U15 Wheat Kings made history

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This article was published 04/01/2023 (977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The under-15 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings displayed a virtually unparalleled level of dominance on the ice in the 2021-22 season.

For their history-making feat of becoming the first U15 team from Brandon to win a provincial championship, they’ve been named the Brandon Sun’s Mike Jones Award winner as Westman’s team of the year.

The squad of players born in 2007 and 2008 was led by head coaches Dave Lewis and Craig Anderson, along with assistant coaches Ty Lewis and Micheal Ferland and goaltending coach Tyson Verhelst.

“We take a tremendous amount of pride in it,” Lewis said of the championship. “It sets a bar, sets a standard. This year’s team sees the banner on the wall and want to add their names to that wall now too. It sets an expectation, and hopefully each team going forward will try and attain.

“For us doing it last year, that was very special and we’re very proud of it, but we hope that every kid who comes through Hockey Brandon and plays on the U15 AAA program aspires to meet that goal.”

The success came from a unique confluence of events.

The Wheat Kings actually began preparing for this season when nearly the entire team was in minor bantam in the fall of 2020. While the season was ultimately wiped out by COVID, they had two-hour practices virtually every day for two months before the rinks were shut down.

In addition, the opening of the Western Canada Hockey Academy had an unforeseen benefit.

The academy doesn’t have teams in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, so any players who moved to the city to enrol in the WCHA suited up with Hockey Brandon squads. Three high-end players, second-year forward Easton Odut of Dauphin, second-year forward Brady Turko of McCreary and first-year defenceman Nolan Saunderson of Carberry, became Wheat Kings instead of suiting up with the Parkland Rangers and Southwest Cougars.

With the additions, leading scorer Cole Temple said it didn’t take long to realize they would be pretty good.

“I didn’t really know what to expect because we got Turko and Odut from Parkland,” Temple said. “I had played with them for a while and knew they were great players and would do wonders for this team. In the first couple of games I was like ‘Wow, we have something special and we can do something with this for sure.’”

On top of that, all but two members of last season’s team were major bantams — players in the second year of their two years of eligibility in the age group — and the two rookies were second-leading scorer Jaxon Jacobson and Saunderson, an impactful defenceman.

“The first practice we had with our team after it was finalized, we got our brand new room and Dave and Chevy came in to talk to us,” Jacobson said. “The first question they asked us was ‘Who is a vet on this team?’

“Some of the guys who played U15 the year before were kind of thinking about it but they made sure that we understood no one was a vet and everyone was playing for a role on this team and everyone is equal and playing for first line and doing their job.

“I really think that helped us a lot.”

It’s hard to imagine a team having a much better start. They finally dropped their first regular season game on Jan. 22, falling 8-4 to the Eastman Selects after winning 24 in a row.

During that time, however, they also competed in the 29-team Graham Tuer U15 Challenge in Regina in late October against clubs from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. After rallying to tie their first game and then winning three blowouts, the Wheat Kings took a 3-0 lead against the Prairie Storm in the semifinal.

The Storm rallied to tie the game in the second period, and Jonah Pinel scored the winner six minutes into overtime to hand the Wheat Kings their first loss of the season. While Prairie Storm went on to win the tournament title, that wasn’t much consolation to a distraught group of Brandon players, who had tasted defeat for the first time.

“That game was an emotional game for us,” Odut said. “We went to the dressing room after that overtime loss and we were all just bummed. It was ‘Dang it, we want that one back for sure.’

“Our coaches told us that we had to move on, we have the league to win, and we just have to keep moving forward. I do think the loss helped us because we had to hate losing more than we liked winning.”

Anderson said he wasn’t happy they lost — and the dressing room was devastated — but the veteran coach also recognized the game’s value as a teaching tool.

“It was their first loss of the year and they didn’t know how to handle themselves or how to handle adversity,” Anderson said. “You never want to lose but I think we gained a lot from it. We learned that when we’re not ready to work and not ready to play that we’re a beatable hockey team. With the leaders we had and the guys we had, they learned a lot from the experience.”

The Wheat Kings went 31-1-0-0 in the regular season, outscoring their opponents 284-88, or an average of 8.8 goals per game to 2.75.

The high-scoring Wheat Kings had a startling array of weapons, with a point per game or more coming from forwards Temple (58 goals, 50 assists, 108 points), Jacobson (50g, 53a, 108p), Turko (30g, 51a, 81p), Odut (36g, 39a, 75p), Colten Worthington (27g, 35a, 62p), Loughlan McMullan (26g, 28a, 54p) and Ethan Stewart (10g, 17a, 27p in just 18 games).

“At least one of us boys would have an awesome play every night,” Odut said. “Watching from the bench, we were always so close and so tight as a team, we would just cheer and get hyped up when somebody made a great play or scored an awesome goal. We were crazy on the bench, and that bench mentality went onto the ice with that energy.”

Deeper into the lineup, forwards Tate Bercier (9g, 13a, 22p), Spence Mott (9g, 12a, 21p) and Roan Michalchuk (7g, 11a, 18p) were all meaningful contributors as well.

