Wheat Kings look to power up offence

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This article was published 09/01/2024 (722 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just as the cold weather is finally settling in, the formerly red-hot Brandon Wheat Kings are suffering an untimely power failure.

With the Victoria Royals (23-13-1-2) visiting tonight at 7 p.m. in Western Hockey League action at Westoba Place, the Wheat Kings (19-14-4-1) are trying to rebound from consecutive 4-0 defeats at the hands of the Saskatoon Blades and Vancouver Giants.

Brandon’s last goal came eight minutes 12 seconds into the third period of a 5-3 victory over the host Regina Pats on Dec. 30. That means Brandon’s futility streak around the net is at nearly 132 minutes.

Even so, Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his team had a lot of chances and rang some shots off the iron against Vancouver on Saturday.

“When things are going well, those go in, and when it’s not, you’re questioning yourself and squeezing your stick,” Murray said. “Those are the ones that hit the goalie in the shoulder or the crossbar or the post. It’s having a little refresh here, and having the confidence that we’re a good team that has the ability to score goals is critical.”

He added getting those second opportunities and being in the right spots is paramount.

It’s the first time Brandon has been shut out in back-to-back games since the 2014 Eastern Conference semifinals when the Edmonton Oil Kings blanked them 5-0 in Game 1 on April 3 and 3-0 in Game 2 on April 5 in a series which went five games. That scoreless streak lasted 147:34, including a portion of Game 4 of their sweep of the Regina Pats in the first round.

It also guarantees they’ll be shut out at least three times this season, which last occurred during the 2018-19 campaign. They weren’t blanked at all last season.

“We just have to keep plugging away,” Brandon’s leading scorer Rylen Roersma said. “Obviously, we haven’t really had a stretch like this at all, a two-game span of not scoring any goals, so it’s something we haven’t faced before. We just have to keep going. We put up 50 shots last game and they’re bound to go in if we keep doing that.”

The 19-year-old forward from Lethbridge has already eclipsed his previous season high in points of 36 with 38 in just 37 games.

Unfortunately for Brandon, the inability to score goals has also extended to its power play, which other than a two-goal performance in the Regina win on Dec. 30, has gone 2-for-26 in the last six games and now sits last in the WHL at 17.5 per cent.

“The power play has to be a factor in the game,” Murray said. “Sometimes you’re not going to score, but at the very least you have to create some momentum. For me, any power play you’re talking about, whether you’re playing on it or coaching, you have to outwork the PK, and the PK guys are generally the hardest working players on the opposing team.

“If you’re not outworking them, you’re not setting yourself up for success. Sometimes when you’re squeezing your stick on the power play, it’s establishing a shot and having a net front. It’s the simple stuff. It’s not always the backdoor, tic-tac-toe plays. Sometimes one goes off a knee and can be a difference maker.”

Roersma agreed.

“When the power play is struggling, the biggest thing is to get pucks and bodies to the net and just outmatch them in front of the net,” Roersma added. “You’re bound to get a lucky rebound and a greasy goal.”

On top of that, a Wheat Kings penalty kill which didn’t allow a goal in seven straight games from Nov. 26 to Dec. 16 has suddenly surrendered nine goals in the last five games.

“We just have to stick to what we’ve been told and just work,” 19-year-old defenceman Luke Shipley said. “We got away with a little cheating in some spots and cheating on some details. I think we just have to get back to working hard and blocking shots and sticking to the simple systems.”

They’ll have another unfamiliar opponent to test their theories on tonight.

Due to the pandemic, Victoria hasn’t played in Brandon since Jan. 24, 2020, a game the Wheat Kings won 6-3 on a pair of goals by Luka Burzan.

“They’ve really come on here over the last little while,” Murray said. “James (Patrick) is a great coach and he has them playing the right way. They’re a team that has some depth, they have six or seven guys who are almost a point-per-game guys. They’re a team we have to be ready for.”

Shipley was acquired from the Royals in November 2022, but said there has been a huge turnover in players in Victoria, so he’s not intimately familiar with their team anymore. But he has a sense of what to expect.

“I know they’re doing a lot better than a lot of people thought they would so it’s not a team we can take lightly,” Shipley said. “They’re a good team, they’re fast and they have a lot of skill. It should be a fun game to play.”

And naturally, the product of Powell River, B.C., is eager to make a good impression against his old club.

“It’s a game I’ve been looking forward to for a year now,” Shipley said. “I’m excited to play them and try to win.”

Victoria pulled into Brandon on Sunday evening and practised at Westoba Place on Monday morning. Head coach James Patrick knows the Wheat Kings well from the many games his Winnipeg Ice teams played against during the past few years.

Patrick, who took over behind the Victoria bench on Nov. 6 after longtime head coach Dan Price was fired, said Brandon’s success starts with Nate Danielson.

“The little bit I’ve been able to pre-scout and seen Brandon play, they look like they’re a maturing team,” Patrick said. “These last couple of years I would describe them as a younger team and they’re not anymore. I think they’re a team that can play with anyone and beat anyone.

“They have some real good speed up front and obviously Danielson is as good of a two-way player as you’ll find in the league. He’s a great playmaker, he skates well.”

It’s a potentially a big week for both clubs in another way as well.

The WHL trade deadline is Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. Murray said he’s been busy on the phone, but the right opportunity simply hasn’t presented itself. He’s also avoiding the temptation of getting too excited to make a deal just for the sake of making a deal.

“It’s busy,” Murray said. “You try to walk that line of doing something for the team now as well as looking to the future, whether that’s building or not giving up too much for the future. It’s a balancing act. I think a lot of the GMs are in the same position. I’ve talked to everybody and there are some teams that have made some big splashes.

“We don’t necessarily want to go down that road. I think it’s too much to give up. We’re listening, and if there are some pieces that make sense for our team by bringing them in, then we’ll look at it.”

There have only been three deals since the two blockbusters by the Wenatchee Wild on Jan. 4 that sent Strathclair’s Conor Geekie to the Swift Current Broncos and Matthew Savoie to the Moose Jaw Warriors for bountiful returns. Victoria picked up defenceman Jaren Brinson from the Regina Pats on Saturday for a sixth-round pick in 2025 and a ninth-round pick in 2027.

Things began to open up a bit on Monday when the Lethbridge Hurricanes acquired a pair of 20-year-olds, picking up forward Sean Tschigerl from the Calgary Hitmen for a third-round pick in 2024 and a second-round pick in 2025, and defenceman Dylan Sydor from the Kamloops Blazers for a second-round pick in 2025 that originally belonged to Wenatchee, a third-round pick in 2024 and 20-year-old forward Blake Swetlikoff.

Former Wheat King Tyson Zimmer of Russell was also on the move after the 19-year-old forward was dealt from the Lethbridge Hurricanes to the Vancouver Giants for 2004-born forward Colton Langkow, a second-round draft pick in 2024, a third-round draft pick in 2025 and unsigned 2008-born prospect Kai Anderson.

The players will certainly be happy to see the trade deadline pass.

“You try not to think about it,” Shipley said. “It’s obviously hard not to think about it when you look online and see these big trades happening and hoping we do something and add pieces. It’s not something you’re always thinking about it, but it’s definitely in the back of your mind when the day is coming around.”

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