U18 club takes its place in history

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This article was published 08/03/2025 (194 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While the expansion season for the under-18 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings season in the Manitoba Female Hockey League U18 AAA may have ended a little sooner than they hoped, they still see it as a tremendous success.

The Wheat Kings, who finished fifth of nine clubs in the regular season with a record of 17-17-3, were ousted by the Yellowhead Chiefs in overtime of Game 5 of their best-of-five quarterfinal series on March 1.

Head coach Karissa Kirkup said that while that stung, it was a strong start for the new program.

“There was definitely a ton of growth throughout the season,” Kirkup said. “I knew this group and the coaching staff knew this group of girls coming for the most part and we were really excited to get a bonus chance to work with some of there older ones. What a pleasure it was to coach this group again.”

The 18-player roster was comprised of two goalies, five blue-liners and 11 forwards, including netminders Danica Averill and Shannon Hees, defenders Kasia Baranyk, Chloe Kachur, Chloe Mcbeth, Devyn Moncur and Haley Blaine and forwards Paige Crossley, Jordan Bell, Bailey Anderson, Sydney Sass, Jade Campbell, Kaia Stewart, Kaylee Dittmer, Keira Vines, Madison Blaine, Quinn Twordik and Ffion Devonald.

“It’s been super fun,” Averill said. “I knew every one of the girls and have played with all of them before but being able to hang out with all of them has been super fun.”

Dittmer agreed.

“It seems pretty cool,” Dittmer said. “I think we really deserve this team and it feels awesome to prove that.”

For the record, the Wheat Kings fell 3-2 to the Chiefs in their first-ever regular season game at the Shoal Lake Communiplex on Oct. 4. The first goal in franchise history came off the stick of Sass 18:23 into the first period on the power play with assists by Crossley and Haley Blaine.

Brandon earned its first victory with a 3-1 decision over the Westman Wildcats on Oct. 11 at the Souris-Glenwood Memorial Complex, and the franchise’s first five-on-five goal was scored that night by Dittmer 18:45 into the first period, with assists by Twordik and Madison Blaine. Averill made 42 saves for that first win.

In their first-ever game at their home building, J&G Homes Arena, Hees had the first shutout with a 4-0 blanking of the Central Plains Capitals with a 28-save performance on Oct. 12.

NEW TEAM

Hockey Manitoba announced the addition of the Brandon franchise last spring, which created an immediate shakeup for local players who were suiting up elsewhere: They had the opportunity to continue to play where they were or return to Brandon.

A year ago, the Hartney-based Westman Wildcats had a dozen Brandon players, including five graduating 2006-born players, defenders Erica Stutsky, Addison Vines and Madison Weber and forwards Karlyn Gudz and Kelsey Huibers.

That left seven Brandon players with a decision for the 2024-25 season. The Blaine twins, Sass, Scinocca, Crossley and Averill all elected to come home, with Reese Schutte staying with Westman.

There were also four players with the Portage la Prairie-based Central Plains Capitals who returned to Brandon, McBeth, Dittmer, Bell and Anderson.

In the future, Brandon players who want to play AAA in Manitoba will have to try out for the Wheat Kings first, with players who are released having the opportunity to play elsewhere.

“It’s pretty meaningful,” Campbell said. “It saves a lot of gas. It’s really good. Coming to the rink, I have a smile open my face every day. I enjoy coming to the rink because I love our team so much. We just have a great time all the time.”

In a very clear way, this season was an echo of what took place three years earlier when the U15 AAA Wheat Kings program was established in 2021.

Sass, Stewart, Hees, Vines, Kachur, Moncur, Campbell, Mcbeth, Averill and Scinocca were all part of the expansion squad that won the U15 rural Manitoba championship that year, and captured it again the next season in the newly formed U15 AAA Manitoba Female Hockey League.

“I think as an older group we had to set the standard, just like we did in U15,” Dittmer said. “We were the first age group to start and had to prove we deserved to be.”

Kirkup said that was a big help.

“Because our seniors were the inaugural U15 AAA team as well, I’ve been lucky enough to already have a chance to work with all of them,” Kirkup said. “It’s been a couple of years and they’ve gone and got some experiences in between that time in 2021 and now. I will they were familiar with me and our coaching staff’s expectations.

“It helped in the beginning. As a group, we were excited just to have the honour of being the inaugural Brandon Wheat Kings U18 AAA team and they played for the pride, played for the crown, every single night.”

COMING TOGETHER

In today’s game, the chemistry in the dressing room has become a key building block. The age of keeping the talented but disruptive superstar is largely gone, with a focus on team culture instead.

Campbell, who is a 2009-born 15-year-old defenceman with a couple of years of eligibility left, said building the franchise from the ground up was important to the players.

“Being the first team, it’s pretty important to be good role models and set a good standard for the years coming up,” Campbell said. “Being the first team is an honour and it’s really important to have that good culture and getting to meet new girls and blend with them is really important, and I think we’ve done a really good job.”

Kachur added the unfamiliarity that existed with some girls didn’t last long.

“Coming together as a team, some of us had played together and some of us hadn’t,” Kachur said. “We clicked fast I think and it helped us improve throughout the season. We’re like a family now, we’ve all bonded a lot and it’s really helped starting something new become so good so quick.”

The team has already provided a beacon for young female players in the city, with Kirkup saying it gives them a very tangible goal they can target in the future. That made it important for her players to be ambassadors for the club.

“A big thing for me is talking to other people in the community and players as well who have younger female players growing up and being able to look up to these girls and how terrific role models they are,” Kirkup said. “It’s something to look forward to and really work hard for in the future.”

While that’s the future for local youngsters, what’s coming next for the team’s six graduating seniors is also promising.

Five of them — Madison Blaine (University of Arizona, Tucson), Haley Blaine and Bell (Midland University) and Anderson and Devonald (Dakota College of Bottineau) — have all found post-secondary places to play next season.

The sixth player, Dittmer, has had offers but hasn’t made a final decision yet.

“They’re getting out of this program what they should be in the first year, which is an impressive thing,” Kirkup said. In an expansion season to remember, the players skated with a keen sense of the history they were making.

Ultimately, you only get one chance to do something first, and Kachur is just happy she was here for it.

“It’s so cool,” Kachur said. “As a team, we’ll be known forever pretty much in Brandon hockey. That’s something that is unreal to be a part of.”

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