Wheaties set to weather Hurricanes

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This article was published 27/03/2025 (440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The loss of just one of the 136 points up for grabs in a Western Hockey League season has utterly reshaped the post-season for the Brandon Wheat Kings as their playoff drive begins Friday in Lethbridge.

The Wheat Kings held the tie-breaker over the Prince Albert Raiders in the battle for the East Division crown and the second seed in the Eastern Conference, but finished one point back in the standings.

As a result, instead of opening at Westoba Place against the Edmonton Oil Kings, a club they beat in all four matchups this season, the Wheat Kings are in Alberta facing the powerful Hurricanes, who added some significant pieces to make a long playoff run.

“Lethbridge is a great team,” Brandon forward Roger McQueen said. “They have a good coach (Bill Peters), they play really well and they’re very structured. I think their forwards are really talented, they have a great top six and good third line and fourth line. “They’re a team that is going to work hard and we have to bring our A game if we want to beat them.”

Of course Brandon forward Carter Klippenstein is happy with how things turned out. After all, the 18-year-old Lethbridge product gets some extra games at home.

“It’s awesome,” Klippenstein said. “I grew up watching the playoffs there so being in it now in that building, I can’t wait. I’m really excited to get going.”

The series opens in Lethbridge Friday at 8 p.m. — all times CDT — and Saturday at 7 p.m., before moving to Virden’s Tundra Oil and Gas Place for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. If needed Game 5 is back in Alberta on Friday at 8 p.m., Game 6 would be in Virden on Sunday at 4 p.m. and a deciding Game 7 is set for Lethbridge on Tuesday at 8 o’clock.

The series will be the fifth between the Wheat Kings and the Hurricanes, with both teams winning twice so far.

Brandon also faced the old Lethbridge Broncos twice, winning both times before the Broncos moved back to Swift Current in 1986, and for sticklers, the Wheat Kings also won their only matchup against the old Calgary Wranglers, who went to become the Billings Bighorns and eventually the Lethbridge Hurricanes in 1987.

Here’s a closer look at what to watch for between the Eastern Conference rivals, who met four times in the regular season. Lethbridge won three of the games and lost the other in a shootout.

FORWARDS

Lethbridge has an outstanding group of forwards, led by a top six that includes Brayden Yager, Brayden Edwards, Logan Wormald, Leo Braillard, Miguel Marques and Jordan Gustafson. The rest of the unit includes a pair of former Wheat Kings, Trae Johnson and Tony Wilson, plus Shane Smith, Luke Cozens, Kooper Gizowski, Kash Andresen and rookies Cameron Norrie and Chase Petersen.

“We have to be hard on them,” Brandon captain Quinn Mantei said. “They’re pretty skilled so we’re going to have to kill plays and then not let them off the hook. A big thing is they’re pretty good off the rush. “If we can limit odd-man rushes, I think that will be huge for us. We just have to make sure we have a good high guy overtop of them because they come with speed.

“If we do that and close on them in the neutral zone and force them to dump pucks, then we should have some success.”

The X factor comes from the fact that the Wheat Kings haven’t skated against them all on the ice on the same night, with Marques and the former Seattle Thunderbirds star Gustafson both returning recently from significant injuries.

“Their top six is high end,” Murray said. “We haven’t played against them yet with everybody in the lineup, so it will be a different look for us. They’ll come hard. They’ll have two lines that can really hurt you offensively and they have two lines that know their roles and will skate and work.

“Whoever is out there, we have to be aware of their high-end skill and at the same time we have to be prepared to outwork them. That’s one of the lessons we need to take from the last game in Lethbridge, was that they’ll come at you with four lines and it doesn’t matter who they are, they’ll work and be in your face every second of every shift.”

Brandon also has elite forward depth, although the high end might not be as pronounced.

The return from injury of big forward Roger McQueen bolsters a group led by overagers Marcus Nguyen and Nolan Flamand, Jordan Gavin, Czech centre Dominik Petr, Matteo Michels, Caleb Hadland, Nick Johnson, Joby Baumuller, Klippenstein, and rookies Jaxon Jacobson, Brady Turko, Ben Binder Nord and Easton Odut, who is almost certainly out for the playoffs with an upper-body injury.

Callup Isaac Davies of Carstairs also remains with the team.

DEFENCE

Lethbridge already had an NHL draft pick in Noah Chadwick on their back end, and they traded for two more, acquiring Caden Price from the Kelowna Rockets and Vojtech Port from the Moose Jaw Warriors. Add in overager Logan McCutcheon, Winnipegger Tristen Doyle, Kale Tipler and rookies Carsen Adair and Grady Pichette, and it’s a solid blue-line.

