first-place in the WHL's East Division after the Warriors edged Edmonton 4-3 in a shootout on Wednesday night.

The Oil Kings visit the Wheat Kings on Friday night (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff...the WHL trade freeze ended at midnight Wednesday and Prince Albert and Spokane were the first out of the game. The Raiders acquired Spokane’s leading scorer, Anthony Bardaro, goaltender Luke Lee-Knight and a fifth round pick in the 2012 bantam draft in exchange for goaltender Eric Williams and forward Todd Fiddler.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone was at it again on Wednesday night.

Stone opened the scoring at 5:37 into the first period and Canada went on to a 5-0 victory over the Czech Republic at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Alberta.

Stone also missed on a penalty shot attempt in the final minute of the first period.

Scott Wedgewood made 26 saves for Canada while Winnipeg Jets' draft pick Mark Scheifele scored a pair of goals.

Canada is 2-and-0 and plays Denmark Thursday night in Edmonton.

In other games at the World Juniors on Wednesday, Sweden got by Switzerland 4-3 in a shootout.

Alessio Bertaggia of the Wheat Kings was held off the scoresheet for the Swiss.

The other two games saw Russia beat Slovakia 3-1 and Finland upset the United States 4-1.

Meanwhile, Wednesday was a tuneup day for teams at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Windsor, Ontario.

Wheat Kings' rookie Ayrton Nikkel and Team Pacific defeated Sweden 4-1 in their pre-tournament game while Team West and Germany played to a 4-4 tie in their exhibition contest.

Team Pacific and Team West meet Thursday night to open the round-robin.

Wheat Kings' Lineup vs Regina (December 27, 2011)

2011-12-28T18:28:00.002-06:00

Do You Think my Nephew Liked his Christmas Gifts?

2011-12-28T12:54:00.001-06:00

Seaman, Wheat Kings Set to Return

2011-12-28T07:26:00.002-06:00

Tyrel Seaman is set to
return Wednesday

Tyrel Seaman returns to the Brandon lineup Wednesday night when they host the Regina Pats to begin the second half of their season (7:00 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Seaman has been sidelined since November 25 but feels he's up to speed and ready to go.

"I'm doing good," said Seaman after practice Tuesday, "I skated pretty much every day at home there (during the Christmas break) at the old rink and got back into shape so I should be good to go."

Seaman's return from a concussion couldn't come at a better time for the Wheat Kings, who'll be missing Mark Stone and Alessio Bertaggia for at least the next ten days because of their commitments at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Seaman has six goals and 17 points in 27 games so far this season.

"Hopefully I'll be right back to where I was. I was playing well before I got hurt, I'd be good to go after it in a bigger role now. Might be seeing some power-play time now so have to contribute on that."

Seaman's return leaves only goaltender Corbin Boes (hand, indefinite) on the Wheat Kings' injury list though rookie defenceman Ayrton Nikkel is also away this week, playing with Team Pacific at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Windsor, Ontario.

Chaff...Wawanesa product Jordan Thomson made his WH: debut Tuesday, going pointless while playing forward for Kamloops in their 4-3 shootout loss to Vancouver...former Wheat King Ryan Stone has signed with Germany's Hamburg Freezers for the rest of the year after his release by mutual agreement by TPS Turku. Stone had six goals and 10 points in 25 games with Turko...the Moose Jaw Warriors have added former Wheat King Wheaton King to their roster to give them 12 forwards for their upcoming U.S. Division road trip. King has 30 points in 35 games with the SJHL's Kindersley Klippers this season...Wheat King prospects Jayce Hawryluk, Brett Kitt and Tyler Coulter were among the players named to participate in the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League All-Star game January 15 in Morden.

New Faces as Wheat Kings Return to Practice

2011-12-27T07:30:00.000-06:00

Curtis Honey practiced with the Wheat Kings for
the first time on Monday

There were a couple of new faces on the ice for the Brandon Wheat Kings in their first post-Christmas practice on Monday night.

16-year old Tim McGauley has re-joined the team for the next week while goaltender Curtis Honey went through his first full practice with the team.

McGauley played the first two games of the season with Brandon before being assigned to Notre Dame of the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League.

There, the 16-year old has 22 goals and 35 points in 25 games and sit eighth in league scoring.

"It'll be really nice to see how far I've come and see how I would play in the WHL," said McGauley on Monday, "I have my scoring confidence back, I have confidence with the puck now and I feel really comfortable now."

McGauley's tenure with the Wheat Kings is expected to be just for this week while Honey decided just before Christmas to join the Wheat Kings for the rest of the season.

That move from the Wheat Kings' standpoint was precipitated by the broken hand suffered by netminder Corbin Boes on December 8th.

"I went home on a Sunday and just kind of thought about it with my family," said the 5-foot-11, 170 pound Honey after Monday's practice, "From day one, since I was a kid, I've always wanted to play in the Western Hockey League. There's a great organization here and it was a no-brainer. You just have to go with your gut feeling and that seemed to be it, so."

Honey was listed by the Wheat Kings shortly after being named MVP of the 2010 Mac's Midget Tournament, a tournament that saw him and fellow Wheat King Dakota Conroy help lead the SSAC Athletics to the title.

After attending Brandon's training camp this fall, Honey joined the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he was 12-4-1 with a 2.41 goals against average and .919 save percentage in 17 appearances.

"I don't think it could have played out any more perfect in that sense," said Honey, "I got a chance to go to the AJHL and really take a smaller stride before jumping right into it. I got to play some games there, which was nice, and I learned a lot of stuff on and off the ice. I'm going to take the stuff I learned there here and just see what happens."

Game action for Honey could be limited the rest of the season, especially after Boes' expected return from his injury in 5-6 weeks.

However, the prospect of watching more than playing doesn't seem to both Honey a lot.

"All I can do is do what I can control If that just means going to practice and working as hard as I can every practice and maybe seeing some games, then that's it," said Honey, "I just have to worry about what I can control. You have to start somewhere and hopefully I can gain a lot of experience this year."

There was another piece of good news for Brandon on Monday.

Second-year centre Tyrel Seaman also practiced for the first time since suffering a concussion on November 25th.

Brandon opens the second half by hosting Regina on Wednesday night (7:00 p.m., Westman Communications Group Plae).

Chaff...Wawanesa product Jordan Thomson is set to make his WHL debut on Tuesday night. The fourth overall pick in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft will suit up for the Kamloops Blazers in their game in Vancouver and will stay with the team until January 2nd...Swift Current forward Adam Lowry is scheduled to have wrist surgery on Tuesday and will be out of the Broncos' lineup indefinitely...Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone had a hat-trick in Canada's 8-1 victory over Finland to open the World Junior Hockey Championship on Monday. Meanwhile, Alessio Bertaggia and his Swiss teammates were all held off the scoresheet in a 3-0 loss to Russia on Monday night.

Honey Joins Wheat Kings, Cuthbert joins AAA Wheat Kings and Other Notes

2011-12-23T13:48:00.006-06:00

Curtis Honey

Well, been away for a few days but found some downtime this afternoon for a quick little update....

The Wheat Kings announced earlier today that 17-year old goaltender Curtis Honey will be joining the team after Christmas.

Honey was 12-4-1 with a 2.41 GAA and .919 SPCT in 17 appearances with the AJHL's Bonnyville Pontiacs this season.

He was listed by the Wheat Kings last winter after he had been named the MVP of the Mac's Midget Tournament, where he led the SSAC Athletics to the 2010 title.

According to the Wheat Kings' release (which you can find here), the 5-foot-11, 170 pound Honey is joining the team for the balance of the season and not just for the period of time Corbin Boes is sidelined with his broken hand (likely until at least the end of January).

Honey's decision to join the Wheat Kings comes just two weeks after his twin brother Connor decided to leave the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers and join the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds.

----------------------------------------------------

It looks like Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone will be playing a major role for Canada at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship.

Stone has two goals and two assists through two pre-competition games and has settled in nicely on a line with Jaden Schwartz and Freddie Hamilton.

In fact, that threesome was probably Canada's best line during last night's 7-1 win over Switzerland.

During Monday's TSN telecast of the first pre-competition game against Finland, I nearly fell off my couch in the first intermission when Bob McKenzie surmised that Stone might actually end up as the 13th forward once Quinton Howden and Jonathan Huberdeau returned from injury.

I just didn't see it happening that way because I believe that even if Stone didn't find his way onto one of the scoring lines, he would also be very good in playing on a checking line.

Canada plays its last pre-competition game tonight vs. Sweden before opening the WJHC on Boxing Day against Finland.

Bertaggia hits Canada's
Devante Smith-Pelly on
Thursday

----------------------------------------------------

There's been no official word as I write this, but it looks like Alessio Bertaggia will play for Switzerland at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Bertaggia tweeted early this afternoon...

Playing for your own Country is gonna be great! #sohappy #hardwork #swiss #proud

Congrats!
----------------------------------------------------

The Canadian Hockey League announced earlier this week that they have entered into a partnershup with Respect Group Inc. to implement the Respect in Sport on-line training program on a national basis.

