Recalling their run to the Memorial Cup

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This article was published 01/06/2016 (3594 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Twenty years ago, the Brandon Wheat Kings were playing in their third Memorial Cup in the modern era.

On a team filled with stars, including Chris Dingman, Wade Redden, Peter Schaefer and Mike LeClerc, the Wheat Kings entered the four-team tournament with high hopes.

They went on to post a 2-2 record in the tournament, beating the Guelph Storm 2-1 on May 12, topping the host Peterborough Petes 3-2 in overtime, losing 3-1 to the eventual champion Granby Predateurs and then falling 4-3 in the semifinal to the Petes. It was a bitter disappointment for the Wheat Kings, who were red hot in the last half of their Western Hockey League season.

During a recent series of profiles done with the members of that team, they discussed their season, the Memorial Cup tournament, the heartache that came with the loss in the semifinal and how time has shaped their memories of the event.

In their own words, the Brandon Wheat Kings and the 1995-96 Memorial Cup.

THE REGULAR SEASON

BOB LOWES (head coach): “You work hard and you’re pushing and pushing. I remember that year just trying to get your culture and team built so that they play the way that you want them to play, they practise the way you want them to play. We hit a point probably in February where it just kind of ran itself. We still had to be there but I can still remember that before games I knew that we were going to play well. They knew how to prepare and how hard they wanted to play. That’s a testament to those guys; they kind of took the direction and coaching and then they took it themselves. They wanted to win for each other. It’s kind of neat to watch that when you see a thing evolve.”

DAN TETRAULT (defenceman): “Everyone got along great. We were like a close family. That’s one of the reasons why we won so many games and won that championship that year. Bobby was hard on us, but the reason why was he wanted to win at all costs and that’s why we won that championship. We had the most talent and you combine that with hard work, that’s just a recipe for a championship team.”

JODY LEHMAN (goalie): “If there were 12 or 13 guys not playing one night, there was seven other guys who could win the game by themselves. We were deep. That’s why we won 23 straight that year.”

LOWES: “I remember Brad McCrimmon watching us play and he couldn’t believe how well we played. That was a real compliment because he was still playing in the NHL then. He said ‘You play better than some pro teams,’ just how disciplined we were. We would change in 45 seconds and we didn’t have selfishness. Guys played for the team and I think that’s why we won.”

BRIAN ELDER (goalie): “We had a team that year that I think a lot of us believed that we could win every single game, and not just win but our mentality was to win by a lot. I see a lot of parallels with our team and the team that Brandon has right now. It kind of goes with Bobby never being satisfied. If we won 5-3 but could have won 7-3, that’s what his expectation was and what ours was as well.”

BOB LOWES: “We played four lines so you were taking ice time away from those big guys too. The fourth line was so good at playing a role and playing a certain way. We would play them because they would have the puck in the other team’s end. We could roll four lines and play short, hard shifts. I thought we played at a real high energy level and pace.”

RYAN ROBSON (forward): “You learn very quickly being in the WHL that you don’t get too high after a win or too low on a loss. That’s something they instil in you when you get there. You have to play 72 games and playoffs and you have to be resilient. Things like that, you remember them fondly, certainly losing you don’t, but things go away quickly, those feelings. Especially now, you sit and appreciate it. They’re all good times now.”

LOWES: “We had lots of talent obviously, but what I think really happened is that they came together as a team. They enjoyed playing with each other and were a real tight-knit group. And because of that, we were able to achieve that goal. When you’re that deep sometimes, the ice time is hard to divvy out. We had two lines that could have been a number one line. You would have to decide during the game which one was going better or who was going to play in the last minute in certain situations because we could have picked 10 or 12 guys. Guys wanted to win and they wanted to win for each other.”

Jody Lehman was acquired at the trade deadline as starter Brian Elder dealt with recurring injuries. The overage Lehman proved to be a key pickup.

LOWES: “Once we got him, it solidified our goaltending. We had two solid goalies. He came in and right away the guys liked him. He was a real rallying guy. He wasn’t a quiet understated guy, he was vocal. And he competed so hard that they rallied around him. He fed off the team and they fed off of him. It was a great fit.”

