Season disappointing for Wheat Kings' boss

The Brandon Wheat Kings made the playoffs for the 12th straight season and pulled off a first-round upset of the Calgary Hitmen.

But in the end, owner/general manager Kelly McCrimmon was far from satisfied.

McCrimmon took time out from lease negotiations and preparing for next week’s WHL bantam draft to cover a wide variety of topics with the Brandon Sun, including some interesting candid comments.

After seven seasons behind the bench, McCrimmon turned head coaching duties over to Cory Clouston this season, with mixed results. While Brandon started and finished strong, a 4-9-0-1 January slump and a six-game home-ice losing skid had the Wheat Kings on the verge of sliding right out of playoff contention.

So what kind of job does McCrimmon think Clouston did with his team this year?

“I was disappointed in our year,” he said. “And really, the flat spot we hit through late November, December, January, I thought really cost our team the chance to improve to our full capabilities. I thought from the first of February on we played much better and we played much better coming out of the gate. We were first in the entire Western Hockey League on the 18th of November, so it was that stretch of 30 games in the middle of our season that kept us from reaching our fullest potential.”

Clouston agreed to a two-year contract last year that includes a standard get-out clause if he is offered a job in the pro ranks. Does McCrimmon expect him to return in 2012-13?

“Cory signed a two-year contract when he came here and in the off-season he has the ability to pursue employment professionally and that’s totally up to him if he does that,” McCrimmon said.

After knocking off the Hitmen in five games in Round 1, the Wheat Kings were swept four straight by the red-hot Edmonton Oil Kings, although their 2-1 and 4-3 losses in Games 1 and 2 could have changed the complexion of that series. McCrimmon’s thoughts?

“Our two games in Edmonton arguably we had a chance either night to win,” he said. “(Losing both) then puts you in a position where you have to win on home ice and in Game 3 (a 5-1 loss) we didn’t play as well as we had in Game 1 or 2 ... (Goaltender) Corbin (Boes) was real strong in Game 3 to keep us in it, and then we lost Mark Stone and Mike Ferland as the game went on and in the third period I thought we were outclassed ... But Corbin had given us every chance to stay in the game.”

The 19-year-old Stone went on to play in the NHL playoffs for the Ottawa Senators, setting up Jason Spezza’s game-winning goal on Stone’s second shift of a 2-0 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 5.

“I wasn’t surprised they put him in the lineup,” McCrimmon said. “I know the regard they have for him and I wasn’t surprised that he did well ...

“Two weeks ago you paid 17 dollars to watch him and now he is in the National Hockey League playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. So I think that is a pretty good testament to how good a player he was for our organization and how fortunate our fans were to be able to watch him and some of the others.”

Fellow former Wheat King captain Brayden Schenn is also turning heads in the playoffs. The 20-year-old Philadelphia Flyers centre was tied for 10th in scoring entering last night’s action, with two goals and six points in six games.

“I thought Brayden had a great opening round of the playoffs, not just because he figured in the scoring to the degree that he did, but just how hard he played and how competitive he was, which have always been among his greatest strengths,” McCrimmon said. “He is a guy that is a valuable guy in big games at playoff time and I thought he looked just like the Brayden we know.”

Meanwhile, McCrimmon and Keystone Centre general manager Neil Thomson are still hammering away at a new lease to replace the 15-year agreement that expires on May 31.

“We are continuing to work with the Keystone on various aspects of the negotiations and time is becoming more of an issue as we go along, so I would assume both sides are hopeful that we can bring something to a conclusion here in the not-too-distant future,” McCrimmon said.

Speaking of the future, one of the club’s top talents for next season is 2011 first-round pick Kord Pankewicz, who is currently lighting it up at the Telus Cup with seven points in just three games entering Thursday night’s action for the host Leduc Oil Kings. Pankewicz has played both forward and defence this season and could fill either role for the Wheat Kings next fall.

“He is playing centre ice in the Telus Cup as we speak … and we’ve got the flexibility to talk with Kord about what his wishes are and look at our needs,” McCrimmon said. “At this point, either (position) is still an option.”

There will be plenty of room up front for Pankewicz and other forwards, with the Wheat Kings graduating overagers Darian Dziurzynski and Paul Ciarelli, plus three signed NHL draft picks in Stone, Ferland and Kevin Sundher,who will likely all play pro as 20-year-olds.

“We are going to be young up front and we’re fortunate that we’ve got some players coming in that I think are going to be real good young players,” McCrimmon said. “I expect that we’ll have a lot of opportunity for forwards that are coming into our team and returning forwards will have a lot of opportunity as well. And I think on defence and goal, we’re solid.”

Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition April 28, 2012