SERIES PREVIEW: (5) Brandon Wheat Kings vs. (4) Calgary Hitmen
If the regular season series between the Calgary Hitmen and Brandon Wheat Kings is any indication, fans are in for a hotly-contested showdown in Round One of the 2026 WHL Playoffs.
The fourth-seed Hitmen are back in the dance after a Game 7 heartbreaker in the second round in 2025.
Despite seeing plenty of roster turnover with fan favourites like Ben Kindel and Carter Yakemchuk graduating to the professional ranks, Calgary has stayed consistent in a top-heavy Central Division.
Four Hitmen players have surpassed 20 goals, including 2025 Pittsburgh Penguins selection Kale Dach and lights-out trade pickup Julien Maze.
Maze, 18, is tied for ninth in goals among all WHLers with 38 (24 of which came with Calgary).
General Manager Garry Davidson also added grit by bringing in power forward and Ottawa Senators prospect Blake Vanek from the Wenatchee Wild at the 2026 WHL Trade Deadline.
Calgary has set itself apart with the second-best powerplay in the league with Dach and Maze at the helm.
The fifth-seed Wheat Kings enter the postseason as the underdog, but the group’s league standings have been slightly kneecapped by a rough start to the season, which saw them drop their first five games before landing in the win column.
Since then, Brandon has put together four streaks of four or more consecutive wins- and even finished the season with two more regulation wins than Calgary, despite sitting three points behind their opponent.
The Wheat Kings are the fifth-highest scoring team in the WHL, led by 40-goal scorers Luke Mistelbacher and Joby Baumuller (Brandon, Medicine Hat and Kamloops are the only WHL clubs to feature two 40-plus goal scorers).
Wheat Kings General Manager and Head Coach Marty Murray chose to stand pat on the trade front.
He didn’t make a single in-season trade move, but did acquire impact veterans Mistelbacher and defenceman Grayson Burzynski from Swift Current last May.
Brandon also brought in Czech goaltender Filip Ruzicka, whom the team selected 104th overall in the 2025 CHL Import Draft.
The series will see five NHL prospects hit the ice, along with seven players listed on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings.
This marks the eighth playoff meeting between Calgary and Brandon and the first since 2015, when the black and gold swept the Eastern Conference Championship to advance to the Final.
The Wheat Kings hold an all-time 4-3 playoff series record against the Hitmen.
Game 1 is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 27, at Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome.
The action moves east for Game 3 at Tundra Oil & Gas Place in Virden, Man.
Follow along for free by streaming on Victory+.
| (5) Brandon Wheat Kings | (4) Calgary Hitmen | |
| Record | 40-26-2-0 | 38-21-8-1 |
| Leading Scorers | Luke Mistelbacher (42G-46A, 88pts)
Jaxon Jacobson (25G-60A, 85pts) Joby Baumuller (40G-22A, 62pts) |
Julien Maze (38G-40A, 78pts)
Kale Dach (34G-41A, 75pts) Andrei Molgachev (29G-30A, 59pts) |
| Leading Goaltender | Filip Ruzicka (26-14-1-0, 3.19 GAA, .906 save percentage, two shutouts) | Eric Tu (25-14-6-0, 2.79 GAA, .898 save percentage, two shutouts) |
| Powerplay | 23.6% (11th) | 31.7% (2nd) |
| Penalty Kill | 75.2% (14th) | 79.2% (9th) |
| 2025 WHL Playoffs | Lost First Round (Lethbridge) | Lost Second Round (Lethbridge) |
| Last WHL Championship | 2016 | 2010 |
2025-26 Regular Season Series: Calgary leads 2-1-1-0
November 2, 2025- Calgary 3, Brandon 1
December 19, 2025- Brandon 3, Calgary 2 (OT)
February 6, 2026- Calgary 5, Brandon 4
March 11, 2026- Brandon 6, Calgary 4
GAME BREAKERS
Brandon Wheat Kings: All beware the Steinbach sniper. Luke Mistelbacher has come exactly as advertised in his first season with the Wheaties and his last in the WHL. The 20-year-old racked up a team-leading 42 goals and 46 assists for 88 points in 67 games, good for fifth in the league in goals and seventh in points. This marks the second consecutive year Mistelbacher has ranked in the top five for lamp-lighters after burying 42 in 2024-25. Brandon picked up Mistelbacher and Burzynski in a WHL Draft Day trade in May of 2025. The 6-foot, 200-pound winger has only been held off the scoresheet once against Calgary this season (a 3-1 Brandon loss in their first tilt) and picked up one goal and five helpers in three nailbiting outings. The Wheat Kings overager enters the playoffs on a four-game point streak (2G-3A) and has closed out his regular-season career with 250 points (110G-140A) in 257 games.