All CHL Member Club hockey personnel will be required to take the 2.5 hour on-line training course which covers a wide spectrum of topics including recognizing the signs and symptoms of bullying, harassment and abuse as well as using positive power to create the desired environment for athletes to excel.

There's more info on the release by the WHL. You can access it by clicking here...

----------------------------------------------------

The Western Hockey League also announced this week the launch of an official mobile application for Apple and Android devices.

The free mobile app is available by searching 'WHL' or 'Western Hockey League' in either the Android Market or the iTunes Store.

I've already put it on my iPhone, but I haven't used it a lot since there are no games being played this week.

It'll be interested to see if it's better than the WHL Mobile website, or if it's virtually the same thing.

----------------------------------------------------

41 former WHL players earned Academic All-Canadian status in the CIS during the 2010-2011 school year.

Among those to accomplish the feat were former Wheat Kings Chad Erb and Joe Caligiuri and Brandon product Mike Hellyer.

All three play with the Manitoba Bisons.

----------------------------------------------------

Great job by my co-worker at 880, CKLQ, Tyler Crayston, to flush out the story that Brandon product Brayden Cuthbert would be joining the AAA Midget Wheat Kings in the second half of the season.

Cuthbert hasn't played since suffering a concussion during his rookie season with the Moose Jaw Warriors in January of 2010.

Here's a copy of the story Tyler posted on our http://www.cklq.com/ website...

Brayden Cuthbert

Brayden Cuthbert's comeback trail will include a stop in his old stomping grounds.

He's set to join the Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings in the second-half of the regular season as he continues to recover from a concussion.

"I had plenty of options on where I wanted to play this year but I thought this would be the best for my personal interests," said Cuthbert. "If it's next year I go back to Moose Jaw or if I can jump in there maybe for the playoffs at the end of the year, who knows, we'll just have to play it by ear."

Cuthbert suffered the injury during his rookie WHL season with Moose Jaw last January and hasn't played since. Before being sidelined, the 17-year-old had two goals and four points in 39 games with the Warriors and also represented Team West at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

He scored 13 goals and 27 points in 42 games with the Wheat Kings in 2009-2010.

"It's a great atmosphere, I had a great time playing here as a 15-year-old, hopefully I can bring a little bit of leadership to the table even if I don't jump into playing right away, which I'm not expecting but even in the locker room and whatever I can do to hopefully have a positive impact on the team."

----------------------------------------------------

To all my readers and followers, have a Merry Christmas and, unless there's something breaking, I probably won't post again until December 27th.

Wheat Kings Fall to Blazers

2011-12-17T16:48:00.000-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings closed out the first half of their Western Hockey League schedule Friday night with a 3-2 loss to the Kamloops Blazers.

Colin Smith's shorthanded goal 3:29 into the third period snapped a 2-2 tie for the Blazers while Brendan Ranford and J.C. Lipon also scored for Kamloops.

Michael Ferland and Darian Dziurzynski scored for the Wheat Kings, who allowed the first goal in the game for the 12th time in 15 games and never led on Friday night.

Brandon Anderson stopped 36 shots in his fourth straight solid start for the Wheat Kings while Cole Cheveldave made 29 saves for Kamloops.

The loss leaves Brandon with a record of 20-14-1-1 in the first half including a 5-8-0-0 record in the last 13 contests during which they've been outscored 56-50.

The Wheat Kings take an 11-day Christmas break, returning to action December 28th when they host the Regina Pats.

Wheat Kings' Lineup vs Kamloops (December 16, 2011)

2011-12-16T18:57:00.003-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Emergency Backup

Defence Pairs
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 9. Rene Hunter
32. Ryley Miller - 5. Jordan Fransoo

Forward Lines
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 14. Jason Swyripa
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 26. Dakota Conroy
22. Dominick Favreau - 20. Daniel Asham - 24. Jens Meilleur
12. Dylan Kuczek - 18. Bruno Mraz - 6. Ayrton Nikkel

Notes
- The Wheat Kings scratch Alessio Bertaggia (shoulder), Tyrel Seaman (concussion), Corbin Boes (hand) and Mark Stone (Cdn Jr Team).

- Brandon Anderson makes his fourth straight start. Anderson has been solid in the last three games, stopping 114 of 124 shots, and got some extra instruction from Washington Capitals' goaltending coach Dave Prior at practice yesterday.

- This is Brandon's final game before an 11-day Christmas break. Their next game is December 28th when they host the Regina Pats. Brandon was 13-19-1-4 going into the break a year ago, 25-11-0-2 at the break in 2009-2010 and 20-13-1-1 in 2008-2009.

- Former Wheat King Jordan DePape, who was dealt to Kamloops in December of 2009 for Shayne Wiebe, has been sidelined since early October with a dislocated shoulder. DePape had surgery about six weeks ago, and is targeting March 1st to return to the Blazers' lineup. I talked to DePape before the game.

- Tonight's game also marks the return of Landon Cross to the Wheat City. The Brandon product has a third round pick of the Blazers in 2009, and has been in and out of the Kamloops lineup this season. Cross has one goal, two points and has an even plus/minus in 13 games this season. I also talked with Landon prior to the game.

Wheat Kings Look to Power Into Break

2011-12-16T07:19:00.002-06:00

Washington goaltending coach Dave Prior spent part of
Thursday in Brandon, instructing Capitals' prospect and
Wheat Kings' netminder Brandon Anderson

The Brandon Wheat Kings' power-play hasn't had many slumps this season, but it's in one right now.

The club is 1-for-13 with the man advantage over the last five games, surrending a pair of shorthanded goals in the process.

"I think a lack of shooting," said Brandon defenceman Eric Roy after Thursday's practice, "We're trying to get too cute out there on our power-play and that's not helping us out too well,"

Despite their recent struggles, the Wheat Kings still lead the Western Hockey League with a 28.8 per cent success rate this season.

Roy and fellow defenceman Ryan Pulock have been key to the success, combining for 65 points including 36 on the power-play and ranking 1-2 in defencemen scoring in the WHL.

However, Roy says that lately, teams have been trying to be aggressive to them at the points.

"I've noticed that a lot. I've tried to look to Pulock for his one-timer, but teams are really taking it away so I just try to pass it down to Mike (Ferland) and hope the forwards can help us out," said Roy, "They're really taking us away."

The Wheat Kings plays their final game of the first half Friday night as they host the Kamloops Blazers (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

It looks like they'll do so without Alessio Bertaggia.

Bertaggia sat out practice Thursday after suffering what appeared to be a shoulder injury in Tuesday's victory over Kelowna.

He joins Tyrel Seaman (suspected concussion) and Corbin Boes (broken hand) in the Wheat Kings' infirmary.

Chaff...last season, the Wheat Kings had a record of 13-19-1-4 going into the Christmas break. They were 25-11-0-2 at the break in 2009-2010 and 20-13-1-1 at the break in 2008-2009...Brandon is averaging 4,063 fans per game through 17 home games this season. Last year's average attendance was 4,276.

Stone Taking Game to International Stage

2011-12-14T13:27:00.000-06:00

Mark Stone is taking his game to the international stage.

The Brandon Wheat Kings' captain was named to Canada's roster for the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship on Wednesday.

"Everything really hasn't sunk in yet," said Stone in an interview from Calgary on Wednesday, "It's going to be the first time I've ever represented my country. I'm one of 22 guys that are probably the happiest guys in the world right now."

Making the roster is just step #1 for Stone and the other 21 players on Canada's roster.

What will follow over the next few weeks will be the pressure of representing Canada at the most hyped international hockey tournament in his home country.

"It's going to be the most pressure I've ever been under as a hockey player and I'm ready for the challenge, I think we all are," said Stone, "I think we're going to have a good couple of days in Banff, gel as a team, and I think everybody is just as excited as I am."

Stone's inclusion on Canada's roster is the next step in his rise to junior hockey stardom over the last 18 months.

"I've worked very hard in the summers, and Ottawa has given me a lot of tools to be successful. They've helped out with my skating, and I owe a lot to them," said Stone, "I credit (Power Skating Instructor) Mark Power to improving my stride to be able to compete at this level."

Stone has registered 171 points over his last 104 games with the Wheat Kings including a WHL leading 65 points in 33 games this year.

Stone is the latest in a long line of Wheat Kings to don Canada's colours for the World Junior Hockey Championship, a list that includes one of Stone's former Brandon teammates in Brayden Schenn.

"Once I got to Brandon, Schenner was one of the top players in the league. He was one of my role models, I wanted to play like him," said Stone, "I owe a lot to him...he's given me some great advice over the last few months."

Other Wheat Kings to wear Canada's colours at the World Junior including Jordin Tootoo, Peter Schaefer, Marty Murray, Wade Redden, Trevor Kidd and Brad McCrimmon.

Canada will play three pre-competition games, Monday against Finland in Calgary; next Thursday against Switzerland in Red Deer and next Friday versus Sweden in Edmonton.

The 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship opens Boxing Day in Edmonton with Canada facing Finland.

