U17 Wheat Kings make unlikely comeback

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/03/2024 (757 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The U17 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings have certainly shown a flair for the dramatic in the playoffs this year.

In their best-of-five quarterfinal series in the Winnipeg U17 AAA Hockey League, the Wheat Kings had home-ice advantage, and promptly lost 4-1 in Game 1 and 4-3 in Game 2 at J&G Homes Arena.

“After the first two games, we were definitely on our heels,” assistant coach Jackson Orr said. “We were nervous, but after Game 2, we told them ‘You have to have short memories in this game, and there’s a reason why there are five games.’”

Wheat Kings forward Tate Bercier admitted the team was down, but said the players found their groove during the trip into Winnipeg’s Seven Oaks Arena on Feb. 25.

“It was pretty sad,” Bercier said of the dressing room after Game 2. “We kind of lost our confidence after that, but when we were driving out we got the music pumping on the bus and got prepared.

“Everyone was hyped. We all ready to go when we got there. We just kept the room ready to go and we were prepared for the game when we got there.”

In Game 3, Konnor Klemick put Brandon on the board in the first period, but Winnipeg’s Easton Gervais tied the game 16 minutes 47 seconds into the third period. The Brandon comeback officially began 16:01 into overtime when Ethan Stanley scored on a goal assisted by Tyler Rogers and Jackson Keeble.

“We broke out three-on-two and they decided to change,” Stanley said. “I took a couple of shoulder checks and we had a lot of room. Tyler Rogers passed it across to me and I just shot it at the net and it ended up going in.”

And that’s when everything changed. Head coach Dylan Halliday and the staff, which also includes assistants Colin Cook and Carter Sawchuk, told the team they could only win one game per night, so they had to concentrate on the task at hand.

“We showed up at Game 3 trying to win a game, and once we did, it felt like there was little weight off our back and you could tell they were kind of put on their heels after that,” Halliday said. “It’s all about momentum. We were a shot away from losing Game 3 and Stan scored a big goal and that carried over to the next games.”

Bercier said the players could feel the energy on the bench after Stanley scored.

“It was electric,” Bercier said. “We were so happy when he scored, we were all ready to go when we got back for the next game. We were just so happy.”

Still, Brandon was a long way from done.

They returned to Winnipeg for Game 4 on Feb. 27, and after Brandon’s Roan Michalchuk put the Wheat Kings ahead, Nolan Edmonds responded for Winnipeg on the power play 52 seconds into the third period. Happily for the visitors, Rogers scored 17:28 into the final frame for a late victory.

That meant the series was returning to Brandon for the finale on Feb. 29.

“We had a pretty good feeling we were going to win Game 5,” Halliday said. “But obviously anything can happen.”

It’s fair to say Brandon didn’t have the start it wanted in Game 5 either.

Prabh Bhathal put the visitors on the board 5:41 into the first period, but Bercier tied it just 43 seconds later. Six minutes after that, Ethen Church gave Brandon a lead it would keep, with Stanley adding a power-play goal midway through the second period and Bercier adding another insurance goal midway through the third period for a 4-1 victory.

“It was my first two goals of the playoffs and it felt nice to get them on the board,” Bercier said. “The first one got us going to go 1-1 and we got another after that. Everyone was going that game. It felt good.”

A big part of the comeback was the play of starting goalie Brady Low. He gave up eight goals in the two losses, but allowed just three the rest of the way, stopping 36 shots in the overtime game, 40 shots in Game 4 and 31 shots in Game 5.

“That was probably the main key in our confidence going in,” Halliday said. “We knew we had the better goalie. He’s been lights out all year. … He’s the heartbeat of the team.”

In Game 5, the Wheat Kings peppered Thrashers goalie Wyatt Minsky with 49 shots.

With the final buzzer came a celebration which seemed improbable just five days earlier.

“I was pretty pumped up,” Orr said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been part of a reverse sweep. The boys deserved it big time. They worked their butts off and battled as hard as they could for every inch, especially in Game 5. It’s easy to coach when they play like that.

“It was hard to contain ourselves on the bench but once we got back to the room we definitely had a big cheer.”

Stanley agreed.

“It was pretty cool for the boys,” Stanley said. “It got our energy up going into the next series. We feel a bit more pumped than we were when we lost the first two.”

Of course the problem with winning in the playoffs — if there is one — is the teams just keep getting better and better.

The Wheat Kings, who finished in fourth in the regular season with an 18-10-5-3 record, now meet the high-flying Winnipeg Bruins, who finished second with a 28-6-1-1 record.

The teams split five games, with the Bruins winning the first two, a tie in the middle and the Wheat Kings victorious in the last two.

“The Bruins have a pretty heavy offence,” Orr said. “You really have to shut down the net front and get pucks out whenever we can and play in the offensive zone. That seems to be the biggest thing in this league, everyone does well in the offensive zone, but not so much in the defensive zone. The more time we can spend down there, the better we’ll do.”

Halliday added the Bruins are very quick in transition so limiting turnovers in the neutral zone will be another key.

Game 1 of the semifinals was set for Sunday at Winnipeg’s Southdale Community Centre, but pushed back to Monday due to the winter storm.

Unfortunately for the Wheat Kings, they find themselves back in familiar territory after an 8-3 loss. Carter Thiessen and Jackson Keeble, with the first of his two goals, gave Brandon a 2-0 lead in the first eight minutes, but Winnipeg tied the game before the period ended and put it away with four goals in the second period.

Low and Brady Shields combined to make 48 saves, with Bruins goalie Everett Winters facing 37 shots. The Bruins received goals from seven players, with Mitchell Hill sniping twice.

The series continued last night in a game which ended after deadline. Game 3 is set for Southdale Community Centre on Saturday at 6 p.m.

While they’re down again, don’t count out a Wheat Kings club which has shown it can find its way home.

“It really builds our confidence and gets us going for the next series,” Bercier said. “It feels good to reverse sweep the Thrashers, because they were our rivalry for the season.”

“We just need to play strong,” Stanley added. “Everyone has a role and we all have to play our role and we can beat any team.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson