Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
It’s a task that will require the Wheat Kings to win a playoff series without playing a single game in Brandon.
But so far, so good for the Wheat Kings.
On Thursday night, the Wheat Kings renewed their playoff rivalry with the Calgary Hitmen, who have the benefit of home-ice advantage for four games as well as playing three “road” games in what they will consider to be a neutral site at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre, due to the annual Royal Manitoba Winter Fair once again taking over the Keystone Centre.
A series is never as simplistic as statistics suggest, but this first-round matchup could come down to a few key areas:
1. Home Sweet Home: How well the Wheat Kings make use of their unofficial second home at the MTS Centre will be crucial. Brandon is 14-8 overall in playoff games played in Winnipeg, but have only posted a 3-3 record at the MTS Centre, where Game 3 (Sunday), Game 4 (Tuesday) and possibly Game 5 (Thursday) will be played.
2. Road Warriors: The Wheat Kings were the sixth-best road team in the WHL this season (20 wins, .556 winning percentage) and will need to be even better in the playoffs to pull off the upset. However, Thursday night’s series-opening 6-2 triumph over the Hitmen at the Saddledome was a great start.
3. Specialty Teams: Brandon’s potent power play (third-best at 26.3 per cent) needs to break down Calgary’s capable penalty killing (fourth-best at 81 per cent). As goals get harder to come by in the playoffs, special teams can decide a series.
4. Goaltending: With a solid .916 save percentage this season — and a superb .928 mark over his last 16 games — Wheat Kings netminder Corbin Boes could steal this series. Boes’ save percentage was .020 better than either Calgary netminder Chris Driedger or Brandon Glover and his performance could be the difference.
5. Top Talent: While the Hitmen have more balance throughout the lineup and have displayed superior overall team defence, the Wheat Kings have a big edge in elite players.
Wheat King stars Mark Stone, Mike Ferland and Ryan Pulock all made the Eastern Conference all-star team, while the Hitmen were shut out. If Brandon’s best players take over this series, they could carry the Wheat Kings into Round 2.
SERIES SETS UP
Without a single home game in Brandon, plus added travel expenses and the sticker shock of booking the MTS Centre, the Wheat Kings will be simply hoping to break even in the first round of the playoffs.
However, having the Hitmen agree to a 2-3-2 series format makes the best of a bad situation for the Wheat Kings, who have set a fan-friendly time (6 p.m.) for Sunday’s Game 3 at the MTS Centre, giving Brandon-area supporters the chance to travel a couple hours to Winnipeg for the game and still be home by midnight.
“The Sunday game fits into our schedule great,” said Wheat Kings general manager Kelly McCrimmon, who has to cover all Hitmen expenses on the two off-days in Winnipeg — the Jets play Monday and Wednesday — since Westman Place is unavailable. “It’s an earlier start and fans can travel in and travel out and with the weather we’re having, there’s no travel concerns ... We have all three games in Winnipeg during spring break, so that certainly appeals to Brandon fans. And then from a travel standpoint, we will bus to Calgary a maximum of two times as opposed to a maximum of three times in a traditional 2-2-1-1-1 series.”
Still, while most teams look at the playoffs as bonus and a way to turn a profit, the Wheat Kings remain financially — and competitively — handcuffed without home ice in the first round due to the annual spring Winter Fair.
“At a time of year where everybody is trying to make a dollar, we don’t even start thinking about that, until if, and when, we get to Round 2,” McCrimmon said.
WHERE’S THE JUSTICE?
Provincial Court Judge Catherine Carlson has been justifiably criticized from coast-to-coast for her controversial decision to hand sexual predator Graham James only a two-year sentence for ruining the lives of Russell’s Theoren Fleury and cousin Todd Holt while they played junior hockey for him in the 1980s and 1990s.
It’s mindboggling how out-of-touch the “justice” system can be with average Canadians, who have flocked to open-line talk shows and social media sites to voice their outrage over the lenient sentence. At the very least, this repeat offender should have received a similar 3 1/2-year sentence to the one he received after his previous conviction for molesting Elkhorn’s Sheldon Kennedy, among others. The six-year sentence the prosecution was looking for this week would have been far more appropriate. If the current sentence stands, James could be eligible for full parole as early as November.
Thankfully, the Justice Department is reviewing the decision. For the victims, who showed tremendous courage in coming forward, here’s hoping there will be an appeal and the subsequent sentence will finally fit the crime.
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition March 23, 2012
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It’s a task that will require the Wheat Kings to win a playoff series without playing a single game in Brandon.
But so far, so good for the Wheat Kings.
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It’s a task that will require the Wheat Kings to win a playoff series without playing a single game in Brandon.
But so far, so good for the Wheat Kings.
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