“They’re high end,” Murray said. “They have three NHL drafted players, and all six are real strong, in particular their top four. They can beat you with skill and have some guys with big bodies back there who make you pay the price. It will be a challenge. Our forwards have to be skating and committed to getting inside the dots and hopefully earning some opportunities.”

Klippenstein, who isn’t afraid to get in on the forecheck, said how they play against the Lethbridge blue-line will be a big factor in any Brandon success.

“I think we have to play them hard and get in on their D,” Klippenstein said. “Their D are good at moving pucks and getting it to their forwards so we have to get on them, turn it over and sustain some O-zone time.”

On the Brandon end, team captain Quinn Mantei and Luke Shipley anchor a group that has four rookies — Dylan Ronald, Gio Pantelas, Nigel Boehm and Slovakian Adam Belusko — plus callup Cam Allard, the top under-18 defenceman in Saskatchewan. The status of injured veteran Merrek Arpin, who was acquired in the Charlie Elick deal, remains unknown.

GOALIES

It will be a little bit of deja vu for the Wheat Kings as they break in on the net during the series.

Hurricanes starter Jackson Unger, who turned 20 in January, backstopped the Moose Jaw Warriors to the WHL championship last season, a run that included a first-round sweep of Brandon.

“He won a championship last year obviously and is looking to do it again, so we have to get in front of him, drive the net and make his life hard if we want to have success,” Klippenstein said. If there is a potential bright spot for the Wheat Kings, they were able to score 14 goals on Unger in a four-game series that saw the two teams continually trading chances.

McQueen, who missed a month before the 2024 post-season with the same back issue that sidelined him for much of this season, had four goals and an assist in that series.

“He’s a winner,” McQueen said. “He obviously went all the way and won the league last year so you have to respect that. He’s a really good goalie and has a lot of respect on his name with winning and playing almost every game in the playoffs last year. He’s going to be a good test for our team.”

Murray added they are quite familiar with Unger from his days in Moose Jaw. He said his team needs the right approach to solve Unger. “We know he’s a good goalie, so we’re going to have to battle for second and third pucks and get to the net,” Murray said. Unger is ably backed up by Koen Cleaver, who has a win against Brandon this season.

At the other end, Brandon starter Carson Bjarnason will be looking for redemption after the high-scoring Warriors lit him up in the playoffs last spring for 21 goals and a 7.15 goals-against average. His .913 save percentage in the regular season was tied for third best in the WHL this winter. He is backed up by second-year netminder Ethan Eskit of Calgary.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Brandon had the league’s best penalty killing for a time this season but it faded down the stretch and finished eighth with a 78.3 efficiency rate and 10 shorthanded goals scored.

The team that vaulted past them was Lethbridge, which led the league at 82.2 per cent with 12 shorties.

Brandon had one more penalty minute — 750 to 749 — but the Hurricanes killed 20 more penalties and the Wheat Kings allowed five more power-play goals.

“We’ve been pretty disciplined this year,” Murray said. “That wasn’t the story last year with being in the penalty box so much, so we’re going to have to be able to take a punch in the nose sometimes or take a cross check and not retaliate.

“Those are things that are under the microscope in playoffs and staying out of the box will be crucial. We have to get it done. The old saying is that your goaltender is your best penalty killer, and we’ll rely on our guys there but staying out the box is critical.”

That puts players on both clubs on a tightrope: They want to neutralize on the high-end talent on the other club without seeing the arms of any officials raised in the air.

“It’s tough,” Hadland said. “You want to play hard but sometimes you’ll get the odd call here and there. You have to play the hard style, and if you keep your stick to yourself, you’ll be fine. We have to play hard to turn pucks over and get them on their heels. It’s a fine line but I think we can manage it.”

Klippenstein agreed.

“It’s playoff hockey, so that could be a big difference maker,” Klippenstein said. “We have to play hard and be on pucks but do it clean, keeping sticks out of faces and playing five-on-five hockey.”

For the depth the two teams have up front — perhaps because of the players who were out of their respective lineups — neither club was among the league leaders on the man advantage.

Lethbridge was seventh at 25.2 per cent , with 13 shorthanded goals surrendered. Brandon, meanwhile, was 15th at 22.8 per cent, with five shorthanded goals allowed.

“It’s big,” Nguyen said. “In playoffs, everything comes down to the wire. It’s going to take one power-play goal or one penalty-kill save. You’re only going to get two or three opportunities a game, and on those two or three, you need to capitalize. You have to make the most of it. If you’re not scoring, you at least have to gain momentum. That’s the biggest thing for sure.”