WHL PLAYOFFS

Brandon tore through the post-season. They swept the Saskatoon Blades and their super line of league scoring leaders Mark Deyell and Frank Banham in four games.

After finishing off the Red Deer Rebels 4-0, Brandon faced its stiffest test in a talented and deep Prince Albert Raiders team that had taken them to seven games a year earlier in one of the great series in Brandon history. This time Brandon did the trick in six games.

Finally, the Wheat Kings beat the Spokane Chiefs in five games to win the title on the road.

LOWES: “We knew if we beat P.A. there was a good chance, and we beat them in six. We were a good team.”

LEHMAN: “We just got better and better and beat Spokane in the final.”

BURKE HENRY (defenceman): “I still think of winning the WHL championship in Spokane and the 20-odd hour bus ride home and how we even had a great time riding the bus home.”

THE MEMORIAL CUP

For the veterans, the trip to Peterborough was their second Memorial Cup in a row after the host Kamloops Blazers beat them in the league final and Brandon went as the WHL representative in 1994-95. With experience under their belts, they went to Ontario with high hopes.

ELDER: “At the Memorial Cup, you’re seeing the best of the best and I think we went in with that mentality, that we’re going to go in there and beat everyone. It’s not that easy. You have to work hard and obviously things didn’t quite work out with us but the league championship was pretty special.”

VINNIE JONASSON (forward): “The calibre of hockey was amazing. You’ve got the four best Tier 1 teams in the country. It really opens a young guy’s eyes to the level of talent that is out there. Going in, we were pretty confident that we would be one of the last two teams in that tournament. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.”

GERHARD UNTERLUGGAUER (defenceman): “That was a tough year because we won the WHL and went to the Memorial Cup. I was already skating at that time, but they didn’t want to let me play because it was only four months after I got hurt and you’re not allowed to play until you hit six months. That was really tough, sitting there watching guys playing awesome hockey on a great team. And you have to sit there and watch them and do nothing. It was a tough one.”

JUSTIN KURTZ (defenceman): “Going into Peterborough, I’m still disappointed to this day because I thought we had the best team on paper there. The night before the tournament started, I remember sitting in my hotel room and they had a poll on TSN. I think we were rated 79 per cent to win the whole thing. To this day, it still bugs me. Obviously it was great winning the championship and it’s something special but to go on and win the Memorial Cup would have been even more special. It’s too bad we couldn’t have done that. We tried our best but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

SVEN BUTENSCHON (defenceman): “Going as the Western Hockey League champions and just steamrolling from February on, and when going to Peterborough, it’s your last kick at the can for the veterans. It’s unlike anything else.”

CORY CYRENNE (forward): “Our team that year, I think (general manager) Kelly (McCrimmon) would probably agree, were a real seven-game series team. We had such work ethic and all different styles of teams. We would just grind teams down over seven games. So you kind of wish that format was more of a seven-game series format. But at the end of the day, it was a great experience.”

ELDER: “We were very fortunate, some of us, not to go to just one but two. One year I played in it and the other year I had the best seat in the house. It’s an exciting tournament obviously and something you never forget about. Your role is a little bit different I guess as a backup goalie. Your role is basically to be the number one cheerleader and keep your teammates’ spirits up. When we did have practices you have to work hard and put your best foot forward so that they can be better.”

UNTERLUGGAUER: “I was already on the ice wearing that bright orange jersey that meant nobody was allowed to touch me just in case I twist my knee again. I was already feeling great and I was begging the coaches to let me play but they said, no, no chance, because the doctor will kill us. That was just brutal sitting there and watching. To be able to practise almost normal … my knee felt great. It was tough.”

BOBBY BROWN (forward): “I understand that the Memorial Cup is the hardest trophy to win and I really believe that. However, if you look at the design of our team, it was unlucky that we got put in a situation where we had to play in the rink we had to play in and couldn’t take our physically imposing team over a seven-game series. I don’t care if it was Granby or Peterborough or whoever, you put us in a seven-game series against any of those teams, rewind it 20 years and we win. You just couldn’t keep up with the waves that we had.”