Even Lowes Didn't Project Stone's Rise to Stardom

2011-12-14T11:16:00.000-06:00

Mark Stone's rise to junior stardom wasn't widely speculated 18 months ago when the Ottawa Senators chose him in the sixth round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Former Wheat Kings' coach Bob Lowes is now an amateur scout with the Senators and was the key person in pushing Ottawa to select Stone.

But even Lowes couldn't have imagined the offensive catalyst Stone has become.

"To say that I thought that he was this good offensively would be a lie. I knew he had some offensive skills but he's taken it to another level," said Lowes during my interview with him on Tuesday night, "He's got range, good hands and great vision and we really like what he's going to bring. I think he's going to play higher in the depth chart than was projected even last year."

The Senators signed Stone to a three-year, entry-level contract this past September after his breakthrough 2010-2011 campaign that saw him finish in a tie for third in the WHL in scoring with 106 points.

The knock on Stone has always been his skating ability, or lack thereof, but Lowes doesn't believes that's no longer a concern.

"I think he's worked really hard on his skating. He's never going to be a high-end skater, but I think he's made his skating a non-issue and I think it's going to continue to get a little bit better," said Lowes, "I think he's gotten stronger. He's always been a big frame, a tall guy, and I think part of why his skating has improved is because of his strength...he's put on 15 or 20 pounds since we drafted him."

If one pick can make or break a scout, Lowes could be in for a lifetime contract with Ottawa.

"It allows me to pick anyone I want from Brandon in the late rounds," joked Lowes on Tuesday, "Credit to Mark. He's the guy that put in all the work to make himself a player."

Lowes also spotted Brandon defenceman Jordan Fransoo last season, with the Senators using a seventh round pick to select the blueliner last June.

It's Official - Stone Named to Canada's Roster

2011-12-14T09:27:00.003-06:00

Brandon Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone has officially been named to Canada's team for the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship.

This marks the fourth straight year a member of the Wheat Kings will skate with Canada at the World Juniors.

Stone's quest for gold will begin Boxing Day when Canada faces Finland.

The team also plays three pre-competition games next week.

Stone, who's Twitter handle is @M_Stoner16, posted this tweet this morning.

Thanks for all the support from everyone. Family, Friends, coaches.. Minor hockey community centre kirkfield westwood. All got me here today

I'm hoping to catch up to Stone later today, and will post his comments if Hockey Canada can make that happen.

The final 22-player roster includes four other WHLers in Oakbank product Quinton Howden of the Moose Jaw Warriors, Mark Pysyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings, Brendan Gallagher of the Vancouver Giants and Ryan Murray of the Everett Silvertips.

I guess, technically, Brett Connelly is considered to be a Prince George Cougar for Junior purposes, although he has spent the entire season with the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning.

Here's the list of the 13 players that were released during the final cutdown this morning:

F Brett Bulmer (Kelowna Rockets)
F Phil Di Giuseppe (University of Michigan)
F Tyler Toffoli (Ottawa '67's)
F Christian Thomas (Oshawa Generals)
F Ty Rattie (Portland Winterhawks)
F Brad Ross (Portland Winterhawks)
F Philip Danault (Victoriaville Tigres)

D Cody Ceci (Ottawa '67's)
D Alex Petrovic (Red Deer Rebels)
D Ryan Murphy (Kitchener Rangers)
D Joe Morrow (Portland Winterhawks)

G Louis Domingue (Quebec Remparts)
G Tyler Bunz (Medicine Hat Tigers)

Stone Set to Play for Canada

2011-12-14T06:50:00.003-06:00

It looks like Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone has locked up a roster spot on the Canadian Junior Team.

Stone was held out of Tuesday's 7-4 victory for the Canadian hopefuls over a CIS All-Star team.

That's usually a move reserved for players that have already earned a roster spot with the squad.

Stone's inclusion on the final 22-player roster would mark the fourth straight year a Wheat King has played on the Canadian Junior Team.

The final roster will be announced Wednesday morning.

Strong Second Powers Wheat Kings Past Rockets

2011-12-14T06:47:00.002-06:00

Brandon Anderson had another solid start in the
Wheat Kings' net

The Brandon Wheat Kings jumped out to a 4-1 second period lead and held on for a 5-3 victory over the Kelowna Tockets on Tuesday night.

Darian Dziurzynski had two goals and an assist for Brandon while Brandon Anderson made 37 saves in his third straight solid start in the Wheat Kings' net.

"I thought we played a real strong first 40 minutes there and let them off the hook a little bit in the third period," said Dziurzynski on CKLQ's post-game show, "Good goaltending helped us get a win tonight."

The teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes despite Brandon outshooting Kelowna 17-7 in the first period with Dziurzynski and Colton Sissons of the Rockets exchanging goals.

Brandon took over the game in the second period, with Dominick Favreau, Alessio Bertaggia and Jason Swyripa all scoring to give the Wheat Kings a 4-1 advantage through two periods.

The Wheat Kings then struggled in the third period, surrendering 19 shots while allowing the Rockets to twice close to within two goals at 4-2 and 5-3.

"We just have to learn to stay focused for a full 60 minutes," added Dziurzynski, "I don't know if we've played a full 60 minutes all year but if we can get doing that, I think we'll be a real good team."

The victory was Brandon's 20th of the season and moved the Wheat Kings into sole possession of second-place in the WHL's East Division and to within two points of first-place Moose Jaw.

Brandon concludes their first half schedule Friday when they host the Kamloops Blazers (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff...Alessio Bertaggia left the game for the Wheat Kings with what appeared to be a shoulder injury...Bertaggia is slated to join the Swiss team in Red Deer Saturday on a tryout basis as he attempts to lock down a spot for the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship...Brandon surrendered a shorthanded goal and went 0-for-2 on the power-play and are now 1-for-13 with the man advantage in their last five games.

Wheat Kings' Lineup vs. Kelowna (December 13, 2011)

2011-12-13T18:20:00.001-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson

Defence Pairs
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 9. Rene Hunter
32. Ryley Miller - 5. Jordan Fransoo

Forward Lines
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 14. Jason Swyripa
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 20. Daniel Asham - 24. Jens Meilleur
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 18. Bruno Mraz - 26. Dakota Conroy

Notes
- Michael Ferland is in the Wheat Kings' lineup tonight. Ferland was one of seven players released from the Canadian Junior Team's Selection Camp and spent much of the day travelling back to Brandon. I had a chance to talk to Ferland prior to Tuesday's game....

- Wheat Kings' Mark Stone remains at the Canadian Junior Team Selection Camp and TSN's Bob McKenzie predicts Stone has locked up one of the RW spots on Team Canada. Final cutdown is tomorrow morning.

- Tyrel Seaman misses his eighth straight game with a suspected concussion while Corbin Boes (broken hand) and Dylan Kuczek are the other scratches for Brandon. Kuczek is a healthy scratch for the 24th time this season.

- The Rockets are without Brett Bulmer, who is also at the Canadian Junior Team Selection Camp. Bulmer is second on the Rockets in scoring with 11 goals and 23 points, despite playing in just 15 games.

- Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska is also in Calgary as an assistant coach with the Canadian team. Assistant coaches Dan Lambert and Ryan Cuthbert are handling the coaching duties for the Rockets in his absence.

Ferland Released by Canadian Junior Team

2011-12-13T08:20:00.006-06:00

Michael Ferland of the Brandon Wheat Kings is among the players released by Hockey Canada Tuesday morning during the first round of cuts at the Canadian Junior Team's Selection Camp in Calgary.

The Canadian Junior Team Selection Camp was Ferland's first opportunity with Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence.

The 19-year old Brandon product is 12th in the WHL in scoring with 17 goals and 44 points.

The Wheat Kings say Ferland should be back in Brandon in time to play against the Kelowna Rockets on Tuesday night (7:00 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Meanwhile, WHLers Matt Dumba of the Red Deer Rebels, Brendon Kichton of the Spokane Chiefs, Mark McNeill of the Prince Albert Raiders and Max Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice were among the other players cut by the Canadian Junior Team on Tuesday.

35 players (4 goaltenders, 11 defencemen and 20 forwards) remain at the Selection Camp including Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone.

On Monday night, Stone scored the winning goal as Team Red beat Team White 2-0 in an intrasquad game. The game also included Oakbank product Quinton Howden suffering an upper body injury after a check from Brett Connelly. Howden will be re-evaluated later today.

On Tuesday night, the Team Canada hopefuls will face a CIS All-Star team that includes former Wheat Kings' captain Teegan Moore and Russell product Brock Nixon of the Calgary Dinos.

Late Power-Play Goal Burns Wheat Kings

2011-12-11T19:42:00.000-06:00

Alessio Bertaggia battles with Hitmen defencemen
Colin Bowman (#28) and Jayden Rissling

The Brandon Wheat Kings closed out their Alberta road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday afternoon.

Brady Brassart scored a power-play goal with 1:50 left in the third period for the Hitmen, snapping a 3-3 tie.

Specialty teams played a key role in Sunday’s game, with Brandon going 0-for-5 on the power-play, surrendering a shorthanded goal to Trevor Cheek midway through the third period that tied the game 3-3 and, of course, giving up the winning goal late in the final frame.

