Rookies appreciate WHL experience

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/12/2023 (744 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By Perry Bergson

In an annual feature in the WHL Notebook, Brandon’s four rookies were asked what they enjoy about life in the Western Hockey League.

• DOMINIK PETR: “One hundred per cent it’s the level of the game. It’s really quick, physical and skilled game and that’s what I like. Of course my teammates took me into the team and are really nice. I’m really enjoying every moment I’ve spent here in this building. The other thing is the fans. It’s not usual in Czechia to play in front of 1,000 or 1,500 people every game. Basically all the stuff around hockey here in Canada.”

• JOBY BAUMULLER: “I would say the atmosphere and the training we get here. The training we get here is like a pro level, and the community is a big part. It’s an amazing place. We have good fans and atmosphere. It’s great.”

• ETHAN ESKIT: “Honestly, it’s everything. It’s the rinks you play in, the opportunities we’re given, everything is paid for, we have university education we can choose to take as well as taking university courses throughout your career. My billets are amazing, the boys are awesome. It’s the best opportunity you can get because we have a chance to go play pro after this. I’m super grateful for it.”

• CARTER KLIPPENSTEIN: “I enjoy the atmosphere and the kind of schedule that we run on. We have the schedule of a pro player. You’re at the rink most of the day and you have the rest of the day off. That and another thing I love is the teammates. They’re friends you make too so that is awesome.”

One of Brandon’s recent acquisitions was asked what he enjoys about playing in Brandon.

MATTEO MICHELS: “I think it’s the team, honestly. It’s the vibes in the locker room and how tight they are. We’re always hanging out with each other and always talking with each other and everyone is always included. That’s the biggest thing I noticed when I got here, is that everyone was so welcoming. I just felt like I fit in right away and had been here a long time.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — This is a goofy question, but I was genuinely interested in the outcome when I did the research. In the Internet era — a span of 26 games — does Brandon have a better record in the last game before Christmas or the first game after Christmas? What date is the team most likely to have its last game before Christmas, and when is it most likely to return to action?

• LEAGUE LEADERS: With the league on pause for the Christmas break, here are the top three in a number of statistical categories.

— POINTS — Zac Funk, Prince George, 63. Riley Heidt, Prince George, 63. Gabe Klassen, Portland, 57. (Brandon’s Rylen Roersma and Roger McQueen are tied with 34.)

— GOALS — Zac Funk, Prince George, 36. Ego Sidorov, Saskatoon, 32. Jagger Firkus, Moose Jaw and Cayden Windstorm, Medicine Hat, 27. (Brandon’s leader is Brett Hyland, who has 17.)

— ASSISTS — Trevor Wong, Saskatoon, 47. Riley Heidt, Prince George, 46. Gabe Klassen, Portland, 40. (Brandon’s Rylen Roersma has 23.)

— PLUS-MINUS — Graham Sward, Wenatchee, +33. Tarik Parascak, Prince George, +27. Carter Prosofsky, Wenatchee, +25. (Brandon’s Rylen Roersma is +11.)

— PENALTY MINUTES — Max Graham, Kelowna, 68. Cayden Lindstrom, Medicine Hat, 66. Landen Ward, Lethbridge, 65. (Brandon’s Matt Henry has 54 in 18 games.)

— FACE-OFF PERCENTAGE (Minimum 300 draws) — Atley Calvert, Moose Jaw, 62.1 per cent. Kai Uchacz, Red Deer, 59.7 per cent. Oliver Tulk, Calgary, 59 per cent. (Brandon’s Nate Danielson sits at 54.3 per cent.)

— GOALS-AGAINST AVERAGE (minimum 600 minutes) — Jan Špunar, Portland, 1.82. Joshua Ravensbergen, Prince George, 1.86. Evan Gardner, Saskatoon, 2.04. (Brandon’s Carson Bjarnason has posted a 3.20.)

— SAVE PERCENTAGE (minimum 600 minutes) — Joshua Ravensbergen, Prince George, .934. Jan Špunar, Portland, .929. Evan Gardner, Saskatoon, .928. (Brandon’s Carson Bjarnason sits at .900.)

— SHUTOUTS — Joshua Ravensbergen, Prince George, 6. Rhett Stoesser, Red Deer, 4. (Four goalies tied with two.) (Brandon’s Carson Bjarnason has one.)

