Odut, Wheat Kings set for new season

Easton Odut has been waiting a long time for tonight.

The Brandon Wheat Kings forward from Dauphin and his teammates will open the 2025-26 Western Hockey League regular season at Assiniboine Credit Union Place this evening against the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors and then travel to meet them on Saturday back in Saskatchewan.

It will be Odut’s first regular-season action since he was knocked out of commission on Dec. 14 and missed the back half of the season with a shoulder injury that required surgery.

“I’ve been counting down the months, the days, the weeks,” Odut said. “It was tough watching 40 or 50 games last year. I learned a lot of stuff and after missing that much hockey, you’re just have so much adrenalin hitting you. You’re going to come out hotter than you did before. “It’s going to be awesome. I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait.”

The 18-year-old forward played in 20 games last season, contributing three goals, two assists and eight penalty minutes. His game centres on his ability to get under the skin of his opponents, a rugged style built around his physicality.

That made his recovery from the surgery a bit of a mind game.

“I was scared taking hits after surgery but you don’t think about it when you’re playing,” Odut said. “You take a few bumps from the boys: I worked on it lots, just getting little rub out and getting hit. It’s a mindset. It’s not how you play, it’s just your mind telling you stuff, but then you get shown it’s just your mind and it’s good.”

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said the five-foot-eight, 170-pound forward plays a hard game, which was hampered last season by his shoulder issues.

“Odie is a guy who when he’s effective, he’s tenacious on the puck, he’s a bit of a thorn in the side of the opposition,” Murray said. “The poor kid tried to push through as much as he could last year but that shoulder just wouldn’t hold up. He made the tough decision to get it done and I know he’s looking forward to the start of the season. “I thought he was pretty good in pre-season. He’s a guy you rely on for energy night in and night out. He brings a lot to the table.”

Another player who is looking for big things this season is 17-year-old defenceman Gio Pantelas, who is entering his National Hockey League draft campaign.

The Montreal-born Victoria product played with Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August, bringing home bronze.

“I’m really excited for my personal year, but I feel my personal year is tied to my team this year,” Pantelas said. “If we have a winning team, I’ll be winning, and if we have a losing team, I’ll be losing. The team is looking great as of now and I feel great out there on the ice. I’m hoping I can produce for our team so that we win.”

Murray, who was picked in the fourth round, 96th overall, by the Calgary Flames in the 1993 draft and went on to play 270 regular season and playoff games in the NHL. He said the six-foot-two, 211-pound defenceman has to play to his strengths this season

“You’re only human if you’re thinking about it,” Murray said of the draft. “I think Gio and his game and what’s going to appeal to NHL people is just keeping it simple and being a good defenceman. Gio is a carefree personality and I think he understands where it’s at, but for him to garner the attention, he has to just be Steady Eddie all the time.

“We’ll give some looks on the power play and see how that goes but we’re real excited with how he ended the season last year and the promise he has going into this season.”

The team had two goalies, seven defencemen and 13 forwards at practice on Thursday. They were without defenceman Merrek Arpin, who is home in Calgary getting his doctors to examine an upper-body injury he suffered in the pre-season, and two forwards, Carter Klippenstein and Brady Turko. Both Klippenstein (Minnesota Wild) and Turko (Anaheim Ducks) are still in main camps with the teams that drafted them in June.

Murray said there is no timeline for Arpin’s return yet.

But at a spirited practice on Thursday, it was clear all eyes were on tonight. Murray has experienced Brandon home openers as a player, a coach and a general manager, noting it’s a great night in all three roles.

“They’re similar,” Murray said. “I remember as a player, I thought about it today, being 17 or 18, I didn’t get on the farm too much, but I remember sitting on the tractor visualizing what that home opener might look like.

“You come and play in front of a large crowd with good energy and it’s a great opportunity to kick the season off on the right foot. It’s fun, and you still have that adrenalin rush standing behind the bench too.”

The Wheat Kings last played a real game on April 4 when they fell 5-2 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. They were 3-1 in the pre-season dressing very young lineups.

“I’m so excited,” Pantelas said. “I spent all summer just missing the physicality of the game and missing going out there and playing. Pre-season is a different experience obviously but once regular season hits, I’m really excited to go out there and show everyone what our team can do.”

The Wheat Kings have faced the Warriors 10 times in their home season openers since the team moved from Winnipeg to Moose Jaw in 1984, with Brandon going 7-2-1-0.

Odut hopes it’s the start of a great season.

“I think this is going to be an awesome team,” Odut said. “Brandon has been out in the playoffs in the first round back-to-back years but I feel like this team is young and we’ve got that right on our shoulders to be a good team, to advance more than the previous years. It should be good. I’m looking forward to it.”

ICINGS: The deals finally started happening around the league, with four so far this week. On Thursday, Moose Jaw sent 19-year-old goaltender Josh Banini to the Kelowna Rockets for a seventh-round pick in 2026 and a fourth-round pick in 2027 … Also, the Penticton Vees dealt 19-year-old goaltender Marek Schlenker to the Regina Pats for a ninth-round pick in 2027. On Wednesday, Pats general manager Dale Derkatch acquired his son Dayce from the Prince Albert Raiders for a third-round pick in 2026 … Finally, the Kamloops Blazers sent 19-year-old forward Max Sullivan to the Medicine Hat Tigers for a conditional eight-round pick in 2029 … The Lethbridge Hurricanes have named Logan Wormald their captain, while the Victoria Royals have turned to fifth-year forward Reggie Newman.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com