“I thought we had some opportunities to take advantage of the game on our power-play, different things like that, and didn’t capitalize,” said Brandon assistant coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk on CKLQ’s post-game show, “Give Calgary credit, they had an opportunity to score a goal on the power-play late in the game and they did.”

Alessio Bertaggia had two goals and an assist for Brandon while Dominick Favreau also scored for the Wheat Kings.

Brandon held 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 leads in the contest but Calgary came on the third period, outshooting Brandon 18-7 in the final frame and 41-26 overall.

Brandon Anderson made 37 saves in the Wheat Kings’ net, his second straight solid start since Corbin Boes broke his hand on Thursday.

“He battled, he gave us an opportunity to win and that’s all we can ask from our goaltender,” said Gylywoychuk, “He made some big saves on the PK so us, at different times throughout the game when there was a flurry in our D-Zone. That’s what we want to see out of goaltender and it’s great to see from (Anderson).”

The loss was Brandon’s seventh in their last 11 games and dropped the Wheat Kings’ record to 19-13-1-1, one point behind second-place Saskatoon and four behind first-place Moose Jaw in the East Division.

Brandon closes out the first half of their schedule with a pair of home games this week, hosting Kelowna on Tuesday night and the Kamloops Blazers on Friday.

Brandon Lineup Sunday in Calgary (December 11, 2011)

2011-12-11T14:16:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Jordan Papirny

Defence Pairs
32. Ryley Miller - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 9. Rene Hunter
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 5. Jordan Fransoo

Forward Lines
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 8. Brenden Walker - 14. Jason Swyripa
13. Alessio Bertaggia - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 26. Dakota Conroy
22. Dominick Favreau - 20. Daniel Asham - 24. Jens Meilleur
12. Dylan Kuczek - 18. Bruno Mraz - 6. Ayrton Nikkel

Notes
- Brandon scratches F Mark Stone (Cdn Jr. Team), F Michael Ferland (Cdn Jr. Team), F Tyrel Seaman (suspected concussion) and G Corbin Boes (hand).

- D Brodie Melnychuk plays his 280th career game today, moving him past Eric Fehr and into 11th-place on the Wheat Kings' all-time list. Next up on the list is Kelly Smart at 286.

- The Wheat Kings will be out to reverse a trend that has seen them surrender the first goal of the game in 11 of their last 13 games, and 19 of 33 games this season. Statistically, the first period has been Brandon's worst, being outscored 48-43 and outshot 390-360 in first periods this season.

- The Hitmen have recovering from a 6-8-0-1 start to the season to go 10-5-0-1 in their last 16 games. Calgary is 8-1-1-0 in their last 10 games versus East Division opponents including a 5-4 shootout victory over Prince Albert on Friday night.

- Calgary captain Cody Sylvester has eight goals and 20 points in the last 14 games while Carolina draft pick Victor Rask has a team-high 15 goals. Rask will play for Sweden at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship.

- Brandon product Brocks Sutherland is still looking for the first goal of his Hitmen career. The 20-year old Sutherland has four assists and is +8 in 27 games with Calgary since being acquired from Tri-City on October 7th.

Post Stone, Ferland Era Starts Sunday

2011-12-10T21:12:00.000-06:00

Brenden Walker

The post Mark Stone and Michael Ferland era begins Sunday for the Brandon Wheat Kings as they conclude their three-game Alberta road trip in Calgary (2:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ and http://www.cklq.com/).

Stone and Ferland left the team Saturday to begin their participation in the Canadian Junior Team Selection Camp, taking with them a combined 109 points and 32 per cent of the goals Brandon has scored this season.

The Wheat Kings’ offence will now have to come from some other sources, including centre Brenden Walker, who has quietly moved into a tie for 23rd in the WHL scoring race with 33 points.

“It’s going to good for me, and it’s going to be good for everyone on this team,” said Walker after Brandon’s practice in Red Deer on Saturday, “There’s going to be a lot of opportunity, and I have to prove that I can do it and I think I’m able to do it so I’m going to do my best.”

Walker is currently third on the team with 33 points, quietly moving into a tie for 23rd-place in the WHL scoring race.

He’s played the majority of the season on a line with Ferland and Stone, which means he’ll be getting new linemates for at least the next few days and, possibly, a lot longer.

Darian Dziurzynski and Jason Swyripa skated on the wings with Walker in practice on Saturday.

“It’s going to be huge to get to know the guys, but I’ve played with (Swyripa) and I’ve played with (Dziurzynski) now so we’re just going to have to work hard and do everything that we do best,” said Walker, “We have to do everything simple, play good defence, have a good neutral zone and get the pucks in deep and just cycle. We just have to use our skill and I think everything is going to be just fine.”

The Wheat Kings will be seeking their 20th win of the season Sunday in Calgary.

Chaff… Ferland will play on Team White and Stone on Team Red during the Selection Camp…former Wheat Kings’ captain Teagan Moore and Russell product Brock Nixon, who both play with the Calgary Dinos, will be part of the CIS All-Star team that’ll play the Canadian Juniors on Tuesday night…according to http://www.capgeek.com/, Michael Ferland’s entry level contract is worth $607,500, $630,000 and $680,000 in the three seasons for a total of $1,917,500 ($67,500 each year in AHL) plus a $242,500 signing bonus paid out over three years…D Brodie Melnychuk will play his 280th career game on Sunday, moving him past Eric Fehr and into 11th-place on the Wheat Kings all-time list…2011 draft pick Jordan Papirny will back up Brandon Anderson again during Sunday’s game…Prince George’s Campbell Elynuik has been suspended for a boarding major in Seattle on Friday night. He’s the 56th suspension of the season thus far, with a total of 168 games being handed out by the WHL office.

Anderson Stars as Wheat Kings Top Rebels

2011-12-10T02:38:00.000-06:00

Brandon Anderson made 40 saves in Friday night

Mark Stone had two goals and an assist to lead the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 5-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night.

Alessio Bertaggia, Jordan Fransoo and Darian Dziurzynski also scored for Brandon while Brandon Anderson made 40 saves in the Wheat Kings’ net.

“He’s a veteran guys and we have to get him started playing some games, and he’s going to get to play some games now,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “I thought he made some big saves late in the game, when they had some chances in the third. That’s what you want from your goaltender, just to make that save at the right time and that’s what we got tonight.”

The teams were tied 2-2 after 40 minutes before Bertaggia scored 2:13 into the third period to give Brandon their first lead of the game and Jordan Fransoo added a 4-on-4 goal at 6:37 to extend the Wheat Kings’ lead to 4-2.

Colten Mayor and Matt Dumba scored power-play goals for Red Deer in the first 5:21 of the first period to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead with Stone scoring just past the nine minute mark of the first and with just under three minutes left in the second period to tie the game.

Alex Petrovic also scored for Red Deer, the Rebels’ third power-play goal of the night at 8:13 mark of the third period that cut Brandon’s lead down to one before Dziurzynski salted things away with an empty-net goal with 54 seconds left.

Michael Ferland added two assists in his return to the Brandon lineup after missing three games with a suspension.

“He’s an important guy on our team, and just having him on the ice makes all of our guys feel bigger,” said Ritchie, “He’s got a great skill set and when he finishes checks a lot like he did tonight, he’s definitely a presence on the ice.”

The victory was Brandon’s tenth road win of the season, matching their total from all of last season, and leaves the Wheat Kings two points behind Moose Jaw for top spot in the East Division.

Brandon concludes their Alberta road trip Sunday afternoon with a matchup against the Calgary Hitmen (2:30 p.m., CKLQ).

Chaff…Brandon forwards Mark Stone and Michael Ferland will leave the Wheat Kings on Saturday to attend the Canadian Junior Team’s Selection Camp in Calgary…Friday’s game was the 279th for D Brodie Melnychuk for his Wheat Kings’ career, tying him with Eric Fehr for 11th-place on the career list.

Brandon Lineup Tonight in Red Deer (December 9, 2011)

2011-12-09T19:40:00.001-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
35. Jordan Papirny

Defence Pairs
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 9. Rene Hunter
32. Ryley Miller - 5. Jordan Fransoo

Forward Lines
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
22. Dominick Favreau - 14. Jason Swyripa - 24. Jens Meilleur
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 20. Daniel Asham - 26. Dakota Conroy

Notes
- Michael Ferland returns to the Brandon lineup tonight after serving his three-game suspension. The Wheat Kings are hoping he can provide a spark to a team that has lost six of their last nine games.

- Ferland and Mark Stone will be playing their final game with the Wheat Kings for at least a few days and, possibly, a month tonight. The duo will join the Canadian Junior Team's Selection Camp in Calgary tomorrow.

- Corbin Boes broke his hand in Edmonton on Thursday night so the Wheat Kings put out the call to Jordan Papirny to be Brandon Anderson's backup tonight in Red Deer. I caught up with Papirny for a couple of minutes prior to Friday's contest...

- In addition to Boes, Brandon is also scratching F Tyrel Seaman (suspected concussion), F Bruno Mraz (healthy) and D Dylan Kuczek (healthy).

