Binder Nord happy to be back

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This article was published 07/02/2025 (262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ben Binder Nord is feeling good again, and that may spell trouble for the rest of the Western Hockey League.

The truculent 17-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings rookie forward has been back in the lineup for almost a month after missing six weeks. He’s quick to credit athletic therapist Zach Hartwick, who may be the Wheat Kings MVP in what’s been an injury-plagued season for the club.

“It’s been good getting back,” Binder Nord said. “Zach has been helpful. It’s good to get back into the groove of things. I’m glad to be back, I missed it.”

Binder Nord and the Wheat Kings face the Saskatoon Blades tonight at Westoba Place in a battle of teams sporting identical 25-16-3-3 records that are tied for fifth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The puck drops at 7.

Binder Nord’s problems date back to a game in Red Deer against the Rebels on Nov. 30. He got clipped by a Rebels player and immediately knew it was bad.

“I felt it right away and got off,” Binder Nord said. “I knew there was something wrong for sure. They thought my pelvis was maybe broken but it wasn’t luckily.”

Instead, he suffered a Grade 2 tear in his oblique, which are the muscles on the sides of your upper body that allow you to rotate your trunk.

“I had a hematoma, internal bleeding and it was super swollen,” Binder Nord said. “It was just unlucky. It happens in hockey. You can’t dwell on it, you just have to work hard and get back into it. That’s all you can do. You can only control what you can control.”

He stayed home in Calgary for a time before returning to Brandon for school. That also allowed him to work closely with Hartwick.

“When I was at home, I was in the gym physio rehabbing and it takes a while,” Binder Nord said. “You have to really make sure you’re ready to get back and not rush back into things. Once you’re back, you’re practising hard and making sure you’re in the best shape to play and getting back into game play and get used to hitting and playing your game. It takes a few games.”

He returned to the lineup on Jan. 10 in his energy role on the fourth line.

There is a period of transition for most athletes after an injury when they have to regain the confidence that whatever they hurt will stand up to the rigours of their sport.

“I’ve faced some injuries before as well so I’ve had to overcome that adversity,” Binder Nord said. “It’s always hard mentally just to stay on top of it and tell yourself you can do it and not being scared of getting injured again. You kind of have it in the back of your mind a little bit but you can’t worry about it. You have to get back to things and play without a care. It’s all you can do.”

The Calgary product is actually the lightest player in the Wheat Kings lineup at 162 pounds on his six-foot frame, but he leads the team with six fighting majors and in penalty minutes with 58.

His value to his club can be neatly encapsulated into a single hard-work play he made on Wednesday against the visiting Wenatchee Wild.

With his team clinging to a 3-1 lead, he took the puck into the Wild zone and as it got away from him, he kept skating and the two Wenatchee defenders collapsed on him to cut off his path to the net.

The trailer, Joby Baumuller, scooped up the puck and fired it in to give Brandon a 4-1 lead. Binder Nord’s assist was his first point in 24 games — he has a goal and two assists in 29 games — but it proved to be impactful in a 5-2 victory.

“I saw a break, called for the puck, it was a great pass, a great headman, and I just kept skating and battled through,” Binder Nord said. “Joby, great finish, he was there to put it in. He had a great night.

“It worked out well. It left Joby open so it was good. I’m glad he finished that.”

TOUGH FOE

The job won’t get any easier tonight against Saskatoon, despite some big changes in its lineup.

After two years of unsuccessfully chasing a championship, the Blades were sellers this year despite sitting near the top of the conference, similar to what Brandon did in 2018 when they traded Tanner Kaspick and Kale Clague.

Among the stars who have left are Ben Riche, who had three goals and four assists against Brandon in four games, plus Brandon Lisowsky (2gp, 3g, 2a, 5p) and Team Canada defenceman Tanner Molendyk (1gp, 0g, 1a, 1p).

“They’re a hard-working team,” Binder Nord said. “If we come, have a good start and play a full 60 and play as a team, if we play our BWK way, there’s no stopping that.”

Brandon overager Nolan Flamand has been terrific against his hometown team, with two goals and six assists in four games against Saskatoon. Marcus Nguyen (4gp, 2g, 4a, 6p), Luke Shipley (4gp, 3g, 1a, 4p), Joby Baumuller (4gp, 1g, 3a, 4p) and Dylan Ronald (3gp, 3g, 0a, 3p) have also been impactful.

“They’ve had some changes since the trade deadline, especially on the forward end bringing in (Hayden) Harsanyi, so a bit of speed, but they’ve also had some guys go out,” Ronald said. “It’s an important game.”

Brandon has met Saskatoon four times this season, with the Wheat Kings winning twice in Saskatoon, 4-2 on Dec. 15 and 6-2 on Jan. 3, and the Blades winning 4-3 in Saskatoon on Sept. 28 and 4-3 in overtime in Brandon on Oct. 25.

The teams have three more outings after this one, on Feb. 17 at SaskTel Centre and on March 12 and 19 at Westoba Place.

Since returning from their 3-4-0-0 West Coast road trip, the Wheat Kings are 3-0-0-1. Oddly enough, they were probably a more consistent group on the big trip than they have been in the more recent stretch.

“We’ve been playing well but think we can up our game for sure,” Binder Nord said. “We have to play a full 60 and start on time going into the next few games. We can build on our last few games, and we probably can play better and keep doing well.”

Ronald agreed.

“On the road trip we probably should have a a few more games than what the outcome showed,” Ronald said. “Things will start clicking here.”

With just 10 points separating the fourth-place Lethbridge Hurricanes from the eight-place Swift Current Broncos, every game seems to have an outsized impact on the standings.

With a win tonight and a Prince Albert loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the Wheat Kings — or the Blades for that matter — would be tied with 58 points. Since the division winners earn the top two seedings in the playoffs, that means the battle for the top spot in the East Division will be intense.

“That’s the goal so it would be really nice,” Ronald said. “Then we have to sustain that spot.”

ICINGS: Joby Baumuller (upper body) and Jaxon Jacobson (lower body) both left Thursday’s practice early with injuries. There was no immediate word on their availability for tonight’s game … Roger McQueen did some very light skating during practice without any equipment on other than skates, gloves and a helmet … Luke Shipley and Caleb Hadland had maintenance days and didn’t skate … Brett Hyland was named the WHL’s Grad of the Month in Canada West hockey after he had four goals and 11 assists in eight games with the Alberta Golden Bears in January. Hyland, who spent four full seasons with the Wheat Kings, is studying business.

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