THE RINK

The players had a little surprise waiting for them in Peterborough. The Memorial Cup was held in the 40-year-old Peterborough Memorial Centre, a facility that had some interesting quirks.

KELLY SMART (forward): “That rink was just a notch above Moose Jaw’s (Crushed Can). It’s kind of surprising they had a Memorial Cup there.”

KURTZ: “I remember in that rink in Peterborough, the one end was like a hall. It had a gymnasium area floor and they put these planks, makeshift seats to put more people in the rink and that’s where all of our fans sat. I remember these two-by-eight planks and the fans with signs ‘Planks for the memories.’”

DARREN VAN OENE (forward): “It was a tiny little rink and the corners were not your typical corners in a normal rink. You would dump the puck in and it wouldn’t go around the boards. It could end up right in the slot. It was definitely a hometown rink. It was loud and small.”

CYRENNE: “I remember that there were square corners in that rink and it made for interesting breakouts and things like that.”

BUTENSCHON: “I remember the rink being really tough to play in. I don’t think we ever really got comfortable. The corners were so square. We, for whatever reason, couldn’t adapt to the rink and we never played like we did in the playoffs.”

THE GAMES

In their opener, Brandon beat Guelph 2-1. Ryan Risidore scored early for Guelph, but Darren Van Oene scored a few minutes later and Dorian Anneck netted the winner midway through the first period.

DORIAN ANNECK (forward): “We certainly earned our right to be there with winning the league in Spokane. Coming into the host Peterborough, we knew that there were a lot of other great teams there, but we kind of stuck to our plan. We came out with a strong showing in the first game, winning 2-1. I think I remember scoring in that game. The intensity and the duration of that tournament, everything happened so quickly. Everything was so magnified that there was no room for error because it’s such a quick tournament.”

In their second game, Brandon’s Peter Schaefer scored 3:58 into overtime as the Wheat Kings beat the Petes 3-2. Chris Dingman and Wade Redden also scored for Brandon, with Scott Barney and Mike Williams giving Peterborough a brief 2-1 lead.

CYRENNE: “It was a great experience to be playing with all of the great players on the winners from across the country.”

JONASSON: “There’s so much hype around that tournament. You basically have every team in the NHL there looking at players and you have people surrounding the teams and media and everything else. It almost seemed like it happened too fast. We were there for only a week, but it seemed like that week went by in a blur. All of a sudden, the tournament was over and we on our way back to Brandon. It was a privilege to be a part of a tournament like that and experience a tournament like that, but ultimately our end goal as a team was to win the Memorial Cup that year so there was some disappointment on our end.”

ROBSON: “I remember one time there was a faceoff in our end and our line was up and I went and took the faceoff. Whoever it was I was against made me look pretty stupid. He put the puck between my legs and had a quick shot and luckily Jody Lehman made a glove save. I have to be honest; I don’t think that I got back on the ice after that. Everything is magnified a thousand times in the Memorial Cup.”

LEHMAN: “There were three teams in that tournament, us, Granby and Peterborough really. It was basically anybody’s tournament. It was frustrating in the semifinal when you think you’re the better team and have a good game against you and end up with the short end of the stick.”

VAN OENE: “I remember thinking that they (Granby) would be pretty tough to beat. They were a tough squad. Peterborough, I think we matched up well against them. I think we had confidence that we could beat anybody there. You get to that point and it’s one-game elimination pretty much.”

SMART: “It was fun. Obviously we would have liked to have won, but the other teams were good too.”

ROBSON: “I remember taking a stick to my mouth and not being able to eat very well that week. Not that it really mattered. I was a fourth-line guy and didn’t play a ton, which was expected and I’m not bitter about it at all. I certainly didn’t deserve to play ahead of a lot of the guys who were there. But having a front-row seat to watch that was just absolutely amazing. It was the neatest thing in the world.”