— STREAKS — Moose Jaw defenceman Denton Mateychuk, who is currently with Canada as the team prepares for the world junior championship, has the longest point streak of the season, a 23-game run that ran from Oct. 10 to Dec. 8. The longest current streak belongs to Kelowna forward Andrew Cristall. His 13-game streak started on Nov. 3. (Brandon’s longest streak is still Quinn Mantei’s seven-game run.)

— HOT AND COLD — The Saskatoon Blades are 8-0-2-0 in their last 10 games, while at the other end of the spectrum, the Seattle Thunderbirds and Kamloops Blazers are both 2-7-1-0. (Brandon is 7-3-0-0.)

— TEAM SCORING — Prince George has 152 goals in 33 games, while Portland is close behind with 151 in 32 games. Conversely, Seattle has 78 goals in 29 games. (Brandon has 118.)

— TEAM DEFENCE — Saskatoon has allowed just 85 goals in 33 games, while Edmonton has given up 142 in 30 games on the other extreme. (Brandon has allowed 119 in 33 games.)

— POWER PLAY — The league leader, Prince George, is firing on a ridiculous 30.9 per cent of its chances and has 46 power-play goals in 33 games. Edmonton is least at 16.1 per cent, with 23 goals with the man advantage in 30 games. (Brandon is 15th at 19.5 per cent, with 22 goals on 113 chances through 33 games.) The Kelowna Rockets have allowed 14 shorthanded goals, six more than the next worst teams. (Brandon has allowed five.)

— PENALTY KILL — Prince George has killed 86.6 per cent of its 134 chances, allowing 18 power-play goals while scoring a league-high 10 shorties. Kelowna has killed 70.0 per cent of its chances, giving up 39 goals while scoring four shorties. (Brandon is 11th with a kill rate of 78.7, and has scored six shorthanded goals, all since Nov. 25.)

— TEAM PENALTY MINUTES — Calgary averages 14.4 minutes per game to lead the league, while Saskatoon takes the fewest penalties at just 8.4 minutes per game. (Brandon is eighth at 13.7)

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The player of the week is 17-year-old Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla of Lake Country, B.C., who either assisted or scored all three game-winning goals during his team’s road trip through the East Division, and had three goals and six assists overall in four games.

The goaltender of the week is 20-year-old Vancouver Giants netminder Brett Mirwald of Saskatoon, who went 2-0-0-0 in his starts, posting a 0.98 goals against average and .965 save percentage.

The rookie of the week is 17-year-old Prince George Cougars forward Terik Parascak of Lethbridge, who had three goals and four assists in three games to win the award for the fourth time this season.

• SIN BIN — Kelowna forward Max Graham earned a one-game suspension for a kneeing major and game misconduct he was assessed against Prince Albert on Friday … Overage defenceman Wyatt Wilson of the Vancouver Giants earned a five-game suspension for a check-to-the-head major and game misconduct against the Everett Silvertips on Dec. 9. while 18-year-old Everett defenceman Eric Jamieson will sit for two games after checking-from-behind major and game misconduct against the Portland Winterhawks a day later … Finally, 19-year-old Brandon forward Matt Henry earned another two-game suspension as a repeat offender for a late fight and game misconduct against the Kelowna Rockets.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Stelio Mattheos, 24, headed overseas after playing four seasons mainly in the American Hockey League. He found work with Södertälje SK in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. In 16 games, he has seven goals, four assists and 10 penalty minutes. The Winnipegger was drafted first overall by the Wheat Kings in 2014, and had 278 points in 251 regular season games. He was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes 73rd overall in 2017. Mattheos was part of Brandon’s championship team in 2015-16, finding an important role as a 16-year-old on the third line with a pair of Brandonites Tanner Kaspick and Duncan Campbell.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — The WHL began its annual Christmas break after Sunday’s games, with no games scheduled until Dec. 27.

• ANSWER — My half-baked theory that random stats should eventually end up around .500 actually worked here. The Wheat Kings are 14-9-2-1 with one tie before Christmas, and 14-9-2-1 in the game after Christmas. (They’ve played one more game before Christmas, which was held on Saturday.)

Brandon’s last game before Christmas has taken place seven times on both Dec. 16 and Dec. 17, if this year’s Dec. 16 finale is included. Their latest finish was Dec. 20 (1996) and their earliest break came on Dec. 14 (2013).

In the Internet era, every return game has either taken place on Dec. 27 (19 times) or Dec. 28 (seven times).

• SEASONS GREETINGS — This is the last WHL Notebook before the Christmas break, so the very best of the holidays from my family to yours. The Notebook returns on Dec. 27 when I visit with Brandonite Clarke Caswell of the Swift Current Broncos.