Former Wheat Kings make Royal return

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This article was published 09/01/2024 (864 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There will be three familiar faces in the other lineup tonight for the Brandon Wheat Kings when they face the Victoria Royals.

Dawson Pasternak, Teydon Trembecky and Hayden Chaloner will all make their first appearances back in Westoba Place since three separate deals sent them to Vancouver Island in the last year.

Chaloner is enjoying every moment of it since the Royals arrived in town on Sunday evening.

“It’s pretty cool,” Chaloner said. “All the familiar faces and the familiar places, even the rink smells the same. It’s pretty cool to be back. It feels good.”

The five-foot-eight, 164-pound Winnipeg product was Brandon’s seventh-round pick in the 2020 draft.

Chaloner signed with the Wheat Kings after an outstanding camp at age 15 but was never able to find full-time work in the Wheat City. He said his game has evolved a lot since then.

“I think it’s gotten even faster,” Chaloner said. “That’s a big thing here, everyone is quick so you have to be faster. One thing I’m trying to grow even more is being strong on my stick and puck battles. I’m playing with bigger boys so that part of my game has had to improve.”

The 18-year-old forward was traded to Victoria on Aug. 2 for a ninth-round pick in 2026 after making nine appearances over two seasons with Brandon. He was also traded in the 2022-23 season, although that was from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Portage Terriers to the Winnipeg Freeze.

“Portage to Winnipeg was a little different because I was going back home and settling in,” Chaloner said. “Heading out to Victoria was a pretty quick adjustment. I’m familiar with (Vancouver) Island because I have some family out there and spent lots of time out there. Victoria is a great place and quick to settle into. It’s been awesome since.”

Chaloner lives about a 15-minute drive from the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, adding that all the players live within about half an hour of each other.

The Royals are also the only team in the league that has to deal with a ferry ride on every road trip but Chaloner enjoys it.

“I think there are lots of mixed feelings on it,” Chaloner said. “I enjoy it. It’s an hour-and-a-half break from the bus and you get to stand up and move around. A couple of us have some fun sometimes. It’s a good break.”

On the ice, Chaloner has four assists in 23 games and is still searching for his first WHL goal. His role for head coach James Patrick and assistant coach Morgan Klimchuk — who also played for the Wheat Kings, back in the 2014-15 season — is to provide energy when he’s in the lineup.

“I think James expects lots of work ethic and being hard on the puck, knowing the system and doing your job,” Chaloner said. “I think that’s the focus every night, giving it your all and battling every night.”

Patrick said Chaloner’s work ethic stands out, and has helped him to rapidly become a better player.

“Hayden is a young guy who is kind of learning his way in the Western Hockey League,” Patrick said. “I think he is getting better. He’s been a versatile player … In my two months with the team, I’ve noticed a real big improvement, the pace of the game in this league, how strong you have to be on the pucks, strong on your stick. In those two months there’s been a noticeable improvement, and he needed to get better.

“It’s a big jump coming from Junior A to this level.”

TEYDON TREMBECKY

Brandon originally selected the high-scoring winger in the third round of the 2020 WHL draft. The five-foot-11, 167-pound product of Sherwood Park, Alta., had an assist in five games as a callup for Brandon in the 2021-22 season and an assist in 19 games prior to the trade. And while he stood out skating against players his own age at prospect and rookie camps, he said his game had to improve.

“The WHL is a really fast league and you have to be more defensively sound,” Trembecky said. “You have to be more of a complete player, not just an offensive player. I feel like when I first came in that I didn’t really have that 200-foot game but I feel like I’ve really cleaned up my defensive side and I’m a more complete player.”

Trembecky was part of a package Brandon used to acquire forward Tony Wilson and defenceman Luke Shipley on Nov. 24, 2022. Victoria also received a third-round pick in 2023, a fifth-round pick in 2024 and a fourth-round pick in 2026. The third-round pick, which originally belonged to the Red Deer Rebels, was acquired in the Tyson Zimmer trade with the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Sept. 27, 2022.

Wilson asked for a trade earlier this season and was sent to the Regina Pats for fellow 18-year-old forward Matteo Michels on Nov. 13, 2023.

“It’s always tough,” Trembecky said of the deal. “You go from something you’re so used to. It’s kind of an every-day thing in one place to a completely different every-day thing in another place. You have to adjust but I thought I handled it pretty well. “I was pretty comfortable here in Brandon and then there’s a change in scenery and you just have to adapt to it because you don’t really have a choice.”

He quickly responded to more ice time in Victoria, scoring 12 goals and adding eight assists in 46 games.

“It was definitely a bigger role there and bigger opportunities for me,” said Trembecky, who lives about five minutes from the rink. “It was just a chance to excel as a player.”

Trembecky said he’s had tonight’s game circled on his calendar for a while.

“It’s always going to be a special place for me, getting drafted here and jump-starting my hockey career here,” Trembecky said. “It will be special every time I come back. I get to see the guys I played with in the past and kept in touch with.”

Trembecky has had a tough 18-year-old season. He was injured on Nov. 11 during a game against the Seattle Thunderbirds — the upper-body injury was ominously listed as month-to-month on the league’s weekly report — and returned to the lineup on Dec. 30. In 21 games, he has seven goals and an assist.

“I’m feeling a lot better now and it’s just getting back up to the speed,” Trembecky said. “I wasn’t on the ice for a while so it’s just getting back into the pace and making sure I’m in game shape.”

Patrick said Trembecky was hurt not long after he took over behind the bench on Nov. 6, but added the forward’s responsibilities are clear.

“He has to be an energy player,” Patrick said. “When he’s his best, he’s forechecking, he’s stopping on pucks. He can move up and down the lineup, he can make offensive plays, he can shoot a puck. He’s gotten goals this year by putting pucks on the net.”

