Wheat Kings lose to Hurricanes but clinch playoff spot

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This article was published 07/03/2025 (195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings officially returned to the Western Hockey League post-season on Friday despite falling 3-1 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

Brayden Edwards, Caden Price and Brayden Yager scored for fourth-place Lethbridge (40-19-2-2), with Caleb Hadland replying for fifth-place Brandon (33-21-4-3) in front of a crowd of 3,989.

Despite the loss, Brandon clinched a playoff spot when the Red Deer Rebels lost 7-1 to the Medicine Hat Tigers. They also got some help from the Saskatoon Blades, who beat the Prince Albert Raiders 3-2 to keep the Wheat Kings within a point of the East Division crown.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was good to clinch.

“It’s nice to get that x beside your name for sure,” Murray said. “We didn’t talk about it after the game. I didn’t even look at the score in Red Deer, I knew it was pretty lopsided after two. It’s one of the goals to start the year and it’s a nice accomplishment to be a playoff team but we had an opportunity.

“I told the guys after two that P.A. game was already all over, and you’re a period away from walking out of here in first place. That’s the disappointing part. We’re running out of games here and still believe we can win the division.”

In an ominous sign in the early going, the opening faceoff at centre ice was followed by the first 90 seconds of the game played entirely in the Brandon zone, and by the six-minute mark the Hurricanes held a 6-1 edge in shots and a heavy edge in territorial play.

The hosts hit the board seven minutes 15 seconds into the first period when Brandon turned the puck over behind their net and Edwards blasted a shot from the slot past Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason for his team-leading 29th goal of the season.

Oddly enough, Brandon showed its first signs of life as it killed a penalty. Hadland was denied by Lethbridge goalie Jackson Unger on a breakaway, but came back in on a two-on-one with Matteo Michels and showed pass until he snapped a shot from the top of the circle for his second shorthanded goal of the season and the team’s eighth.

The hosts regained the 96 seconds later when the puck bounced in front of the Brandon net and both Bjarnason and Price swung their sticks at it, but Price was successful. After a brief video review to ensure Price didn’t make contact too high, the play stood.

To make matters worse, Joby Baumuller took a roughing penalty off the ensuing draw, sending the Hurricanes back to the power play. Lethbridge cashed in again 69 seconds later when Yager’s pass hit the stick and skate of Gio Pantelas and glanced into the net.

A 15-5 edge in shots reflected Lethbridge’s dominance through 20 minutes.

“Overall it was a pretty disappointing effort,” Murray said. “There’s no question some of these teams are really good but I felt as though our first period was really sluggish and we get down 3-1.

“We weren’t very involved until about two minutes left in the second period and in the third we had a little bit of zone time and chances but it’s frustrating. We have to start the game like that and give ourselves a chance. We’re starting behind the 8-ball when we have a poor first period.”

It was more for much of the second period.

It took five minutes for Marcus Nguyen to get a shot as they struggled at times to even the skate the puck out of their own zone under a withering Hurricanes forecheck.

Meanwhile, Bjarnason singlehandedly kept the game close as he denied Logan Wormald, Tony Wilson and Shane Smith on breakaways and stopped a quick shot by Wormald on a two-on-one.

Midway through the third period, Bjarnason may have made his best save of the night when he absolutely stole a goal from Edwards when the trailer on an odd-man rush had a point blank shot from a few feet as the netminder scrambled back into position. He still managed to track it down.

The Wheat Kings received a four-minute man advantage eight minutes into the third period and fired five shots on net, although none were high quality chances, and they remained down a pair of goals.

Brandon pulled its goalie with 2:25 remaining and had incredible pressure, with their best opportunity coming on a backdoor one-timer that Jordan Gavin missed.

Brandon had another faceoff in the Lethbridge zone with 94 seconds remaining after a missed attempt at the open net led to an icing call, but never seriously threatened again.

Bjarnason made 31 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Unger stopping 24 shots for the Hurricanes.

Brandon went 0-for-3 on the power play, with Lethbridge scoring once in two chances.

In an oddity this season for a Wheat Kings team that has been chronically missing players up front, it dressed five defenceman and 13 forwards.

Brandon added forwards Jaxon Jacobson and Joby Baumuller back to the lineup, and callup Isaac Davies played his third game in a row with the team.

Defencemen Merrek Arpin, who left the game in Edmonton in the first period, was out, along with blue-liner Adam Belusko, who was home in Slovakia dealing with an academic issue.

In addition, forward Easton Odut remains out indefinitely with an upper-body issue, and Ben Binder Nord is out week to week with an upper-body issue.

Even with more players available, Murray said the team’s veterans have to step up and lead the way.

“It’s not rocket science,” Murray said. “You look around the league and it’s pretty common who’s on the scoresheet every night. You don’t want to put pressure on players: The one thing we like about our group is we think we have a lot of different angles that we can have success from up front. At the end of the day, in the game of hockey, your best players have to be your best players.”

ICINGS: F Jordan Gustafson and F Miguel Marques remain out of the lineup for Lethbridge. The Hurricanes won three of the four games in the season series, with the Wheat Kings earning a shootout victory … Dominik Petr led the Wheat Kings with five shots on net … The game took two hours, 25 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Lethbridge won 36-27 … Brandon finishes up the Alberta road trip on Sunday afternoon when they face the Calgary Hitmen. The puck drops at 3.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

FRIDAY

Hurricanes 3, Wheat Kings 1

First Period

1. Lethbridge, Edwards 29 (Wormald) 7:15.

2. Brandon, Hadland 22 (unassisted) 12:34 (sh).

3. Lethbridge, Price 9 (Cozens, Wormald) 14:02.

4. Lethbridge, Yager 12 (Braillard) 15:11 (pp).

Penalties — Klippenstein Bdn (hooking) 10:51, Baumuller Bdn (roughing) 14:25, McQueen Bdn (roughing) 20:00, Price Let (roughing) 20:00.

Second Period

No Scoring.

Penalties — Mantei Bdn (roughing) 11:36, Johnson Let (slashing) 11:36, Doyle Let (roughing) 11:36.

Third Period

No Scoring.

Penalties — Wormald Let (high sticking, double minor) 8:20

Shots on goal by

Brandon 15 9 11 — 25

Lethbridge 5 13 6 — 34

Goal — Brandon: Bjarnason (L, 18-13-3-0). Lethbridge: Unger (W or L, 23-17-4-2).

Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-3; Lethbridge: 1-2.

Referees — Adam Bloski, Brody McGrath.

Linesmen — David Gilfoy, Marcus Gerow.

Attendance — 3,989 in Lethbridge.