In their final round-robin game, Brandon gave up an early 2-0 lead to Granby on goals by David Brosseau and Xavier Delisle. Bobby Brown pulled Brandon back within a goal on the power play, but Philippe Audet’s insurance goal put the game away.

BUTENSCHON: “I remember Granby being incredibly good. That was 22 or 23 years without Quebec winning it, so they stacked that team. They built it and they were going to be tough to beat in the final regardless. Peterborough had (Zach) Bierk in net and he played really solid. They had the home ice advantage. We were close, but if we had played our game it wouldn’t have been close. We were right there. It’s a shame we never played our best.”

KURTZ: “I remember going against Granby and nobody had them as a favourite in that tournament and they won it. I remember playing them and they were just on you. You had no time at all to move the puck. They were just check, check, check. You have to give them credit; it was unbelievable. We never faced a team like that all year and we had a good team.”

TETRAULT: “I remember Granby being pretty stacked. They made a lot of trades at the deadline and stacked their team with all-stars from Quebec. I believe that if we would have went into the final against them, we would have given them a better game than Peterborough did. I truly believe that, and our chances would have been great.”

KURTZ: “They had some big boys on that team.”

THE SEMIFINAL

With Granby, Brandon and Peterborough all with records of 2-1, the Predateurs received the bye to the final, setting up a rematch of the overtime game that the Wheat Kings and Petes played in the round-robin.

Brandon built a 2-0 lead in the first period on a short-handed goal by Peter Schaefer and a power-play marker from Bobby Brown.

Kevin Bolibruck replied with a power-play goal for the Petes and then Jason MacMillan tied it. Andy Johnson gave the Petes their first lead in the third period and the back breaker came on a long breakaway goal by Cameron Mann with just over two minutes left. Mike Leclerc scored with Jody Lehman on the bench, but Brandon never managed to get the equalizer.

TETRAULT: “We were up 2-0 on Peterborough in the semifinal and got a couple of bad calls against us and ended up losing. It still stings to this day.”

KURTZ: “Mann was on fire that tournament.”

BROWN: “I was at the point on the left side trying to hold the puck in and Cameron Mann slipped by and ended up getting a breakaway and scoring. The video is grainy, it’s not very good, but I’ve always said there was a hook — and I never blamed referees in my entire career — but if I knew who this guy was who refereed that game he would be on my ‘list.’ Not only did he miss the guy who hooked me, but he impeded my ability to backcheck so that Cameron Mann went on his breakaway and scored a goal. I kind of knocked him over into the net afterwards and then the referee gave me a game misconduct and kicked me out of what ended up being my last game of junior.”

JONASSON: “It was a great goal by a great player. But it was the dagger that killed us from moving to the final. I can still see that thing clear as day.”

LEHMAN: “I bit early. Way too early obviously. But a guy like him, he was a prolific scorer back then in the Canadian Hockey League. I bit on it. You get a little nervous. That made it 4-2 in the third.”

LOWES: “Over a seven-game series against those guys, that would have been their only win, I believe. I don’t think they were close to us but it was a one-shot deal but the refs got involved. That’s hard to take sometimes. But that’s life. It teaches you lessons. But that group deserved a championship.”

VAN OENE: “That was a tough pill to swallow, to say the least.”

TETRAULT: “I was a rookie and our chances were very good of winning that cup. You don’t get there often. Guys were telling me that it could be a once in a lifetime thing. I was 16 years old and I didn’t really understand. I thought maybe it would happen every year. That was the only time. It still stings to this day losing in the semifinal to Peterborough. I still have nightmares about it because I know that we had the team to win.”

ANNECK: “I can remember each game. I guess they did have the last laugh, with (Peter Schaefer) getting the overtime winner in the round-robin game. Coming into the semis, you have to make do with your chances right there and now otherwise you’re going home. It left a sour taste of course because we didn’t win but it was a great memory.”

HENRY: “The Memorial Cup experience was obviously thrilling. There weren’t that many 16-year-olds actually playing. I did get to play and had ice time and I definitely cherish the experience. I still think back to the semifinal that we lost to the host, Peterborough. I still think of it as one of the worst homer-officiated games of my career. That’s a sore spot still.”

