Wheaties face huge weekend challenges

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This article was published 09/02/2024 (587 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The stakes couldn’t be much higher as the Brandon Wheat Kings and Lethbridge Hurricanes meet in Western Hockey League action tonight at Westoba Place.

Brandon (25-19-5-1) sits in a tie for fifth place in the tight Eastern Conference race with the Swift Current Broncos, who have a game in hand.

Behind them in seventh place is Lethbridge (24-22-3-0), who are five points back, But Lethbridge also has the Prince Albert Raiders (23-24-1-3) one point behind them and the Calgary Hitmen (21-20-6-1) two points in arrears.

That makes the points up for grabs tonight vitally important after the puck drops at 7 p.m..

“It’s absolutely a four-point game,” said overage forward Brett Hyland, who leads Brandon with two goals and an assist in the season series so far. “They’re right behind us in the standings so the bigger the lead we can get on them, the more we can have some breathing room and worry about those teams that are ahead of us.”

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his club started an important stretch with Wednesday’s 7-2 victory facing the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, who sit in 11th spot in the conference.

“Prior to (Wednesday night), four of our next five are against teams below us in the standings,” Murray said. “If you do well, you’re not going to have an ‘x’ beside your name for the playoff — (denoting a team which has home ice in the post-season by finishing in the top four) — but we look at this phase as being very important, and I’m sure our opponents are feeling the same way, too.

“It’s kind of playoff hockey right now for us and our opponents. We got the first one (on Wednesday) and we’ll put that one in the bank and hopefully have a strong effort (tonight).”

The Wheat Kings visit Prince Albert on Saturday, and in the following week, head to Moose Jaw for a rare Thursday game against the Warriors, and then host Calgary on Friday.

“It’s huge,” goalie Carson Bjarnason said. “Obviously, we knocked down Edmonton (on Wednesday): That was also an important two points for us. We just have to make sure we’re sticking to our game. These points are really ticking down so we have to get as many as possible.”

Brandon has met Lethbridge twice this season, and those games couldn’t have gone much better for them.

Both Wheat Kings goalies have a shutout against the Hurricanes, with Bjarnason making 36 saves on Oct. 11 in a 1-0 overtime decision in Lethbridge, and Ethan Eskit stopping 38 shots in a 6-0 victory on Jan. 20 in Brandon.

The last goal by a Hurricane in the season series came when Blake Swetlikoff scored 10:20 into the second period in a 3-1 Lethbridge victory on Feb. 17, 2023.

That puts Brandon’s shutout streak at 149 minutes 40 seconds.

“I think it’s D-zone,” Bjarnason said. “They have a few offensively dangerous players: Our D-zone has always been pretty tight against them and we’ve had offence against them. Just keeping it simple is important, I think.”

Murray said his club has played well against the Hurricanes this season.

“We’ve clamped down,” Murray said. “They’ve had their pushes and we’ve had that bend-but-not-break mentality. We’ve had two strong games against them and hopefully we can continue that trend.”

A major key to Brandon’s success this season has been their play at Westoba Place. After posting an unfortunate 12-16-5-1 record at home and missing the playoffs a year ago, the Wheat Kings are 18-7-2-0 at Westoba Place this winter.

“It’s been a lot better,” Bjarnason said. “It’s a lot more enjoyable when you’re winning for sure. You just try to keep that momentum going and play the way we do.”

Since the league dropped from a 72-game schedule to a 68-game campaign in the 2018-19 season, Brandon has won 20, 16 (in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season), 18 and 12 games.

The high water mark for the Wheat Kings in the Internet era came when the team went 30-6-0-0 in 2001-02.

“I think so much of it is confidence,” Murray said. “I think there was a point in time last season when things weren’t going well and all of a sudden you have a home stretch and almost look forward to getting on the road because the confidence level seemed down when we played.

“I think we started off on the right foot this year with our home schedule. Confidence is an amazing thing: Our guys have played pretty well in this barn.”

Regardless of the outcome tonight, it will be an ugly turnaround for Brandon. They’ll hop on the bus on Saturday to make the 660-km trip to the northern Saskatchewan city for a 7 p.m. start. Hyland said that’s always a challenge.

“Especially leaving day of,” Hyland said. “P.A. is a tough barn to play in. We know it’s going to be a war when we go there, a playoff game for sure. We’re going to have to be ready for that one.”

Murray said skating in the intimate Art Hauser Centre has been a challenge for a long, long time.

“It brings back memories, that’s for sure,” Murray said. “It feels like the size of the rink is the size of my office. There’s not a lot of room out there to manoeuvre around. These are hard-fought, in-your-face type games. It hasn’t changed much in 30 years since I was part of the league.”

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