Expectations sky-high for Brandon’s season
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/09/2015 (3647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It’s been a long time since the Brandon Wheat Kings went into a Western Hockey League season with expectations like these.
After finishing first overall in the WHL last season before falling to the Kelowna Rockets in four straight games in the league final, it’s a common belief around here that nothing but a championship will do this season. Certainly that’s what many fans want, the Canadian Hockey League has Brandon first overall in its pre-season rankings and, even if they’re hesitant to say it publicly, one gets the impression the players feel the same way. Even head coach/GM/owner Kelly McCrimmon’s decision to turn down an NHL opportunity with the Toronto Maple Leafs showed that he is all-in for this season as he attempts to add an elusive Ed Chynoweth Cup title to his list of WHL accomplishments.
The anticipation is unlike anything I’ve seen since I started covering the team on a regular basis for the Sun in 2007. Even going into the 2009-10 season, when the Wheat Kings were guaranteed a spot in the Memorial Cup as the hosts, the general consensus was that the team was still a few moves away from being a true Cup contender. (For the record Brandon was fourth in the 2009 pre-season rankings.)
This year’s Wheat Kings appear to be very close to championship calibre already, even with the possiblity they could lose three point-a-game forwards from last season by the time they settle their import and overage situations. To be sure, there are some issues to clear up, but with Brandon’s young stars stepping into their prime as junior hockey players and Ivan Provorov — who makes the Wheat Kings a different team when he’s on the ice — back in the fold, anything is possible for this team. Expected, even.
That’s a lot of weight for a group of young men, mainly teenagers, to carry around on their shoulders. There will be times they struggle with that burden — there always is, for even the best junior teams — but it should make for riveting viewing this winter.
STICK TAP FOR RON: Kudos to the Philadelphia Flyers and GM Ron Hextall for returning Provorov — as well as Travis Sanheim to the Calgary Hitmen and Travis Konecny to the OHL’s Ottawa 67s — in time for opening night. Too often, we see NHL teams dawdle about when it comes to making decisions on their top prospects. It’s refreshing to see a team act decisively when it recognizes its young players need more time to develop. As hard as it is for teenagers to postpone the NHL dream for another year, at the end of the day it’s in the best interest of all involved to get them at the level they belong as quickly as possible.