LOWES: “I felt so bad for our guys after because we were the better team. They took it away from us.”

BROWN: “Anything can happen. It’s frustrating to look back at that and know that we had the best team but we were playing in a horrible rink. How the CHL ever decided to put the Memorial Cup in Peterborough in that — it’s going to sound like sour grapes, you can probably tell 20 years later I’m still pissed off about it — in that shit rink, it was terrible officiating. It hurt us. I still think we had the best team but I guess looking back at it none of that matters. It still stings.”

LOOKING BACK

After a year in which they did so much winning, the Wheat Kings lost their final two games. Granby went on to shut out Peterborough 4-0, becoming the first Quebec-based team to win the Memorial Cup since 1971.

Now in their late thirties and early forties, the Peterborough loss in the semifinal still hurts. But with the benefit of time, they understand what a terrific opportunity they had to play at junior hockey’s highest level.

ROBSON: “Losing sucked. Losing is never fun but I thought we had a good enough team to win it all but in a tournament style like that, what are you going to do? The guys played their guts out and just fell a little bit short two years in a row.”

LEHMAN: “It was great to be a part of, but to come so close it was bittersweet and always is. It was a good experience to be a part of.”

UNTERLUGGAUER: “It was a great year, it was a great team and we had a lot of fun, even when I couldn’t play anymore.”

BUTENSCHON: “We kind of lost some of our groove. We were so hot for so long and then there was the long break before the Cup started. That did not help us at all.”

SMART: “Obviously it would have been nice to win a Memorial Cup. When I was there we went to two of them. We won a league championship and for a lot of years not too long before I got there the teams in Brandon weren’t even making the playoffs. We were lucky. We had really good teams, we had a great group of guys.”

KURTZ: “I remember that last game after we lost that I was just disappointed. I was outside and just wasn’t very happy. Obviously nobody on our team was. It still bothers me to this day.”

LOWES: “It stings hard. I think about that every day or second day, especially if I’m scouting and I see the Wheat Kings. We deserved to be in the final with Granby. I don’t know if we would have beat them or not because they were a pretty good team, but we were the two best teams there without a doubt. The way it went down wasn’t cool. There’s a reason now why they use refs from all different leagues.”

VAN OENE: “It was a fun experience. Getting ready to play the games you knew that you would have to give everything that you had. It was a fight right to the finish, but unfortunately we lost in the semifinal for the second year, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort or desire, that’s for sure.”

TETRAULT: “You don’t get many chances or opportunities to win a Memorial Cup. That was tough. But it was a great year overall. We had a great team.”

CYRENNE: “We were built with that as our ultimate goal. Looking back now, you can see what a significant thing it was to win the Western Hockey League championship, but at the time that was the ultimate goal so it kind of left us a little disappointed for sure.”

VAN OENE: “We were always told to never make excuses for yourself. We worked hard and it just didn’t work out. It’s something that I go back to in my mind from time to time and think what if. If we had just won that game it was anybody’s game in the final. I try not to do that, but it’s human nature.”

ROBSON: “I was too stupid, I think, when I was young to really understand it and appreciate it and understand the magnitude of it. I was fortunate enough to go to Kamloops the year before. I didn’t play. I never even dressed, but I did get to go along and watch the whole thing with the team and practise with them. It is such a big and celebrated event and extremely meaningful. Maybe I was just too naive or too country boy who didn’t get it. When you’re there, you’re just a part of it and I don’t know, you kind of expect that you’re treated like a king. Oh my goodness, that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is the best and we earned it. Now I realize how hard it was to actually get there. I wish I would have appreciated it more when I was there.”

BUTENSCHON: “All the parents were there, all of the families were there, and to lose was very emotional. I’d never felt that down before in hockey. All the years and the hours you put in to reach the Memorial Cup, and then it’s over just like that. The families were there and that was kind of nice because it was quite a ways to go. My parents couldn’t always come to the games, so they were there and I spent some time with them after. We partied for a bit once we got to Brandon and did the whole year-end. And then that was it.”

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