Young Guns Bring The Offense At Black and Gold Game
In front of a packed house of fans at J&G Homes Arena, the young hopefuls for the Brandon Wheat Kings squad had one more chance to impress before the exhibition schedule in the team’s Black and Gold game. In a game full of offensive outbursts, they delivered.
Carter Klippenstein and Caleb Hadland scored twice each as Team Gold took a decisive 9-2 victory over Team Black. Kayden Sadhra-Kang and Dominik Petr provided the goals for Black.
Though he didn’t score the opening goal himself, Klippenstein made it happen with hard work in the corner before he spotted Charlie Elick at the right point. Elick walked in and sent a bullet of a shot to the top corner, the first goal of a three-goal first period for his squad. As the period went on, Dominic Grieco would add another for Gold by driving the net on the power play, and Hayden Wheddon deposited a slick feed from Nate Danielson on a 2-on-1.
Black brought their energy level up in the second and pressed furiously before Sadhra-Kang picked the top corner with authority. In fact, the puck was in and out so quickly and cleanly that at first the referee didn’t realize it was a goal. Thanks to video replay, however, it was shown that Sadhra-Kang had placed his shot nearly perfectly.
Klippenstein restored both the three-goal lead and the momentum for Gold when he drove the net and knocked home a pass by Nolan Flamand. Hadland got in on the goal scoring before the period was out as well, scooping up a loose puck and tucking it neatly home on a wrap-around to put Gold up by four.
As time expired, and with a 5-on-3 advantage, Black got some momentum back. Off a chaotic play in the crease, Petr sent a pinballing puck high in the air and, with less than a second to go in the period, into the net.
Whatever momentum came from the late goal, however, Team Gold quickly snuffed out. First, Hadland worked hard in front of the net, found a loose puck, and cashed in. Then, Klippenstein pulled off the goal of the game, going end to end with several pretty moves and finishing his own rush to make it 7-2.
Still Gold wasn’t done, and Anthony Wilson had to throw his hat in the ring for prettiest goal of the day, dangling past a defender, cutting to the goal, and flipping home Gold’s 8th goal of the night. To round out the scoring, Ben Binder Nord and Michiel Leenders worked a perfect 2-on-1 off the rush, with Leenders lifting home a backhand to put the cherry on top of a big win.
With the Black and Gold game concluded, the team will announce their preseason roster in the coming days. Exhibition games begin on Friday, September 8, when the Wheat Kings travel to Regina to face the Pats.