DAWSON PASTERNAK

Pasternak was originally acquired by Brandon from the Portland Winterhawks on Jan. 10, 2023 with a conditional fourth-round pick for the rights to American prospect Colin Frank, a second-round pick in 2026 and a sixth-round pick in 2025.

He played 27 games with Brandon after the trade, scoring 10 goals and adding 12 assists.

One of Brandon’s overage spots appeared to belong to him when he returned in late August, but the Winnipeg product was battling back issues and didn’t dress in the pre-season or regular season and there was no clear timetable for his return.

Since overage forward Brett Hyland was at Washington Capitals camp with the possibility of turning pro, Brandon protected itself by acquiring overage forward Jayden Wiens from the Saskatoon Blades on Sept. 20 for a third-round pick in 2025 and a fourth-round pick in 2027.

When Hyland returned, Brandon suddenly had four overagers, including defenceman Kayden Sadhra-Kang, who has since been dealt to the Kelowna Rockets for fellow 20-year-old Jackson DeSouza.

The Wheat Kings solved their overage issue on Oct. 5, sending Pasternak to the Royals for a conditional draft pick. The terms of the conditional pick weren’t released.

“I was a little frustrated at first,” Pasternak said. “It was nice playing in my home province and close to home, but I’m really happy with the way things have turned out for me. I’m really loving it in Victoria.”

Indeed.

The five-foot-nine, 155-pound Pasternak is leading the Royals in scoring with 14 goals and 25 assists in 33 games.

“I think it’s the same expectations as for everyone else,” Pasternak said. “We just have to play a great team game and some older guys like me and a few others have to take charge sometimes and take more of a leadership stand.”

Patrick said Pasternak is possibly the team’s most valuable player. The veteran coach saw plenty of him in the interlocking games between the Winnipeg Ice and Wheat Kings last season and had a sense of his skill. But Pasternak has provided even more.

“He’s definitely taken his game to another level,” Pasternak said. “He’s been an offensive threat, he’s played two-way hockey, a lot of times when we went with seven D I’ve been able to double shift him.

“At the end of the day, you need guys who can make plays. I expect everyone to play the system, I expect everyone to compete the same way but it’s hard to score if you don’t have guys who can make plays. He has led our team in making plays.”

Pasternak expects to have a big contingent of fans in from Winnipeg tonight, and his parents are following the team as they work their way through the East Division. He’s just happy to be back.

“I’ve seen a couple of the guys so far,” Pasternak said. “It’s always fun to play in your old buildings you’ve played in before. I’m really, really excited.”

In a way, Pasternak has had an almost ideal WHL career. He had a chance to play for the wild American fans in Portland, in front of family in Brandon and now in one of Canada’s nicest cities in Victoria. He understands how lucky he’s been.

“I’ve been really fortunate with the places I ended up playing,” Pasternak said. “I’m really happy I’m going to be finishing my career in Victoria.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — How many 100-point seasons have the Wheat Kings put together since they entered the Western Hockey League in the 1967-68? How many of them can you guess?

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The player of the week is 16-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna of Whitehorse, Y.T., who had four goals, eight assists and a plus-six rating in four games last week. Not surprisingly, the goaltender of the week is overage Vancouver Giants netminder Brett Mirwald of Saskatoon, who made 48 saves against Brandon in a 4-0 Giants victory on Saturday. He also had a 43-save performance in a 5-4 overtime victory against the Calgary Hitmen.

The rookie of the week is 17-year-old Everett Silvertips forward Julius Miettinen of Helsinki, Finland, who five goals and two assists in four games.

• SIN BIN — Swift Current defenceman Zach Turner of Boissevain received a two-game suspension for cross-checking major and game misconduct and Swift Current forward Ryan McCleary received a one-game suspension for checking-from-behind major and game misconduct, both during a game against the Red Deer Rebels on Dec. 30 … Seattle forward Simon Lovsin received a two-game suspension for a check-to-head major and game misconduct against the Wenatchee Wild on Dec. 31 … Wenatchee head coach Roy Sommer was fined $500 for his actions during a game against the Seattle Thunderbirds on Dec. 31.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Marcus Kallionkieli, 22, is on loan to STS Sanok in Poland, where he has two goals and three assists in nine games. In 60 WHL games over the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons, the oft-injured forward from Finland had 12 goals, 26 assists and 32 penalty minutes and a plus-minus of +19. He had six points in four playoff games. After graduating from the Wheat Kings, the Vegas Golden Knights draft pick spent part of the season with the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates, where he had a goal in five games.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — The Wheat Kings remain at home to host the Victoria Royals (tonight at 7 p.m.), the Swift Current Broncos on Friday at 7 p.m., and the Prince Albert Raiders on Sunday at 2 p.m.

• ANSWER — Brandon has compiled eight 100-point seasons over the years. They’re listed below, with how they finished overall in the regular season and how the team made out in the playoffs.

• 2015-16 — 102 points, 48-18-4-2 — Second overall, won league.

• 2014-15 — 114 points, 53-11-4-4 — Regular season champs, lost in final.

• 2009-10 — 104 points, 50-18-1-3 — Second overall, lost in conference final, hosted Memorial Cup.

• 2008-09 — 101 points, 48-19-3-2 — Fifth overall, lost in conference final.

• 1995-96 — 105 points, 52-19-1 — Regular season champs, won league.

• 1978-79 — 125 points, 58-5-9 — Regular season champs, won league. • 1977-78 — 106 points, 46-12-14 — Regular season champs, eliminated in round-robin. • 1976-77 — 116 points, 54-10-8 — Regular season champs, lost final.