Calgary Hitmen: Hail Kale! Hitmen alternate captain Kale Dach has made a splash in his first season of WHL hockey with 34 goals and 41 assists for 75 points. He leads the Hitmen in game-winning goals with eight, while sitting second in goals, assists and points. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect is the heartbeat of Calgary’s deadly powerplay, bagging 32 points (12G-20A) on the man-advantage. Dach, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound centreman, has a goal and two assists in four appearances against Brandon in 2025-26.
GOALTENDING
Brandon Wheat Kings: Since joining Brandon in October of 2025, CHL Import Draft pick Filip Ruzicka has shown off his flashy style and game-saving ability. The 6-foot-7, 230-pound Czech powerhouse made a statement by going 7-0-0-0 through December and earning WHL Goaltender of the Month honours. Ruzicka has closed out his rookie season with a 26-14-1-0 record, a 3.19 save percentage an two shutouts- highlighted by a 47-save shutout against the B.C. Division champion Penticton Vees on February 20, 2026. Ruzicka has bested the Hitmen in both of his appearances against the Central Division squad with a 2.94 GAA and .919 save percentage.
Calgary Hitmen: Sophomore netminder Eric Tu has been more than solid in his first season as a starter for the Hitmen with a 25-14-6-0 record, a 2.79 GAA, a .898 save percentage and two clean sheets. The White Rock, B.C. product was named Mary Brown’s Chicken WHL Goaltender of the Week twice (in October and November) and is 2-1-1-1 against Brandon in 2025-26. And if there’s any team that can truly lean on its goaltending tandem, it may just be Calgary. St. Paul, Minn’s Aidan Hesse has chipped in with an 11-6-2-1 run with a 3.57 GAA, a .867 save percentage and one shutout in his rookie run.
X FACTOR
Brandon Wheat Kings: Could we have a battle of the hometown boys on tap? Brandon’s own Jaxon Jacobson is already creating buzz for the 2027 NHL Draft and ensuring you’ll see his name on a scoresheet early and often. The 17-year-old old has been one of the Wheaties’ most consistent scorers with 25 goals and 60 assists for 85 points in 63 outings, good for third on the team in goals, first in assists and second in points. Jacobson has been red-hot against Calgary with four goals (including a hat trick) and three assists in four matches. He forms a dangerous line with Mistelbacher and rookie forward Prabh Bhathal.
Calgary Hitmen: Calgarian Ben MacBeath is a generous guy. The 2026 NHL Draft-eligible defender leads the Hitmen with 44 helpers and seven goals to boot in his first WHL season. MacBeath represented the East at the 2026 WHL Prospects Game and is ranked 20th among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting leading into the June Draft. The 6-foot-2, 181-pound d-man has set up his teammates in every match against Brandon, garnering six assists in four games, including a three-apple performance on March 11, 2026. Expect MacBeath to feature heavily on the special teams, where he’s picked up 24 assists.
2026 WHL PLAYOFFS SERIES SCHEDULE
| Game | Visitor | Home | Day | Date | Time | |
| 1 | Brandon | @ | Calgary | Friday | March 27 | 7pm MT |
| 2 | Brandon | @ | Calgary | Sunday | March 29 | 7pm MT |
| 3 | Calgary | @ | Brandon^ | Tuesday | March 31 | 7pm CT |
| 4 | Calgary | @ | Brandon^ | Thursday | April 2 | 7pm CT |
| 5* | Calgary | @ | Brandon^ | Friday | April 3 | 7pm CT |
| 6* | Brandon | @ | Calgary | Sunday | April 5 | 5pm MT |
| 7* | Brandon | @ | Calgary | Tuesday | April 7 | 7pm MT |
* = if necessary
^ = at Virden, Man.
Loading ...