RINKS

You can mark Klippenstein down as a fan of his hometown rink, VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

It opened in 1974, two years after the Keystone Centre and has a capacity of 5,479. The season-high crowd was 5,408.

“I think it’s the perfect WHL rink,” Klippenstein said. “I really like the lighting in there too but that’s my hometown so it’s a special place for me. I think it’s the perfect size for that city. It will be loud in there and a really fun series.”

Thirty years ago, Murray was skating on the Lethbridge ice as Brandon’s captain. He said his players have to be mindful of one big challenge the playing surface presents.

“The ice is real tough to play on,” Murray said. “It’s choppy, and towards the end of the game it doesn’t end up freezing. It’s not good ice. They have to play on it too but are more used to it.

“We have to be prepared and give a little extra TLC to every pass you make and every pass you receive, just being ready to make a little adjustment because that’s going to be important. You don’t want to be chasing the puck all night because we can’t make or receive a pass. We have to make sure we keep it simple and execute our passes.”

Hadland also finds the accommodations a little cramped during the game.

“I actually don’t mind the Lethbridge rink,” Hadland said. “I think it’s a pretty sick junior barn for sure. I think the benches are too small though. They should upgrade those. Those things suck, they’re just way too tight. Other than that, I can’t diss the Lethbridge rink too much.”

The Hurricanes crowds can be highly engaged and loud, which will offer another home-ice advantage to the Hurricanes. Mantei said his team will simply have to take them out of the game.

“It’s fun,” Mantei said. “They bring energy every night, especially down their stretch run here in the last few weeks. I think they’ve sold out a couple of nights and I’m sure it will be no different. It’s always fun going into an away barn and trying to play villain and quiet them down. It’s definitely a cool place to play.”

In a way, the Wheat Kings will also be playing on the road when they come.

The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair has operated since 1882, and has been scheduled for spring break week in the Keystone Centre since the facility opened in 1972. If the Wheat Kings finish in the top half of the conference, they can play their two games before Westoba Place and the rest of the the 540,000-square-foot Keystone Centre is transformed to host the massive event.

If they finish in the bottom half of the draw and the Friday and Saturday games are on the road, the Fair has started so the Wheat Kings host their home game elsewhere.

This year it’s in Virden but they’ve also hosted games in Dauphin, Winnipeg and even Prince Albert.

It won’t be the first visit to Virden by a Lethbridge club — Brandon beat the Lethbridge Broncos 10-2 in Game 5 on March 30, 1984 — but it will be a unique experience as they take over the 1,200-seat arena that opened in 2011 and normally hosts the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Virden Oil Capitals.

“I think we’re kind of excited as a group to play in a small building,” Klippenstein said. “It’s obviously going to be very loud. We should have a good turnout there too hopefully and just build off the energy of that small building.”

Murray said his players simply have to accept this new environment and new challenge.

“It’s obviously a wrench in the whole playoff but it’s been around here forever,” Murray said. “I know Virden is excited to host it and I think we’re going to go out there and practise next Monday just so the guys don’t go into the arena blind and have an understanding of what it’s all about. It’s a little unusual for sure, but anyone who has followed the Wheat Kings for decades knows this is quite common.”

KEYS TO SUCCESS

Simply put, Brandon has to find a way to neutralize the dazzling players at the top of the Lethbridge lineup, while capitalizing on its own opportunities.

“The biggest thing is limiting their talent,” Nguyen said. “They have Yager, Edwards, Wormald and Price and Chadwick on the back end. Those guys drive their team. Whenever you’re in a series, you want to find the heartbeat of the team and that’s how you get to everybody else. Those top guys are really leading the way and if we shut those guys down and play our fast style of game, we’re going to have a good chance for sure.”

That’s why their approach is so key. Mantei, the fourth-year defenceman who recently shared honours as the club’s top blue-liner with his partner Shipley, said it all starts with the forwards and radiates back.

“One of the big things is going to be our forecheck and dialling that in,” Mantei said. “They break pucks out fairly well and we have to make it hard on them in their zone. We know they have some high-end players, but we have to stay on top of them, be hard on them, don’t let them off easy, don’t turn the puck over in the neutral zone and give them short ice. Those are just a few things we can focus on to try to neutralize them.”

Regardless, the top NHL draft prospect McQueen is happy to return to the post-season.

“The playoffs are the best time of the year,” McQueen said. “I think the guys are pumped. We’ve worked through 68 games to get to this point, and it’s the time of the season where the grind stops. It’s just about our team and getting back to fundamentals. I’m so happy to get going.”

The coverage continues in Friday’s paper with the Lethbridge perspective on the series, and a look back at the last time the two teams met.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson