Brandon’s Colten Worthington and Ethan Stewart repped the Maple Leaf well.

The pair of hometown products are coming off a podium finish in Trois-Rivières, Que., after helping Canada West to its first silver medal in the World Junior A Challenge since 2012 — when they fell in the final to the United States in Yarmouth, N.S., with a 6-3 loss.

History was much of the same this time around. Worthington, Stewart, and company ran into their familiar rivals south of the border in the gold-medal game and dropped a 5–1 decision, and while the result may have stung, earning silver at a tournament featuring some of the top talent in Junior A is nothing to sneeze at either.

“It was pretty exciting,” said Stewart, who tallied one goal and four points through five games with Canada West. “Getting a chance to win a gold medal was super cool for sure, and getting that silver medal is pretty awesome too.

The Brandon Wheat Kings finally closed out a game in Red Deer, beating the Rebels 2-1 in Western Hockey League action at Marchant Crane Centrium on Tuesday to win their seventh game in a row.

Brandon (18-11-1-0) received its goals from Joby Baumuller and Jimmy Egan, with Ty Coupland replying for Red Deer (10-17-1-2) in front of a crowd of 3,015.

It had been more than three years since the Wheat Kings won in the building, a 4-2 Brandon victory on Nov. 19, 2022. They lost the last five games by either one or two goals, twice by goals in the final minute.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was nice to leave Red Deer with two points. The game may have turned on a call by the video goal judge, a fate that wasn’t as kind to the visitors a year ago.