“If one line wasn’t doing it one night, one of the others was,” Temple said. “They would score a bunch of goals for us and lead the team. We had incredible depth and could rely on anyone at any moment in the game. It was nice to see everyone putting in the work and doing everything for the team.”

Anderson said the forward group reminded him of his 2004 Wheat Kings team that won a national U18 championship.

“The depth allowed us to do so many different things and come at teams in so many different ways,” Anderson said. “The most challenging thing with having that much depth up front was to try and get them the ice time that they deserve.”

The offence also came from the blue-line, with Dustin Bell (8g, 21a, 29p), Josh McGregor (5g, 22a, 27p), Saunderson (2g, 20a, 22p), Kaeson Fisher (4g, 13a, 17p), Konnor Klemick (3g, 10a, 13p), Konner MacKay (0g, 11a, 11p) and Aiden Laing (0g, 6a, 6p) all pitching in.

The seven players on the blue-line had a nice split of abilities, with Saunderson, McGregor and Fisher showing more offensive flair, while Bell, Klemick, MacKay and Laing served more of a shutdown role.

“We had a really good defence last year,” Odut said. “We had some that like to rush, some that liked to stay back and pass the puck lots. It really worked out for us as a team and for our forwards. Our defence really were the people who gave us the scoring opportunities from breaking out of our zone and getting into theirs and holding the line. The D pairings worked so well together.”

In net, Brady Low (32 games played, 2.60 goals-against average, .890 save percentage) and Matthew Michta (31gp, 2.90 gaa, .896 sp) pretty much split the load during the regular season.

“At the start of the year, people expected it to be a weaker spot with how much forward skill we had and how much defensive skill we had, but as the year went on, people began to realize how good they played for us and how they stood on their head when needed,” Jacobson said. “I thought they really helped us out, especially against some of the stronger teams.”

Anderson agreed.

“They were both capable of being starters in the league,” Anderson said. “With that, we were able to rotate them for the most part game by game. As goaltenders, they had to give us a chance to win every night and their job was made a little easier with the depth we had up front and the strength of our back end, but in saying that, they did their job when they had to.

“Our success was not just attributed to our forwards or defence, it was the whole group.”

The Wheat Kings also had the benefit of an exceptional staff. Anderson and Lewis have both coached for a couple of decades, while Lewis and Ferland were recently retired pros and Verhelst had a fine WHL career before concussion issues ended his playing career.

“Our coaches really kept us intact,” Odut said. “If we played badly, they would tell us what we had to improve and we would listen and follow the rules. We knew what we had to do to get the job done. We had so much talent but we knew we also had to work hard and keep rolling as a team.

“We could never play as individuals, and that’s what made us so successful. We used each other instead of just making it a solo show.”

A captain was never named, with Jacobson, Bell, Temple, Odut and Turko all appointed as alternate captains in the leadership group.

“In the first half of the season we played well just because we were a great team but the second half, we were really unstoppable. We knew what we had to do and the work paid off,” Odut said. “The physicality, the movement of the puck, just everything paid off. We wanted it so bad and we knew our team was something special and we didn’t want to let anybody down or let our team down.”

The trick was putting a full 60 minutes together, which wasn’t the norm for the talented group. But when it did happen — and they overcame their traditionally slow starts to games — they were exceptional.

“There are night we did that and we were completely dominant, right from start to finish in every aspect of the game,” Anderson said. “When we were playing 60 minutes, I don’t think there’s a team I’ve ever coached that was as strong. They just had trouble finding that groove at times but I wonder if that was the fact they knew at some point we’ll turn the switch and it will be fine.”

Lewis, who is the lead instructor at the WCHA, said it’s hard to underestimate the importance the school played in the team’s success. The majority of the players received the extra training — with a focus on skill development and skating — allowing them to focus on technical and tactical issues at practice at a different level.

“The more sound your technical skills are, the better your technical team skills are going to be,” Lewis said.

“It’s like one plus one equals three,” he added.

Another key was getting players to accept their roles on the team.

Anderson said part of their argument was that guys would be playing different roles as they moved up to higher levels, so they might as well learn how to do them now. He said players lower in the lineup were also given the opportunity to move up based on their play.

“When you have that much skill and talent, if you don’t have guys who are willing to accept roles and responsibilities, then it becomes a very, very challenging year,” Anderson said. “Guys are put in positions where they’re probably on the third line looking at playing against the other team’s top line but those guys are probably capable of being a first-line player on another team.

“If those guys aren’t willing to buy in, it’s going to make for a long year and there are going to be a lot of internal issues and a lot of guys who aren’t happy with their roles.

“We didn’t have that.”

The other thing they had that other previous teams didn’t was the chance to play in the new J&G Homes Arena, located in the far southwest corner of the city.

“It definitely brought a sense of home because we had our dressing room and were able to make this place our full-time facility,” Lewis said. “The equipment stays here, we change together, we have a fitness facility and all the boys work out together. They’re treated very, very well, more like a junior team.

