Wheat Kings have unfinished business
Thursday February 18, 2016
By Josh Sweetland/CHL
So close, yet so far.
The Brandon Wheat Kings were a dominant force in the WHL last season, winning the Scotty Munro Trophy with a league-best 53-11-4-4 record before marching to the WHL Finals with 4-1 series victories over Edmonton, Regina and Calgary.
That’s when they ran into Kelowna.
The Wheat Kings, whose only prior exposure to the Rockets during the regular season came in the form of a 6-1 loss way back in October, were promptly swept in the WHL championship, outscored 17-9 in four games as Kelowna skated to its fourth WHL title.
Despite holding Kelowna’s top-ranked powerplay to just 1-for-13 in the series, the Wheat Kings surrendered a total of four shorthanded markers including early third period tallies by Leon Draisaitl and Rourke Chartier 19 seconds apart in the fourth and deciding game.
“It’s not a great feeling, not winning a game in the championship series, and I can tell you right now it’s the worst feeling ever,” veteran goaltender Jordan Papirny told the Brandon Sun’s Rob Henderson after game 4. “It’s a goal we set for ourselves, to be here, and I think it’s just not the way we wanted it. Setting a goal like that and getting all the way here and getting swept like that. It’s a bitter feeling for sure.”
With Papirny and 14 others from last year’s run back with the club in 2015-16, the Wheat Kings are using past frustration to fuel a fire that has them atop the East Division in mid-February with a 35-17-2-2 record.
“I was injured and not able to play in the finals,” said draft eligible blueliner Kale Clague, “but I think the hardest part for everyone was not being able to get it done for our veterans. Guys like Peter Quenneville, Eric Roy and Reid Gow had to end their junior careers on that note and I think everyone had a hard time dealing with that.”
Brandon’s first round, sixth overall pick in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, Clague was listed as the 22nd ranked North American skater on NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Rankings in January. His father Jason was a goaltender who played parts of three seasons with the Red Deer Rebels from 1992-95. So far this season, Clague has four goals, 22 assists and 26 points in 56 contests.
“No doubt,” he continued. “It’s still in our minds and we’re taking that experience and trying to turn it into something good.”
While Clague is back healthy after missing significant time as a rookie with wrist and leg ailments, injuries have been a reality for the Wheat Kings in 2015-16. Standout veteran Tim McGauley and other forwards in Tanner Kaspick, Jaeger White, Ty Lewis and former first overall WHL Bantam Draft pick Stelio Mattheos have all been sidelined at various points this season.
“Going into the season we were projected to be one of the best teams in the country,” Clague noted. “Between our many injuries and some inconsistent play, our numbers on paper aren’t as dominant as they were a year ago because we weren’t winning enough hockey games early in the season. Everyone is a year older now though and when everyone is healthy and we’re sticking to the things that make us successful, we can win on any given night.”
Now in his 28th year with the organization after wearing the black and gold from 1978-80, head coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon has kept his core from last season largely intact, with the addition of a few veterans to stabilize the club moving forward.
Formerly on the other side of the battle lines, 6’5″ defenceman Mitch Wheaton joined the Wheat Kings in January. The overage rearguard was injured throughout the 2015 playoffs but appeared in the MasterCard Memorial Cup with Kelowna where the Rockets fell short in overtime to the champion Oshawa Generals.
Upon walking into the Wheaties dressing room for the first time, Wheaton says things felt strangely familiar.
“It kind of has the same vibe,” he told the Brandon Sun’s Perry Bergson. “…As soon as I walked in the room you could just feel it. There is the presence of the only thing that is acceptable is winning and that’s something that I really like.”
The Wheat Kings look to keep the standard high down the stretch with a talented blueline led by Philadelphia Flyers first round pick Ivan Provorov and overage veteran Macoy Erkamps whose 326 career regular season games are second amongst active players. Erkamps and Provorov are third and fourth respectively amongst WHL defencemen in scoring this season.
Brandon’s offence remains among the most dangerous in the WHL, currently boasting the second most goals for in the league at 220 as sophomore sensation Nolan Patrick leads the way with 71 points (28-43–71) in 56 games. The Wheat Kings have outshot opponents in 44 of their 56 games this season, relying on Florida Panthers prospect Jayce Hawryluk, New Jersey Devils first round pick John Quenneville, veteran winger Reid Duke and overager Tim McGauley to also factor prominently into the attack.
In goal, Papirny recently surpassed Robert McVicar for fourth on the all-time franchise list in games played behind Glen Hanlon (172), Tyler Plante (164) and Byron Penstock (158). The Edmonton, AB, native is also second to Plante (12) in career shutouts with 11 and will be looking to end his time in Brandon with the MasterCard Memorial Cup hoisted high.
With the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Red Deer just three months away, the Wheat Kings face Eastern Conference obstacles in the host Rebels, the 40-win Lethbridge Hurricanes, divisional foes the Prince Albert Raiders and a pair of capable competitors in the Calgary Hitmen and the Moose Jaw Warriors before braving the best the west has to offer should they reach the finals once again.
After coming so close last spring, second best is not an option this time around.
Brandon is in the hunt for its first WHL championship since 1996. Despite the franchise making five trips to the MasterCard Memorial Cup (1949, 1979, 1995, 1996, 2010), this group has its sights set on capturing Canadian Hockey League supremacy for the first time Wheat Kings history.
