WHL NOTEBOOK: WHL’s 60th season set to begin

The 11th season of WHL Notebook begins with the annual grab bag of facts and figures for the Western Hockey League’s 60th season and the 59th campaign in the WHL for the Brandon Wheat Kings.

• MAKING MOVES — The club made some moves on Sunday, reassigning their two 16-year-old defencemen, Easten Turko of McCreary and Ethan Young of Regina. Both had excellent camps but were the victim of a logjam on the blue-line.

With Merrek Arpin battling an injury sustained on Friday, that almost certainly means 17-year-old Cameron Allard and rugged 19-year-old Max Lavoie have made the club. Lavoie, who played with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Winkler Flyers last season, signed a WHL contract on Monday.

• COMING HOME — The Wheat Kings will have Caleb Hadland, Luke Mistelbacher, Grayson Burzynski and Jayden Kraus back today from pro camps. Their two National Hockey League draftees, Carter Klippenstein of the Minnesota Wild and Brady Turko of the Anaheim Ducks, both received invitations to main camp and remain away.

• BIG DEAL — In a trade on Monday, the Wenatchee Wild sent 19-year-old forward Miles Cooper of Calgary to the Victoria Royals for a package that included two fourth-round picks in 2026 and fourth-rounders in 2027 and 2028, a second-round pick in 2027 and 15-year-old forward prospect Chace Gregg of Winnipeg.

• SAD NEWS — Former Calgary Hitmen forward Orca Wiesblatt, 25, died in a car accident on the weekend. He is the older brother of Ozzy, Oasiz, Ocean and Oceania. Orca spent last season with the Athens Rock Lobsters in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. He also spent part of one season with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Portage Terriers.

• EXPANSION AGAIN — The Penticton Vees left the BCHL to become the WHL’s 23rd team this season.

The WHL had seven squads when it started in 1966-67, and was up to 11 teams when the Wheat Kings joined in 1967-68. It dropped to eight for two seasons and hit 10 in 1970–71 and 12 in 1971–72.

It dropped back to 11 in 1979–80, was up to 13 in 1980–81 and had one final setback when it dropped back to 12 in 1981-82. Since then, it was up to 14 in 1982-83, to 15 in 1991–92, 16 in 1992-93, 17 in 1995-96, 18 in 1996-97, 19 in 2001-02, 20 in 2003-04, 21 in 2006-07 and 22 in 2007-08.

• LONG TRIP — The B.C. Division skates into Brandon this season; the Vancouver Giants visit on Friday, Oct. 10, followed by the Kamloops Blazers (Thursday, Oct. 16), Kelowna Rockets (Friday, Dec. 12), Victoria Royals (Friday, Jan. 16) and the first-ever game with Penticton (Tuesday, Feb. 24).

• QUIZ — In team history, what’s more common, the Wheat Kings scoring more goals than they allow in a season, or giving up more goals that they score? (The answer is below.)

• HEADING WEST — The Wheat Kings make their annual trip west to the U.S. Division, beginning against the Everett Silvertips on Jan. 23, and continuing to meet the Portland Winterhawks (Jan. 24), Seattle Thunderbirds (Jan. 27), Wenatchee Wild (Jan. 28), Tri-City Americans (Jan. 30) and Spokane Chiefs (Jan. 31).

They also visit the Lethbridge Hurricanes en route on Jan. 21 during their longest trip of the year.

The only other years Brandon headed west in January were in 2017-18 and 2024-25, with the overwhelming majority of their trips through the years made in October or November.

• TOP SCORERS — The top returning player from last year’s WHL point race is Spokane Chiefs forward Berkley Catton of Saskatoon, who finished third overall in his 18-year-old year with 109 points on 38 goals and 71 assists.

The others in the top 20 are Brandon Wheat Kings forward Luke Mistelbacher (42g, 51a, 93p, ninth overall), who was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos, Prince Albert Raiders forward Aiden Oiring (28g, 56a, 85p, 15th) and Everett Silvertips forward Carter Bear (40g, 42a, 82p, 18th).

A couple more players could be returned from their pro teams as overagers but they would qualify as surprises.

• NEW TIMES — The Wheat Kings will start their 10 home games on Saturdays at 6 p.m., and five Sunday games at 4 p.m. They have nine Friday games, five Wednesday games, two Thursday games, two Tuesday games and one Monday game.

• OPENING UP — Brandon opens at home at the newly renamed Assiniboine Credit Union Place — formerly Westman Place and Westoba Place — against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 19, and the Wheat Kings have their first road game the next night when they head to Moose Jaw.

Brandon finishes its 68-game regular season schedule on March 21 when the Regina Pats visit Westoba Place. The 23-team league completes its 782-game slate the next day when the Seattle Thunderbirds and Spokane Chiefs meet.

• SHORT BREAK — Brandon’s Christmas break begins on the road after they finish a four-game Alberta road swing against the Calgary Hitmen on Dec. 19, with their return on Dec. 27 with a trip to Moose Jaw.

It’s the first time they’ve played as late as Dec. 19 since 2015. In 2024, they finished up on Dec. 17, giving the players more time at home for the holiday break.

• MOVING ON UP — Brandon has gone from 61 to 73 to 83 points in the last three seasons. If they can post 84 or more this year, it will be the third time in the franchise’s WHL history that their point total has increased for three consecutive seasons.

The others were 1973-74 to 1976-77 (58, 59, 76, 116) and 1999-2000 to 2002-03 (59, 72, 92, 98).

• HOME COOKING — The Wheat Kings have a pair of six-game home stands, between Sept. 27 and Oct. 16, and again between Feb. 16 and March 4. Brandon’s longest road trip is a five-game stretch between March 11 and 20 that includes a trip to Alberta.

• BY MONTH — Brandon has three games in September, nine in October, 11 in November, 12 in December, 14 in January, 10 in February and nine in March.

• MILESTONES — Caleb Hadland is 29 games shy of 200 and 12 points shy of 100 … Jordan Gavin needs 19 points to hit 200 … Luke Mistelbacher needs 10 games to hit 200 and 28 points to reach 200 … Nick Johnson is 39 games shy of 200 and 23 points shy of 100 … If Grayson Burzynski suits up for 67 of the 68 games, he’ll hit 300. He needs 22 points to hit 100 … Jayden Kraus needs 26 starts to hit 100.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — Brandon hosts the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday at Assiniboine Credit Union Place, and the teams meet the next night at Temple Gardens Centre.

• ANSWER — It took the Wheat Kings five WHL seasons to score more goals than they allowed, but overall they have led in 32 of 58 seasons.

The high water-mark was the +261 they posted in 1978-79 when they scored a team record 491 goals and allowed 230.

The other side of the equation was in 1984-85 when they allowed a team high 481 goals and scored just 264, a differential of -217. A season earlier they were +117, so pity the fans who rode that roller-coaster.

• SOCIAL NO MORE — Anyone who has followed me on Twitter for the last decade may have noticed my account has vanished. I made the decision to leave for good because I felt Twitter has increasingly became a cesspool in recent years.

Since I strongly believe social media is making the world both angrier and dumber, you’ll only find me in the pages of the Sun moving forward.