Alberta-bound Wheat Kings eager to play in front of friends, family

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This article was published 31/12/2015 (3548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings may have just enjoyed their Christmas break, but that won’t make this weekend any less fun for the team’s sizable Alberta contingent.

With games in Edmonton on Friday at 2 p.m., Red Deer on Saturday at 7 p.m., and Calgary on Sunday at 4 p.m., a number of players will get a chance for a quick visit with family. Seven Wheat Kings come from Alberta, although John Quenneville of Edmonton will miss the trip because he’s with Team Canada at the world junior championship in Finland.

The other Alberta-raised Wheat Kings are Braylon Shmyr, Reid Duke and Logan Thompson of Calgary, Jordan Papirny of Edmonton, Mark Matsuba of St. Albert and Kale Clague of Lloydminster.

Thompson’s family of four and about a dozen others will be attending all three games, which is key for a backup goalie who isn’t certain when he will see action. The 18-year-old Thompson, who spent time with the club early last season, is making his third extended trip to Alberta.

He won his first Western Hockey League game in Red Deer in 2014.

“I’m excited to head back there and whatever game I get, I know I’ll be ready for sure,” Thompson said. “It’s always nice to get back home.”

It’s the same for 18-year-old defenceman Matsuba, who has seen a large increase in his minutes on the ice recently. He is expecting a massive turnout in Edmonton that will include his folks, grandparents and some aunts and uncles.

“Coming back so early after the break it’s kind of an awkward situation because there’s just a couple days where you’re going back to Brandon and then you’re heading back to Edmonton,” Matsuba said. “But it’s going to be nice to see family.”

Just one of the three buildings has been very hospitable to the Wheat Kings recently. In the last five years, Brandon is 1-6-1-0 at Rexall Place in Edmonton and 1-7-0-0 at the Saddledome, but 6-1-0-1 at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer.

Shmyr’s mother will be attending the Red Deer and Calgary games. He said he’s been more confident since overcoming an upper-body injury earlier this month, culminating in a hat trick against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Tuesday.

But he knows what lies ahead.

“It’s going to be a good test for us,” Shmyr said. “We just have to stay focused and battle through those three games.”

In addition to being short-staffed and missing some key players, Brandon hasn’t beaten their three hosts this seasons, going 0-3-0-1 against the Hitmen (24-13-1-1), Oil Kings (15-19-4-0) and Rebels (24-13-0-0) at Westman Place.

But Clague, whose family and many of his friends are making the two-hour trip from Lloydminster to watch the Wheat Kings play against the Oil Kings, expects to be energized for the trip.

“You obviously want to play good with all of those people watching,” Clague said. “It’s going to be a fun game.”

With the Wheat Kings (23-11-1-2) nursing a narrow lead over the Prince Albert Raiders in the East Division, earning at least some points is paramount.

Matsuba said that with three games so close together, sleep, hydration and plenty of calories are key. Even so, the team will have to find a way to excel.

“We’re just going to have to do our best to stick to our game plan, whether we’re fatigued or not,” Matsuba said. “We have to try to be at our best.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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