Elick hopeful to go home with win

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This article was published 17/12/2024 (275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Charlie Elick hopes the Brandon Wheat Kings can cruise into Christmas with one more victory to celebrate with family, friends and fans.

The Wheat Kings finish up the first half of their Western Hockey League schedule this evening when the Moose Jaw Warriors visit Westoba Place at 7 o’clock.

“It would be huge,” the Calgary product said of parting on a winning note. “Obviously we’ve had a good past four games except for the (5-3 loss to the host Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday). Going in on a high note would be a good feeling and being able to rest the mind a little easier coming back.

“It’s a good feeling to get the amount of points we have in our last four. It’s been a good step moving forward for sure.”

Brandon has also beaten the Red Deer Rebels and Prince Albert at home during their most recent four games.

It won’t be an easy task tonight for Brandon (15-9-3-1), which is missing three players to the world junior tournament, goaltender Carson Bjarnason of Canada, forward Dominik Petr of Czechia and defenceman Adam Belusko of Slovakia, plus a slew of injured players including forwards Roger McQueen, Easton Odut and Ben Binder Nord and defenceman Nigel Boehm.

The Wheat Kings called up 18-year-old Raiden Zacharias from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Melville Millionaires and 15-year-old forward Prabh Bhathal from the Winnipeg Thrashers to fill out their lineup on the weekend.

Moose Jaw (7-19-3-1) is also missing a key player in impactful overage forward Brayden Schuurman, who was injured in a game on Oct. 11 and remains out week to week.

Oddly enough, Brandon has met Moose Jaw just once this season, earning a 5-2 victory in their home opener on Sept. 20. That game was highlighted by a four-goal outburst by McQueen, who has also been on the shelf since Oct. 11 with an upper-body injury.

Elick was still in camp with the Columbus Blue Jackets when the Wheat Kings and Warriors played in September. As a result, he wouldn’t mind getting some payback for Moose Jaw’s sweep of Brandon in the playoffs last season as a loaded Warriors squad went on to earn the franchise’s first WHL championship.

“I think there is still a little bit of a revenge factor,” Elick said with a chuckle. “You obviously hate losing out in the first round, but getting swept is even worse. There is a little bit of that bad taste in my mouth for them from last year.”

The season series certainly picks up in the second half, with the teams meeting in Moose Jaw on Dec. 28, Jan. 31, Feb. 14 and March 15, and in Brandon on Feb. 15 and March 14.

Brandon is on a bit of high after beating a reeling Saskatoon Blades club 4-2 on Sunday in a game that saw them jump into a 2-0 lead, let the Blades back in it on goals by Brandon Lisowsky, and then win it on a pair of third-period goals by Luke Shipley.

The Blades had won both of the earlier meetings this season but are now losers of their last six games and have fallen out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time all season.

“Overall, it was a good game by the team,” Elick said. “We had some penalties that didn’t go our way but other than that, it was a good team win.”

The team had an interesting trip back from Saskatoon on Sunday after the game, just missing a road closure in Regina and navigating some bad roads but still arriving back in Brandon early Monday morning.

It’s always nice to get home, and the Wheat Kings been pretty good at Westoba Place this season with a record of 10-3-3-1. Only five teams have more than Brandon’s 24 points on home ice.

“It’s been getting better as the year goes on,” Elick said. “We’ve been playing stronger and stronger every time that we play at home here. Obviously it’s something we want to build on into the playoffs and make the team go as far as we can in the playoffs.”

The Warriors are led by 18-year-old, draft-eligible forward Lynden Lakovic, who has 14 goals and 25 points in 28 games. The lanky forward, who stands six-foot-four, has an outstanding shot that he used to beat Brandon in overtime in Game 2 in the playoffs last spring, and he was also the author of the series-ending goal against the Saskatoon Blades in overtime in Game 7.

As well, he scored on opening night against the Wheat Kings this season.

Lakovic is certain to see plenty of Brandon’s top pairing of Elick and 19-year-old captain Quinn Mantei, who have played together for the past two seasons. Elick said the result of their long partnership has been the ability to read off each other quickly.

“He’s a great partner to play with,” Elick said. “He’s someone that I look up to in certain aspects of the game that he does really well, like communication. He’s always talking on the ice and it makes it easier for the rest of the team to go from. He’s just a solid steady defenceman who is very consistent in my opinion. He’s someone I really enjoy playing with.”

The six-foot-three, 203-pound Elick has six assists in 26 games this season, after posting four goals and 23 assists in 65 games year ago and 11 points in 56 games as a 16-year-old rookie. Elick, who is an elite skater, said he’s making big strides forward.

“It’s been everywhere in my game,” the right-shooting Elick said. “Obviously there is still room to improve my game. The puck-handling and offensive side has yet to grow but for my role going to the next level, my biggest aspect is making myself stronger defensively. I think my physicality has come out more this year.

“Things like that have been improving, and my overall game and just using my skating to help me all around.”

Columbus selected Elick with the 36th pick overall in the most recent draft. While he has represented Canada at several international tournaments, earning gold medal at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championships and has clearly competed at high levels, Elick said pro players are different.

“I think the biggest thing I took from the camp was the professionalism that they held themselves to,” Elick said. “Here it’s a little bit guided, but there everything is on your own. How they treat themselves and hold themselves is to a lot higher standard than I’ve seen before. I think bringing that back here has helped me stay consistent and play my game and know there are other guys out there doing that at a much higher level.

“That expectation and standard is higher at higher levels.”

ICINGS: The Warriors will welcome 17-year-old Czech forward Dominik Pavlik to their lineup in the New Year. His signing was announced on Monday. The Warriors picked Pavlik 53rd overall in the Canadian Hockey League’s 2024 import draft … Moose Jaw defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk has announced his commitment to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for next season. The longtime member of the Prince George Cougars was picked up by Moose Jaw earlier this season.

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