- Brandon has surrendered four or more goals in nine of their last 11 games, and have given up the first goal of the game in 10 of their last 12 contests.

- Red Deer is without goaltender Patrik Bartosak, who suffered an upper body injury Wednesday in Swift Current. They've brought up Tyler Oswald from the MJHL's Winkler Flyers to serve as Bolton Pouliot's backup tonight.

- Red Deer takes an 11-game losing streak into tonight's contest, though eight of those 11 losses have been by two goals or less.

Boes Breaks Hand, Out Indefinitely

2011-12-09T16:06:00.000-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings will be without goaltender Corbin Boes for an extended period of time.

The club announced this afternoon that the 18-year old Boes suffered a broken hand during Thursday's 7-3 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings, and will be sidelined indefinitely.

The timetable for recovery from a broken hand is usually around six weeks, which means Boes will likely be sidelined until the end of January.

Boes is 11-5-1 this season with a 3.00 goals against average and .908 save percentage.

The loss of Boes means the majority of the goaltending duties will fall to Brandon Anderson, who is 5-6-1 with a 4.31 GAA and .876 SPCT in 13 appearances with the Wheat Kings since being acquired in a trade with Lethbridge on October 16th.

Jordan Papirny, who was the 22nd pick in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft, will be Anderson's backup for tonight's game in Red Deer.

Papirny plays with the SSAC Athletics of the Alberta AAA Midget Hockey League and also helped Alberta to a gold medal at the Western Canadian Under-16 Championship in October, being named the tournament's all-star goaltender.

Papirny's addition is likely a short-term answer for the Wheat Kings for this weekend. They will likely be seeking out a more permanent solution moving forward.

Second Period Eruption Vaults Oil Kings Past Brandon

2011-12-09T00:23:00.001-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings opened their three-game Alberta road trip with a 7-3 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Thursday night.

T.J. Foster had two goals and two assists for the Oil Kings while former Wheat King Klarc Wilson added his fourth of the season for Edmonton.

The Wheat Kings were done in by surrendering five goals in a seven minute and 36 second span of the second period, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 6-2 lead through 40 minutes.

“I thought we started turning pucks over and when you do that against a team like this, and you’re chasing the puck all night, it’s tough,” said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie on CKLQ’s post-game show, “The next shift after a goal, we call it a bump-up shift, and it’s very important. When we scored to make it 2-1, our next shift was real good with the young guys. When they made it 2-2, we just weren’t the same after that.”

Rene Hunter, Ayrton Nikkel and Brenden Walker scored the goals for the Wheat Kings while Corbin Boes and Brandon Anderson combined to stop 36 shots in the Brandon net.

“Really, there was just that stretch where they scored all those goals. Besides that, I thought early on for the first 30 minutes of the hockey game, we did real well,” added Ritchie, “I thought we kept the puck, did some real good things with it, we were smart with the puck and didn’t give up many chances.”

The victory was the Oil Kings eighth in a row and moved Edmonton into sole possession of first-place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference while the loss was Brandon’s sixth in their last nine games.

The Wheat Kings will look to right the ship on Friday night when they pay a visit to the Red Deer Rebels (8:00 p.m., CKLQ).

Chaff…Hunter’s second period goal ended Brandon’s scoring ‘slump’ at 106 minutes and 13 seconds…including Thursday’s game, Brandon has surrendered the first goal of the game in 10 of their last 12 contests and have given up four or more goals in nine of their last 11 games…Michael Ferland will return to Brandon’s lineup Friday after serving his three-game suspension, and it’ll be the last game for him and Mark Stone before they go to the Canadian Junior Team’s Selection Camp in Calgary…former Wheat King Travis Hamonic scored his first goal of the NHL season in the New York Islanders 3-2 overtime loss to Chicago on Thursday night.

Brandon Lineup at Edmonton (December 8, 2011)

2011-12-08T19:09:00.001-06:00

Goaltenders
1. Corbin Boes
33. Brandon Anderson

Defence Pairs
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 9. Rene Hunter
32. Ryley Miller - 5. Jordan Fransoo

Forward Lines
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
14. Jason Swyripa - 20. Daniel Asham - 24. Jens Meilleur
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 18. Bruno Mraz - 26. Dakota Conroy

Notes
- Corbin Boes makes his fourth straight start in goal for Brandon. It's the second time this season Boes has started four in a row, the longest consecutive start streak for a Wheat Kings' goaltender this year.

- Michael Ferland (3rd game of 3-game suspension), Tyrel Seaman (suspected concussion) and Dylan Kuczek (healthy) are Brandon's scratches tonight.

- After being shut out on home ice Sunday by the Regina Pats, the Wheat Kings line combinations and defense pairings underwent a massive overhaul. The new line combinations are posted above.

- The Oil Kings have won seven in a row heading into tonight's contest, and are looking to take over first overall in the WHL's Eastern Conference with a win tonight.

- Michael St. Croix, Dylan Wruck and Tyler Maxwell have been one of the WHL's most dangerous trios as of late. St. Croix has nine goals and 19 points in the last seven games; Wruck has five goals and 18 points in the last seven contests and Maxwell has five goals and 11 points in six games since joining the Oil Kings.

Meilleur Hoping to Add Offence

2011-12-08T09:50:00.001-06:00

Jens Meilleur flips around in practice Wednesday

The Brandon Wheat Kings open a three-game Alberta road trip Thursday night when they visit the Edmonton Oil Kings (7:30 p.m., CKLQ).

The Wheat Kings are coming off a 2-0 home-ice loss to Regina on Sunday night, the first time this season the WHL’s highest-scoring team has been shut out.

With that in mind, and the fact WHL scoring leader Mark Stone, Michael Ferland and Alessio Bertaggia could be leaving for an extended period of time for the World Junior Hockey Championship in mere days, the club could be already looking for players to increase their offensive roles.

One of those that could fit the bill is second-year winger Jens Meilleur, who has two goals and five points in nine games since returning from a wrist injury on November 18th.

“The first weekend there, we had four games in five nights and that was pretty tough on my body,” said Meilleur after Brandon’s practice in Red Deer on Wednesday, “I felt the guys helped me out and I got in pretty quick. I felt good but definitely after that weekend was when I started feeling 100 per cent.”

Meilleur was off to a good start to his 2011-2012 season, scoring a team-high three goals in the pre-season and picked up a pair of assists in six games before being injured on October 7th.

“I get chances with the top lines here in some guys and once those guys hopefully make it with all their teams, I have to step up and definitely play a lot bigger role,” added Meilleur, who also says he’s a lot more comfortable in his sophomore season in the WHL, “I know what’s ahead and what’s happening and I’m just more comfortable and more confident out there.”

An increase in Meilleur’s offence would be welcome for a Wheat Kings’ team that has had Stone, Ferland and Bertaggia account for 42 per cent of their goals so far this season.

Chaff…Ferland will serve the third and final game of his suspension Thursday, and is eligible to return to Brandon’s lineup Friday in Red Deer…Brandon C Tyrel Seaman will miss his fifth straight game Thursday with a suspected concussion…D Brodie Melnychuk has moved past Jeff Odgers and into 12th-place on the Wheat Kings’ all-time games played list with 277. Next up on the list is Eric Fehr at 279…Odgers will be the guest speaker at the Saturday night banquet at the Telus Cup Western Regional Championship, which will take place from March 29 – April 1 in Virden.

Ferland Inks Deal with Flames

2011-12-05T11:26:00.004-06:00

Michael Ferland has signed an entry-level
contract with the Calgary Flames

Brandon Wheat Kings' forward Michael Ferland has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames.

Ferland was a fifth round pick of the flames in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and is currently sitting in a tie for ninth in the Western Hockey League in scoring with 42 points including 17 goals.

"It's great to finally get it over with," said Ferland on Monday, "We've been talking with Calgary for a couple of weeks, and it's good to get it over with and start focusing on hockey again."

"We are very pleased to have Michael under contract and look forward to watching his continued development in Junior Hockey," said Flames general manager Jay Feaster in a release, "Having this important career milestone behind him will enable him to focus on the upcoming Team Canada World Junior Selection Camp as well as building upon the excellent season he is having in Brandon. Michael looked good in our Development Camp in July, and had a very solid Rookie Tournament and NHL Training Camp in September.

The 19-year old Brandon product is also headed to the Canadian Junior Team's Selection Camp in Calgary later this week.

"I'm just very excited that it's a Canadian team, especially Calgary," added Ferland, "I've been over them, I'm really familar with the players and coaching staff and I really enjoy being with that organization. I'm very excited it's them."

According to the Flames' release that was issued late Monday afternoon, has an average annual value of $825,000.

Hewitt, Pats Blank Wheat Kings

2011-12-05T07:46:00.000-06:00

Matt Hewitt

Matt Hewitt stopped 33 shots to lead the Regina Pats to a 2-0 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Sunday night.

Dominick Volek and Jordan Weal scored the goals for the Pats, who won in Brandon for the first time since December 27, 2008.

Both Regina goals came off unfortunate bounces.