“With that comes expectations of effort and work ethic and commitment to the team, and the team always comes first. Having the building here allowed us to be together more often and build that whole bond of family and team.”

He noticed a similar impact on the U18 AAA program, this season’s U15 AAA team, the U17 AAA squad and also the U15 AAA female Wheat Kings.

“We had fun,” Jacobson added. “That’s all it was. When we came to practice we were in a good mood, and even when we lost one game in the regular season to Eastman, we were at the rink having fun and working on stuff and trying to get better as individuals and as a team. The guys who were heading into their (WHL) draft weren’t focused on that. They were just trying to have fun and go day by day.”

In the playoffs, the Wheat Kings went 10-1, outgunning their opponents 70-28. They beat the Bruins Brown 3-1 in the best-of-five quarterfinals, swept Wild Gold 3-0 in the semifinals and won the title by beating Bruins Gold 4-0 in the best-of-seven final to finish the season with a remarkable 41-2-0-0 mark in the regular season and playoffs, with 44 wins, two losses, one overtime loss and a tie overall.

In the playoffs, Temple led all scorers with 15 goals and 15 assists in 11 games, while Jacobson posted eight goals and 18 assists.

“It’s a big accomplishment,” said Temple, who was one of five players from the team picked in the Western Hockey league draft. “Having the record and the season that we had, I’m pretty proud of each and every one of the guys on that team for everything. It was a great experience overall with all those guys.”

Lewis has handled a who’s who of the best hockey players that came out of the city during the last two decades but said the 2021-22 U15 squad was special.

“It’s absolutely the most talented team I’ve ever coached,” Lewis said. “They were also the best group of kids, with a bond of family and togetherness to win together, that was the best I’ve had in 20-some years. That really was the difference between that team and all the other teams I’ve had. The ability to be happy for your teammates’ success and in the end it was all about team success, not individual.

“To reach our goal based on the family approach we preached last year, that was to me most special.”

Under the old U15 AAA playoff format, a pair of recent Brandon teams won the provincial rural title and then fell against the Winnipeg champion, including the Tristen Robins-led squad in 2016 and Calen Addison’s team in 2015.

Odut said the 2021-22 club, which finally earned provincial gold, will always be a warm memory.

“It was just awesome,” Odut said. “I wake up every day and I have my medal above my bed. Just seeing it brings back all the memories, all the bus trips, all the team building, the hotels, the restaurants, everything.

“When you win a championship, the bus ride home and the little party we had after that … you want to relive it again and miss it. That team was just like one big family and we’ll never forget each other or that one moment we had as a team.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

 

PAST WINNERS

2022 — Brandon AAA Under-15 Wheat Kings, hockey

2021 — Brandon Wheat Kings, hockey

2020 — Assiniboine CC, women’s hockey

2019 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s volleyball

2018 — Minnedosa Chancellors/Rivers Rams, girls’ rugby

2017 — Neelin Spartans, boys’ volleyball and basketball

2016 — Brandon Wheat Kings, hockey

2015 — Lois Fowler team, curling

2014 — Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers, figure skating

2013 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s volleyball

2012 — Neelin Spartans, girls volleyball

2011 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s volleyball

2010 — Brandon Tri-Star Storm, women’s volleyball

2009 — Westman Wildcats, hockey

2008 — Crocus Plainsmen, girls basketball and volleyball

2007 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s basketball, and Brandon Cloverleafs, baseball

2006 — Terry McNamee team, curling

2005 — Crocus Plainsmen, hockey

2004 — Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings, hockey

2003 — Club West Rage, girls volleyball

2002 — Crocus Plainsmen, girls volleyball

2001 — Mike McEwen team, Linda Van Daele team, curling

2000 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s basketball

1999 — Crocus Plainsmen, boys volleyball

1998 — Lois Fowler team, curling; Mike McEwen team, curling; Lisa Roy team, curling; Doug Armour team, curling; Rob Fowler team, curling

1997 — Neepawa Farmers, baseball

1996 — Brandon Wheat Kings, hockey, and Brandon University Bobcats, men’s basketball

1995 — Brandon Wheat Kings, hockey

1994 — Brandon Cloverleafs, baseball

1993 — Maureen Bonar team, curling

1992 — Boissevain Broncos, boys basketball

1991 — Maxine Heritage team, curling

1990 — Duane Edwards team, curling

1989 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s basketball

1988 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s basketball

1987 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s basketball

1986 — Vincent Massey Vikings, girls basketball

1985 — Vincent Massey Vikings, girls basketball

1984 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s basketball

1983 — Mabel Mitchell team, curling

1982 — Mel Logan team, curling

1981 — Cec Leach/Petey Two, retrieving

1980 — Brandon University Bobcats, men’s basketball

1979 — Brandon Wheat Kings, hockey

1978 — Riverside Canucks, baseball

1977 — Brandon Wheat Kings, hockey

1976 — Deloraine Royals, hockey

1975 — Vincent Massey Vikings, girls basketball

1974 — Don Barr team, curling