Wheat King goalies lend a hand to young D

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This article was published 07/10/2016 (3308 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a season of transition for the Brandon Wheat Kings, Jordan Papirny and Logan Thompson are lending an extra hand on the ice.

With defenceman Kale Clague sidelined by an injury in the early going, the veteran goalies are dealing with an entirely new top two pairings of rearguards.

“With that D-corps last year, those guys were really experienced and it was almost like you just let them do their thing,” Papirny said. “You just stop the puck and you get out there and set the puck if you have to. They kind of had an idea about what to do with it most of the time. This year is a little bit different.

“I would say that I have to be a lot more vocal back there and communicate a lot just for the younger guys on the back end who maybe the pace is a little bit different from what they’re used to. That kind of magnifies my position as a leader and communicator back there.”

Last year’s top pairings included overage captain Macoy Erkamps with Ivan Provorov, and Clague with overager Mitch Wheaton.

While the Wheat Kings do have veterans Schael Higson, former Victoria Royal Jordan Wharrie and the temporarily sidelined James Shearer, Western Hockey League rookies Daniel Bukac, Garrett Sambrook, Blake Jameson and Zach Wytinck have played major roles early in the season.

“They’re a younger group this year so me and Paps are going to have to help them out as much as we can,” Thompson said.

“Practice is huge for these guys. We’re a still a young team getting used to each other so we have to bear down in practice. With goaltenders, we help them out on the ice.”

The Wheat Kings return to action tonight when the Swift Current Broncos visit Westman Place for the second time in six days.

Last Sunday, the Broncos (4-2-0-0) scored twice in the first period and hung on for a 3-2 victory.

“They are a different team from what they were last year,” Thompson said. “I think we just have to play our structure well and play our systems and we’ll be fine. They are a fast team but we’re a big physical team with a lot of speed. I think if we play our system we’ll be just fine.”

The Wheat Kings will have a chance in the next few weeks to improve on a 1-1-1-0 start, playing three times in the next five days.

After hosting Swift Current, Brandon heads to Regina to visit the Pats on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Then the Wheat Kings play host to the Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday at 7 p.m., as the U.S. Division teams make their biennial visit to Westman Place.

“It’s an important weekend for us but first of all we have to focus in on Swift Current,” head coach David Anning said. “We need to rebound and respond from our last game on home ice here. That’s our main focus. The rest of the games will take care of themselves and we’ll prepare as they approach.”

If there’s good news for the Wheat Kings, it would have to be that both goaltenders have looked good in the early going. Papirny, who sports a .925 save percentage after starting four games, including the fog-shortened home opener on Sept. 24, was critical of his own play early in the 2015-16 season.

“I think one of the things you go into the season with is having the mindset that you want to have a really good start,” Papirny said. “That sets the groundwork for going into the year and into the Christmas break. For myself, I want to set the goal of having a really good start and setting the bar really high.”

While Thompson was disappointed the Wheat Kings lost his first start, which came against the Broncos on Sunday, he said he felt good in the net as he stopped 27 of 30 shots.

He’s hopeful that with continued practice and more experience that the defensive side of Brandon’s game will come along quickly.

“This week at practice was real good for the guys and we’re feeling real good right now,” Thompson said. “We’re not too happy with how we played against Swift last time so we’re going to come out pretty hungry.”

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