Volek jumped on a loose puck and buried it into an empty Brandon net 9:27 into the first period after a dump-in came off the end boards and right to the edge of the crease, catching Brandon netminder Corbin Boes behind the goal.

Weal's goal late in the second period came after a flip out from Regina's zone bounced off Jordan Fransoo's helmet and right to Chandler Stephenson, who fed a perfect pass to Weal at the front of the net on a 3-on-1.

Weal was initially stopped by Boes, but buried the rebound into the top half of the net to give the Pats a two-goal cushion.

"Whether we took them lightly or didn't respect them, I'm not exactly sure, but we didn't have the jump we've had the last couple of games," said Brandon coach Cory Clouston on CKLQ's post-game show, "We didn't have the intensitythat we needed to have to get the bounces to go your way."

Boes made 29 saves for Brandon in a second straight solid outing after some struggles in late November.

"I guess you could say I was a little bit too relaxed in the game. Looking at some video, I just wasn't myself and, obviously, the mental part plays a big part in those type of games," said Boes, "I just really had work on focusing in a full 60 minutes and its been paying off here the last couple of games."

The loss end Brandon's two-game winning streak, with the victories over Vancouver and Red Deer coming on home ice earlier in the week.

"We played two very solid games this week against Vancouver and Red Deer, but not the effort we were looking for tonight," said Boes, "Still four out of six points this week and we'll just have a good, hard week of practice before we head out on our road trip to Alberta."

The loss also prevented the Wheat Kings from moving into top spot in the Western Hockey League's East Division.

The club remains one point behind co-leaders Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, who both lost on Sunday night.

Chaff...former Wheat King Liam Liston stopped 38 shots in leading Lethbridge past Spokane 1-0 Sunday night...the Prince George Cougars have sent Winnipeg product Charles Inglis home for breaking 'team and league' rules...the Calgary Hitmen collected 25,303 stuffed animals at their Teddy Bear Toss Sunday, the second most in franchise history. There's been no official word on the number of items collected at Brandon's Teddy Bear, Toque and Mitt toss on Friday.

Wheat Kings Lineup vs Regina (December 4, 2011)

2011-12-04T17:07:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
1. Corbin Boes
33. Brandon Anderson

Defence Pairs
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 5. Jordan Fransoo
7. Eric Roy - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 9. Rene Hunter

Forward Lines
13. Alessio Bertaggia - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 8. Brenden Walker - 24. Jens Meilleur
22. Dominick Favreau - 20. Daniel Asham - 14. Jason Swyripa
12. Dylan Kuczek - 18. Bruno Mraz - 26. Dakota Conroy

Notes
- Brandon F Michael Ferland sits the second game of his three-game suspension tonight while F Tyrel Seaman misses his fourth straight game with a (suspected) concussion. Ayrton Nikkel (healthy) is the Wheat Kings' other scratch.

- Corbin Boes makes his third straight start in goal for the Wheat Kings. Despite a some stuggles in late November, Boes has still won eight of this last nine starts.

- The Wheat Kings have won nine straight home games against the Pats, with Regina's last victory in Brandon coming on December 27, 2008.

- Virden product Landon Peel is one of the four scratches for the Pats tonight. The defenceman has two assists and is -6 in 13 games with Regina in his rookie season.

Dziurzynski Nets Hatty on Teddy Toss Night

2011-12-03T00:09:00.000-06:00

Darian Dziurzynski potted three goals and picked up some
stuffed toy on a busy Friday night in Westman Place

Darian Dziurzynski's hat-trick led the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 4-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night.

Dziurzynski scored a pair a power-play goals filling in on Brandon's #1 unit in place of the suspended Michael Ferland.

"Pretty easy to play on the power-play with Stone and Walker," said Dziurzynski on CKLQ's post-game show, "Just stand in front of the net and wait for pucks to come that way."

"He did a real good job net-front. He's very intelligent around the net, and even 5-on-5, any time that puck gets low, you know it's coming to the front of the net," added Brandon coach Cory Clouston, "He probably does that as well or better than anybody in the league where he gets his body in a good position to be able to get the puck to the front of the net, and position himself for rebounds, deflections and tips."

Dziurzynski also scored his team-leading third shorthanded goal of the season while Ryan Pulock added a goal and two assists for the Wheat Kings including the Teddy Bear goal 1:24 into the middle frame that tied the game 1-1.

John Persson scored the only goal of the first period for Red Deer while Brooks Maxwell added his first career WHL goal for the Rebels.

Bolton Pouliot stopped 26 shots in the Red Deer net while Corbin Boes made 30 saves for Brandon.

The victory allowed Brandon to remain one point behind Saskatoon for top spot in the East Division.

The Wheat Kings next action is Sunday when they host the Regina Pats (6:00 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff...Red Deer D Matt Dumba left the game in the first period after taking a wrist shot in the mouth but returned before the midway mark of the second period...Minnedosa product Chad Robinson assisted on Persson's first period goal...former Wheat King Rob Klinkhammer was dealt by Chicago to Ottawa Friday for a conditional seventh round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft...former Wheat King Bob Woods, who was let go as an assistant coach in Washington's purge on Monday, has joined his former boss Bruce Boudreau as an assistant with the Anaheim Ducks.

Wheat Kings' Lineup vs Red Deer (December 2, 2011)

2011-12-02T18:44:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
1. Corbin Boes
33. Brandon Anderson

Defence Pairs
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 5. Jordan Fransoo
7. Eric Roy - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 9. Rene Hunter

Forward Lines
13. Alessio Bertaggia - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 8. Brenden Walker - 24. Jens Meilleur
22. Dominick Favreau - 20. Daniel Asham - 14. Jason Swyripa
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 18. Bruno Mraz - 26. Dakota Conroy

Notes
- the Wheat Kings scratch F Michael Ferland (Game #1 of 3-game suspension), F Tyrel Seaman (upper body, 1 week) and D Dylan Kuczek (healthy).

- Dakota Conroy returns to the Brandon lineup tonight after missing four games with a foot injury.

- the Wheat Kings are 1-6-0-1 vs. the Rebels over the last two seasons including going 0-3-0-1 against Red Deer a year ago.

- it's the Shoppers Mall Brandon Teddy Bear, toque and mitt toss tonight. Last year, the Wheat Kings collected more than 1,600 items for the local Christmas Cheer Board.

- Red Deer's lineup is depleted by injuries and suspensions. Among those out tonight are Canadian Junior Team invitee Alex Petrovic, 20-year old blueliner Aaron Borejko and Red Deer's top goal scorer Adam Kambeitz. The Rebels' lineup is so depleted, they dress just two players over the age of 18 in 20-year old blueliner Justin Weller and 19-year old forward John Persson.

Ferland to Sit for Three

2011-12-02T18:38:00.000-06:00

Michael Ferland will be out of the Brandon Wheat Kings' lineup for the next three games starting with Friday's contest with the Red Deer Rebels.

The 19-year old Ferland was handed a three-game sentence by the Western Hockey League late Friday afternoon for his end of game fight with Vancouver's Wes Vannieuwenhuizen during Wednesday's 5-4 victory over the Giants.

Vannieuwenhuizen was also suspended for three games by the WHL, while the Giants were fined $250 dollars.

The Wheat Kings were not fined for the incident.

These two suspensions plus one a six-game sentence handed out to Lukas Walter of the Tri-City Americans for a one-man fight on Wednesday pushes the WHL total to 52 suspensions for the season (including pre-season) for a total of 159 games.

Robinson Showing Well in Sophmore Season

2011-12-02T14:00:00.002-06:00

Chad Robinson

Minnedosa product Chad Robinson is having a strong sophmore season with the Red Deer Rebels.

Robinson has four goals and 15 points in 26 games so far this season after notching six points in 50 games a year ago.

"I think the opportunity I've been given this year to play a bigger role on the team has really helped," said Robinson after the Rebels' practice in Brandon on Thursday, "Getting more ice time, obviously, lets you get into the lineup a little more and contribute to the team."

The 5-foot-11, 175 pound Robinson was a sixth round pick of Red Deer in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft.

The Rebels carry a seven-game losing streak into Friday's matchup with the Wheat Kings, and that's where Robinson feels the experience of the Rebels' coaching staff helps.

GM/Coach Jesse Wallin and assistant coaches Bryce Thoma and Chris Neizner are all former Red Deer players.

"They have an understanding of the game and what goes on through the season," said Robinson, "They understand what's going on right now and they're being patient with us but we still need to pull our weight and get through this."

Robinson is one of just two Manitobans on the Red Deer roster and the 18-year old is looking forward to playing 'at home' Friday night.

Roy Focus on Defence, Not Offence

2011-12-02T07:44:00.000-06:00

Eric Roy

Eric Roy's sophmore season with the Brandon Wheat Kings couldn't be going much better.

Roy is currently leading all WHL defencemen in scoring with 30 points and was chosen Brandon's Player of the Month for November on Thursday.

Roy says he couldn't have imagined that type of success he's having this year.

"I never thought I'd be at 30 points at the start of the season," said Roy after Thursday's practice, "Everything is going in so far, confidence is good and everything's going good so far."

