U18 AAA WEEKLY ROUNDUP: Brandon loses first game of regular season

BOYS

BRANDON WHEAT KINGS

The Wheat Kings (8-1-0-0), who are tied with the Winnipeg Bruins for first place, headed out for three games on the road over the weekend, meeting the Yellowhead Chiefs, the sixth-place Interlake Lightning (6-2-0-0) and the third-place Winnipeg Wild (7-3-0-0) in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League.

On Sunday afternoon at Hockey For All Centre, Jaxon Dean scored with less than two minutes remaining in regulation to lift the Wild to a 3-2 victory.

Kale Nicol and Crew Elder scored for the Wheat Kings, who lost their first game of the season. Cooper Dryden made 17 saves for Brandon, with Ardan Downey blocking 29 shots for Winnipeg.

On Saturday at Teulon-Rockwood Arena, Graycen Van Meijl’s hat trick paced the Wheat Kings to a 6-4 victory over the Lightning.

Eric Berger, Nicol and Owen Stanley had the other Wheat Kings goals, with Beckham Broesky sniping twice for the Lightning. Aurick Veldhuisen made 22 saves for Brandon, with Sawyer Henkelman blocking 47 shots for Interlake.

On Thursday at Shoal Lake Communiplex, Nicol had two goals and two assists and Jake Beaty had two goals and an assist in a 5-2 Brandon victory. Van Meijl had the other Brandon goal, with Grady McNish sniping twice for the Chiefs.

Veldhuisen made 40 saves for Brandon, with Landon McGregor blocking 42 shots for Yellowhead.

The Wheat Kings head out on the road again next weekend, meeting the Winnipeg Bruins at Southdale Community Centre on Friday at 7 p.m., the Eastman Selects at Steinbach’s Southeast Event Centre on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Interlake again at Teulon-Rockwood Arena on Sunday at 1 p.m.

SOUTHWEST COUGARS

The seventh-place Cougars (5-6-0-0) hosted the ninth-place Norman Northstars (3-4-1-1) at Souris/Glenwood Memorial Complex.

On Saturday, Gavin Anderson scored the only goal of the three-round shootout as the Cougars earned a 5-4 victory over the Northstars.

Southwest’s Denzel Monias and Colton Koop both scored their second goals of the game in the final 74 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime. Monias also had two helpers, while Kolby Cooper had two goals and an assist for Norman. Liam Banga made 21 saves for Southwest — and all three in the shootout — with Westyn Hlady blocking 29 shots for Norman.

On Friday, the Northstars scored four power-play goals as they beat the Cougars 6-4. Jordan Knox scored twice and Aubrey Cuvelier and Evan Raes had singles for Southwest, with Chace Braun and Vincent Bercier both scoring twice and adding two assists for Norman.

Southwest’s Dawson Smart and Norman’s Parker Clements both made 22 saves.

The Cougars, who are in the midst of a seven-game home stand, host the Chiefs on Wednesday at 8 p.m., the Central Plains Capitals on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and the Winnipeg Thrashers on Sunday at 1 p.m.

YELLOWHEAD CHIEFS

The eighth-place Chiefs (3-3-1-1) hosted Brandon on Thursday and Norman on Sunday afternoon at Shoal Lake Communiplex.

On Sunday, Grady McNish, Carter White, Duncan McLean and Redden Richmond scored in a 4-2 Chiefs victory. Darby Wilson made 22 saves for Yellowhead, with Parker Clements turning aside 40 shots for Norman

After Wednesday’s road game against the Cougars, the Chiefs host the Pembina Valley Hawks on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

PARKLAND RANGERS

The 13th-place Rangers (0-12-0-0) headed out for a tough road trip against the Winnipeg Bruins (8-1-0-0), the 10th-place Winnipeg Thrashers (3-4-1-0) and Interlake.

On Sunday at Teulon-Rockwood Arena, the Lightning raced to a 4-0 lead but the Rangers made it close before falling 5-4. Ashton Dutkewich, Kellan Shtykalo, Lyric Smith and Carter Rands scored for Parkland. Benji Gardner made 47 saves for Parkland, with Connor Lemieux stopping 32 shots for Interlake.

On Saturday at Seven Oaks Community Centre, Brady Robert made 14 saves for the Thrashers in a 6-0 victory. Connor Thorn stopped 38 shots for Parkland.

On Friday at Southdale Community Centre, Noah Bracken, Parks Gardner and Shtykalo scored for the Rangers but the Bruins had already built up a 5-0 lead en route to an 7-3 Winnipeg victory. Gardner and Connor Thorn made 35 saves for Parkland, with Zachary Houtkooper blocking 15 shots for the Bruins.

The Rangers host the Winnipeg Wild at Dauphin’s Credit Union Place on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

GIRLS

YELLOWHEAD CHIEFS

The sixth-place Chiefs (1-4-0-0) lost games to the Westman Wildcats and the fourth-place Winnipeg Ice (5-1-0-0) at Shoal Lake Communiplex in the Manitoba Female Hockey League U18 AAA.

On Saturday, Haley Chipelski staked the Chiefs to an early lead but the Ice replied with five unanswered goals in a 5-1 decision. Gracie Johnston made 16 saves for Yellowhead, with Isla Matthews stopping 22 shots for the Ice.

On Friday, Adi Henwood and Ava Snyder both scored twice as the Wildcats earned a 5-2 decision. Fergie Bertholet had the other Westman goal, with Scotia Smith and Paige Thompson replying for Yellowhead.

Gracie Johnston and Kylie Hack made 37 saves for the Chiefs, with Indigo Stone stopping 16 shots for the Wildcats.

The Chiefs host the Central Plains Capitals on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

WESTMAN WILDCATS

After Friday’s game against the Chiefs, the first-place Wildcats (7-1-0-0) faced the Winnipeg Ice.

On Sunday afternoon at Hartney Arena, Alana Champagne stopped all 25 shots she faced and Londyn Hrubeniuk and Demi Hodson scored in a 2-0 Wildcats victory. Gina Plett turned aside 30 shots for the Ice.

The Wildcats host Central Plains on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

» The Brandon Sun