In terms of recognition for his coaching efforts, Gord Paddock is overshadowed by his brothers.

His older brother, John, is well-known to even casual fans, a former NHL bench boss who was the Western Hockey League’s coach of the year with the Regina Pats last season. Younger brother Russ was also a well-decorated coach before giving up his whistle to serve as Brandon University’s athletic director, having been named the Canada West conference coach of the year in 2010 in recognition of his success with the BU’s men’s volleyball team.

Last week, Gord got a well-deserved turn in the spotlight, guiding the Oak River Dodgers to their first Manitoba Senior Baseball League title, following up a regular-season pennant with a five-game win over the Brandon Marlins in the championship final.

Gord Paddock’s commitment is well-known to those around him. When John’s Pats were taking on the Brandon Wheat Kings in this year’s WHL playoffs and he was being interviewed about his induction in the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, the Regina coach spoke highly of the family’s other coaches — sister Rhonda is a well-regarded high-school coach as well. He praised “Gordie” not only for his coaching, but his work around the community as well, saying he wasn’t sure where Oak River would be without him. And it’s not the first time the eldest of the Paddock siblings has spoken glowingly of his brother, unsolicited, during interviews.

Gord Kaluzniak figures it was high time for his 1973-74 Selkirk Steelers to pass the torch to another Manitoba Junior Hockey League team.

The Portage Terriers’ victory in the RBC Cup on Sunday ended a 41-year drought for the MJHL at the Canadian Junior A hockey championship. Kaluzniak and his brother Garry, both now Brandonites, were key players for the Steelers when they won the MJHL’s last national title.

“It was great to see somebody win it from Manitoba and it was great to see some of the Brandon guys or the local guys that were involved in it,” Gord Kaluzniak, 58, said. “It’s hard to believe we could go that long without winning it.”

Garry and Gord Kaluzniak were 1-2 in team scoring for the ’73-74 Steelers, with younger brother Gord scoring the clinching goal in overtime of Game 7 as Selkirk beat the Smiths Falls Bears 1-0 to win the Centennial Cup, as it was known then. It was Manitoba’s second straight national title, with the Terriers having won it the year before.

It’s hard to draw any encouragement from being on the wrong end of a playoff sweep.

That’s why a remarkable Brandon  Wheat Kings’ campaign, one that included the Western Hockey League’s best regular-season record and a trip to the Ed Chynoweth Cup championship final, is hard to digest for those who have followed the team all season long.

On paper and based on their performances on the ice leading up to the series, the Brandon-Kelowna final was a dream matchup that should have been much closer than the Rockets’ four-game victory would indicate. In a way it was as the Wheat Kings came from two goals down to tie each of the first two games and the decisive contest was tied 0-0 going into the third period. But like a championship team does, the Rockets found a way to get the key goals when they were needed the most.

Compounding the frustration for the losing side was that the Wheat Kings never seemed able to play up to their potential in the final. Many of the nagging pitfalls that appeared from time to time throughout the club’s splendid 53-11-4-4 regular season reared up again in the final: shots that may have led to rebounds and ugly goals were passed up in favour of extra passes that often failed to find their mark, sometimes leading to chances the other way; the Wheat Kings spent too much time in their own zone, failing to contain playoff MVP Leon Draisaitl and his frequent linemates, Nick Merkley and Rourke Chartier, as that talented trio scored 11 of Kelowna’s 17 goals in the series; goaltender Jordan Papirny, who played virtually every minute of his 78 starts this season, made some big saves, but overall couldn’t maintain his fine level of play from earlier in the playoffs.

I first arrived in the Wheat City back in 1991, in time to watch the Brandon Wheat Kings struggle through a franchise-worst 11-win season.

Twenty-four years later, as I write my final column for the Brandon Sun, the Wheat Kings go gunning for another 50-win season tonight.

From a franchise in disarray to a Western Hockey League powerhouse, I have watched the Wheat Kings’ organization become one of the most respected in the league under the direction of coach/GM/ owner Kelly McCrimmon.

In two weeks, the Eastern Conference-leading Wheat Kings (49-11-4-3) will begin another WHL playoff run — they have made the playoffs 21 times in the past 23 years — that they hope will take them all the way to a league championship and another trip to the Memorial Cup.

Having clinched first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with eight games still to play, it has already been a season to remember for the Brandon Wheat Kings.

And with the playoffs just around the corner — 20 days away, to be exact — here’s a look at some numbers of note as the Wheat Kings gear up to take a run at the league title:

314 — The number of career games Brandon blue-liner Eric Roy has played in, trailing only Dwayne Gylywoychuk (323), Lance Monych (319) and Brodie Melnychuk (318). If he plays all eight remaining games, Roy could reach 322, which would come up just one short of Chewy’s franchise record he set during his five-year career from 1989 to 1994.

101 — The Wheat Kings’ current point total, tied with the Kelowna Rockets for first in the WHL. It’s the seventh time in Brandon’s 48-year history in the league that the Wheat Kings have cracked the 100-point plateau. If they run the table, Brandon could finish with 117 points, which would be second-best in franchise history next to the legendary 1978-79 WHL championship team that posted a brilliant 58-5-9 record.

Racing head-first downhill at 140 kilometres an hour on ice-covered tracks, Brandon’s Cassie Hawrysh is used to the twists and turns that the sport of skeleton offers.

But the 30-year-old Canadian Olympic hopeful has had to endure her most challenging season yet, battling a frustrating foot injury, funding shortfalls and equipment issues to earn a third-place overall finish on the second-tier Intercontinental Cup tour that wrapped up last weekend in Calgary. For the Neelin high school graduate, the bronze-medal finish and a 28th ranking overall in the world were consolation prizes in a season that has tested her like never before.

“It was definitely a battle, but there’s a lot of things that I am super proud of from this season, a lot of things you might refer to as disappointments, but for me I am trying to look at them all as more than just lessons, but as directional navigators for me,” Hawrysh said from Calgary, where the national team is based. “I learned a lot, in particular about my equipment, as well as what I can overcome in the face of adversity in this sport. … And for sure, a trophy and some international recognition is never a bad thing.”

After winning the 2013 national title, Hawrysh was ranked as high as ninth in the world at one point last season, but was left off of Canada’s Olympic team for the 2014 Sochi Games.

Brandon Wheat Kings head coach/general manager Kelly McCrimmon hasn’t made this many moves since Brandon’s 2010 Memorial Cup season.

The question is, with the WHL’s trade deadline just a day away, is McCrimmon finally done dealing?

Like most GMs around the league, at the very least he has been busy burning up the phone lines leading up to Saturday’s 1 p.m. deadline.

“Everyone always is discussing different player situations and that type of thing,” said McCrimmon, who already added a pair of impact players this month in deals for 19-year-old winger Morgan Klimchuk and 20-year-old defenceman Reid Gow.