Roy had three goals, 15 points and was +5 during the month of November and the Beauval, Saskatchewan product says despite all his offensive numbers, his biggest improvement this season has been at the other end of the ice.

"I think my defensive zone has improved a lot this year," said Roy, "Coaches are really helping me out, and I'm just trying to focus on that more than the offence. Offence will come but it's defence first."

Roy and fellow sophmore Ryan Pulock have been a lethal combination on Brandon's league-leading power-play unit, helping the Wheat Kings to a 31.0 per cent success rate so far this season.

Brandon returns to action Friday night, hosting the Red Deer Rebels (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

The Wheat Kings will be without forward Michael Ferland on Friday, as he's been suspended by the WHL for Wednesday's end of game fight with Vancouver's Wes Vannieuwenhuizen.

The length of the suspension has not been determined.

However, rookie Dakota Conroy could return to Brandon's lineup Friday after missing four games with a foot injury.

Chaff...former Wheat King Tyler Plante has placed on unconditional waivers by the NHL's Florida Panthers on Thursday. If he clears, his contract will be mutually terminated and then he's expected to sign with Mora in Sweden for the rest of the season...the Rebels enter Friday's game on a seven-game losing streak but Minnedosa product Chad Robinson is having a good season to date. Robinson has four goals and 15 points in 26 games this year.

Ferland Suspended, Expected to Sit Friday

2011-12-01T18:54:00.000-06:00

Michael Ferland of the Brandon Wheat Kings and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen of the Vancouver Giants have both been suspended by the Western Hockey League for their end of game fight on Wednesday night.

The WHL spent part of Thursday looking at the near melee at the end of Brandon's 5-4 win, and then made some alterations to the penalties assessed.

Last night, Eric Roy, Michael Ferland and Darian Dziurzynski of the Wheat Kings and David Musil, Vannieuwenhuizen and Jordan Martinook of the Giants were all assessed fighting majors and game misconducts.

After the alterations, Roy and Musil, the initial fight, had their game misconducts rescinded while the Dziurzynski/Martinook scuffle was changed to double minors.

Because there were only two fights, the WHL doesn't consider it a multi-fight situation (there has to be three or more fights) and that means there won't be any fine assessed to the teams.

Eric Roy Named Wheat Kings POM

2011-12-01T10:54:00.002-06:00

The Brandon Wheat Kings Tip Top Tailors Player of the Month for November is defenceman Eric Roy.

Roy had three goals and 15 points in 14 games during the month while registering a plus-five rating.

The 17-year old currently leads all WHL defencemen in scoring with 30 points.

Wheat Kings Down Giants, Break Streak

2011-12-01T07:24:00.000-06:00

Brenden Walker had a goal and two assists
in Wednesday's win over the Giants.

Mark Stone's goal 38 seconds into the third period snapped a 4-4 tie and lifted the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 5-4 win over the Vancouver Giants on Wednesday night.

The victory snapped Brandon's three-game losing streak and moved the Wheat Kings to within one point of first-place Saskatoon in the East Division.

"They're a hard-working team. They like to go to the net, they like to crash the net, and I think we held them to 26 shots tonight so we played a lot tighter defensive game," said Stone on CKLQ's post-game show, "I think, going forward, we're going to have to keep on D Zone tight, and that's what's going to bring us a lot more victories down the road."

The Wheat Kings were particularly stingy in the third period after Stone had given them a one-goal lead, allowing just seven shots over the final 20 minutes.

"There wasn't a lot of time and space out there at both ends of the rink and, to me, it wasn't a 5-4 score," said Brandon coach Cory Clouston, "The way they were checking and the way we were checking, it was a very tight-checking game. We had to chip pucks and I thought we did a good job of that."

Brenden Walker added a goal and two assists for Brandon while Alessio Bertaggia, Brodie Melnychuk and Dominick Favreau also scored for the Wheat Kings.

The goals by Bertaggia and Melnychuk came on back-to-back power-plays 59 seconds apart, turning a 4-2 deficit into a 4-4 tie with about seven minutes remaining in the second period.

The game included more than 150 penalty minutes, 90 of which came at the end of the third period when a near melee broke out.

When all was said and done, three players from each team were assessed fighting majors and game misconducts.

The multi-fight situation will likely result in a $250 fine to both teams.

Brendan Gallagher had a hat-trick for Vancouver with Leiv Bews notched the other goal for the Giants.

The victory moved Brandon to within one point of first-place Saskatoon in the WHL's East Division.

Next action for the Wheat Kings is Friday night when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff...Brandon product Landon Cross scored his first career WHL goal, helping Kamloops to a 6-5 overtime win over Victoria on Wednesday night...Winnipeg Jets' general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was among those in attendance at Wednesday's game.

Wheat Kings' Lineup vs Vancouver (November 30, 2011)

2011-11-30T18:26:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
1. Corbin Boes
33. Brandon Anderson

Defence Pairs
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 5. Jordan Fransoo
7. Eric Roy - 2. Ryan Pulock
32. Ryley Miller - 9. Rene Hunter

Forward Lines
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
22. Dominick Favreau - 18. Bruno Mraz - 14. Jason Swyripa
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 20. Daniel Asham - 24. Jens Meilleur

Notes
- Tyrel Seaman (upper body, 1 week), Dakota Conroy (lower body, day-to-day) and Dylan Kuczek (healthy) are Brandon scratches tonight while goaltender Brandon Anderson (illness) is also out. Brandon will have a rent-a-goalie backing up Corbin Boes tonight.

- Vancouver is starting Jackson Whistle in goal tonight. He's the son of former Wheat King and Bobcat Dave Whistle. Whistle played 13 games with the Wheat Kings in 1986-87 before joining the Bobcats the following season.

Hanlon Returns to Wheat City

2011-11-30T12:59:00.000-06:00

Glen Hanlon

Wednesday night's game between the Brandon Wheat Kings and Vancouver Giants at Westman Communications Group Place will mark the return of Brandonite Glen Hanlon.

The former NHL player and coach is in his first season as an assistant coach with Vancouver.

Hanlon guested on this week's Monday Sports Talk on CKLQ and said the move was done mainly for family reasons.
"Our son (Jackson) is nine years old, and
had been all over the world," said Hanlon, "We were supposed to head back into Europe a year ago, and he made a decision in his mind that he wasn't happy and he didn't want to go back. I spent the previous year alone over in Europe and that wasn't good. I think when your son is crying out for help and needs something and wants a father around and not a hockey coach that this was certainly driven to get back."

This season is the first time Hanlon has coached at the junior level after nearly two decades of coaching at various levels of the pro game including NHL, AHL and KHL.

"The biggest difference is the stressing and the importance of the education," said Hanlon, "From a hockey standpoint, there hasn't really been any real adjustments at all."

Hanlon will be taking the Giants' head coaching reins next month when Vancouver head coach Don Hay leaves the team to coach Canada's entry at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship.

Meanwhile, Hanlon also talked about being the victim of Wayne Gretzky's first career NHL goal on his appearance on Monday Sports Talk.

"It wasn't a very big moment when it happened because when he scored it, it wasn't Wayne Gretzky, what he is at the end of his career," said Hanlon, "At first, it kind of ticked me off that people we talking about it because as a goalie, getting scored on isn't something you want to be famous for but I've kind of mellowed in my older age and I kind of have some fun with it."

Hanlon, the Wheat Kings' all-time leader in games played, minutes played and saves, also offered some advice for parents who have kids playing goal in minor hockey during his appearance and talked about Bruce Boudreau being relieved of his coaching duties in Washington during Monday Sports Talk.

His entire conversation with myself and Peter Gerlinger can be found here...

Ciarelli Hits Milestones

2011-11-30T07:17:00.000-06:00

It's been a good year so far for fourth-year Wheat Kings' centre Paul Ciarelli.

The 20-year old has set career highs with nine goals and 18 points in the club's first 28 games of the year while his four game-winning goals tie him for the WHL lead in that department.

Ciarelli says his offensive success has been a combination of maturity and opportunity.

"I think coming into this year, I really wanted to make it my best," said Ciarelli after practice Tuesday, "This year, I've had a lot more confidence, I think the coaches are trusting me a lot more so I get more ice time, and right now I'm playing with some pretty good players and I have to thank them for the things that are going good so far."

Ciarelli hit a career milestone this past weekend, playing in his 200th career WHL game.

The Winnipeg product played his first game as an affiliate player on December 27, 2007, and Ciarelli says he remembers being really nervous prior to the contest.

"It's crazy how fast the time goes by, and the years. I remember the first day being called up here,llooking around the dressing room and having my eyes wide open," said Ciarelli, who has 24 goals and 53 points in his career, "It's a pretty amazing accomplishment so far."

More important for Ciarelli these days is helping the Wheat Kings end a three-game losing streak tonight when they entertain the Vancouver Giants.

Brandon has allowed four or more goals in seven straight games going into tonight's contest but after two straight days of practice, Ciarelli feels they'll be able to tighten things up defensively.

"We spent a lot of time on it, and the guys are ready to go," said Ciarelli, "Having three losses in a row hurts us in the standings. I think Vancouver will be a good test for us. They've been playing good lately so I think if we play some good D Zone, the rest will take care of itself."

The Wheat Kings will most likely get a couple of players back from the injury list tonight.

Defenceman Ryley Miller and forward Dominick Favreau have each missed the last four games but both practiced fully on Monday and Tuesday.

Tyrel Seaman (upper body, 1 week) and Dakota Conroy (foot, day-to-day) remain on the sidelines for Brandon.

Chaff...the trek to Brandon has been pretty kind to the Giants over the years. Vancouver lost in their first ever visit to Brandon in February of 2002, but has won four straight at WCGP since...the Philadelphia Flyers have recalled former Wheat Kings' co-captain Brayden Schenn from the minors. Schenn had two goals and four points in three games in his latest stint with Adirondack of the AHL...after spending one day with the New Jersey Devils on Monday, former Wheat King Alexander Urbom was returned to their AHL affiliate in Albany yesterday.

Ferland, Stone Among 16 WHLers Invited to Selection Camp

2011-11-28T10:47:00.006-06:00

Mark Stone

As expected, Brandon Wheat Kings' captain Mark Stone and third-year forward Michael Ferland were among the 16 Western Hockey League players invited to Hockey Canada's National Junior Team Selection Camp today.

Stone, a Winnipeg product, leads the WHL in scoring with 58 points and also impressed at the Summer Development Camp in August.

"He's a big, strong young man. He had a great summer camp for us, he left a great impression on everybody at the camp and he's continued on from the beginning of the season in Brandon," said Hockey Canada head scount Kevin Pendergrast on a conference call this morning, "He certainly gives us an element that we're going to need, a big strong guy that's great around the net."

Ferland, who is from Brandon, ranks sixth in the league with 42 points in what has been a breakout campaign for him offensive.

"I think he's come a long way this year. Certainly, he's put points on the board, he's a big strong kid, he battles in the tough areas," said Pendergrast, "Being what I consider a younger team this year up front, we needed that type of physical element to come in. He earned his way in from September on."

Oak Bank product Quinton Howden of the Moose Jaw Warriors is the only other Manitoban invited and that comes as no surprise as he was a member of last year's silver medal winning team.

Below is the list of the 16 WHLers invited. For the complete roster, click here...

Mchael Ferland

Goaltenders
Tyler Bunz - Medicine Hat

Defencemen
Ryan Murray - Everett
Mathew Dumba - Red Deer
Alex Petrovic - Red Deer
Brendan Kichton - Spokane
Joe Morrow - Portland
Mark Pysyk - Edmonton

Forwards
Mark Stone - Brandon
Michael Ferland - Brandon
Quinton Howden - Moose Jaw
Brett Bulmer - Kelowna
Brendan Gallagher - Vancouver
Mark McNeill - Prince Albert
Max Reinhart - Kootenay
Ty Rattie - Portland
Brad Ross - Portland

Defensive Responsibility Key for Wheat Kings Practice this Week

2011-11-28T10:07:00.002-06:00

It'll be a much needed break for the Brandon Wheat Kings early this week.

The club will practice Monday and Tuesday, the first time since the first week of November they'll have full squad practices on back-to-back days.

"You can say all you want about working things on video, when you get time to practice and time to work on things and be able to do some certain situations back-to-back in practice, not just do it once and not review it again for 7-10 days," said Brandon coach Cory Clouston on Monday's Coaches Corner on CKlQ, "It should be a good week for us."

A lot of the review this week will likely be about defensive responsibilities.

Brandon has surrendered four or more goals in seven straight games, losing four of those.

And Clouston says defensive responsibility isn't just about the defensive zone.

"At times, we've been caught with three forwards too low. At times, we haven't come back with the right urgency or right structure that you need to defend through the neutral zone and, ultimately, defend against the rush," said Clouston, "It's not like that it's one zone, it's all three zones that we need to get better at."

The Wheat Kings are also hoping to get some relief from the injury bug this week.

Ryley Miller, Dominick Favreau, Tyrel Seaman and Dakota Conroy were all sidelined last week.

To listen to the complete Viscount Gort Coaches Corner program from Monday morning, click here...

Stone, Ferland Expecting Congrats from Hockey Canada Today

2011-11-28T07:27:00.001-06:00

Michael Ferland

Mark Stone

Mark Stone and Michael Ferland will be getting congratulatory phone calls on Monday.

Sources indicate that both members of the Brandon Wheat Kings have earned invitations to Hockey Canada's National Junior Team Selection Camp.

Stone leads the Western Hockey League in scoring with 58 points while Ferland is enjoying a breakout season offensively and sits sixth in the league with 42 points.

The Selection Camp will take place from December 10th to 14th in Calgary, Alberta.

The 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship opens Boxing Day in Calgary and Edmonton.

Wheat Kings Fall to Warriors, Lose Third Straight

2011-11-26T22:50:00.000-06:00

Paul Ciarelli (#25) had a goal Saturday in his 200th
career WHL game

The Brandon Wheat Kings are on their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Eric Arnold scored twice including the winner with 8:19 left in the third period, lifting the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 4-3 win over Brandon on Saturday night.

The Warriors swept the home-and-home series with the Wheat Kings, having won in Brandon 7-6 on Friday.

Despite the loss, their were some positive signs for Brandon.

After giving up 323 shots in their previous eight games, including 40+ shots in six of those contests, the Wheat Kings held the Warriors to 24 shots including just five in the third period.

“I think we were tighter coming through the neutral zone on the back-check, I think we worked a lot harder coming back and giving back side support so they didn’t have a lot of time to delay or make plays,” said Brandon assistant coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk on CKLQ’s post-game show, “ I thought our D had better gap, which really reduced the number of shots we gave up.”

Moose Jaw led 1-0 after the opening 20 minute on Arnold’s first goal since September 30th, marking the fourth straight game and sixth time in seven contests Brandon has surrendered the first goal.

After Kenton Miller extended Moose Jaw’s lead to 2-0 in the second period, Jason Swyripa and Paul Ciarelli scored back-to-back goals to tie the game 2-2.

For Swyripa, it was his first goal and point in 11 games dating back to November 1st.

However, after Mark Stone was assessed an iffy unsportsmanlike conduct minor, Andrew Johnson floated a shot past Brandon Anderson to give Moose Jaw a 3-2 lead before the end of the second period.

Michael Ferland scored 1:44 into the third to tie it for Brandon, setting the stage for Arnold to pot the game-winning goal.

Anderson finished with 20 saves in the Brandon net while Luke Siemens stopped 27 shots for Moose Jaw.

The loss dropped Brandon’s record to 16-10-1-1, leaving the Wheat Kings tied with the Warriors for second-place in the East Division. Both teams are three points behind the front-running Saskatoon Blades.

Brandon’s next action is Wednesday when they host the Vancouver Giants (7:00 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).

Chaff…Brandon captain Mark Stone saw his eight-game goal scoring streak snapped Saturday. Stone has had two eight-game streaks this season. The last Wheat King to accomplish the feat was Jordin Tootoo in 2001-2002…Minnedosa product Chad Robinson notched his fourth goal of the season for the Red Deer Rebels in their loss to Medicine Hat on Saturday night…former Wheat King and Brandon product Glen Hanlon, the associate coach of the Vancouver Giants, will guest on CKLQ’s Monday Sports Talk on Monday from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Brandon lineup at Moose Jaw (November 26, 2011)

2011-11-26T18:09:00.000-06:00

Goaltenders
33. Brandon Anderson
1. Corbin Boes

Defence Pairs
3. Brodie Melnychuk - 2. Ryan Pulock
7. Eric Roy - 5. Jordan Fransoo
6. Ayrton Nikkel - 9. Rene Hunter

Forward Lines
27. Michael Ferland - 8. Brenden Walker - 16. Mark Stone
19. Darian Dziurzynski - 25. Paul Ciarelli - 13. Alessio Bertaggia
14. Jason Swyripa - 18. Bruno Mraz - 24. Jens Meilleur
12. Dylan Kuczek - 20. Daniel Asham -

Notes
- Tyrel Seaman is out after suffering an upper body injury during last night's game. He joins Ryley Miller, Dominick Favreau and Dakota Conroy on the Wheat Kings injury list.

- Brandon has lost three of their last four going into tonight's contest, having surrendered 24 goals and 165 shots in that span, and having given up 323 shots against in the last eight contest (including six games where they've given up 40 or more shots).

- 4th-year Brandon centre Paul Ciarelli is playing his 200th career WHL game tonight while Jason Swyripa is playing his 100th game.

- Swyripa has had a tough time as of late, and enters tonight's game on an 11-game pointless streak. The Wheat Kings will need him to step up with Seaman out.

- Justin Kirsch was injured in Brandon last night on a first period hit from Darian Dziurzynski. He's got an upper body injury, but I hear he'll be out for at least a couple of weeks. The Warriors have brought in AP Darcy DeRoose to help fill out their lineup.

- Dylan McIlrath still doesn't know the length of his suspension. He sits for the second straight night for the Warriors while Tanner Eberle serves the third and final game of his three-game suspension.