Wheat Kings seek quicker start

The Brandon Wheat Kings will be looking to overcome an ugly trend they’ve established this season as the Kamloops Blazers skate into town tonight.

The Wheat Kings have fallen behind by two goals in the first period of its last three games and four times through their first seven games. They’ve also allowed the first goal in all seven games as they sit tied for 22nd in the 23-team Western Hockey League with a record of 1-5-1-0.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his team simply has to be better off the opening whistle.

“That’s critical,” Murray said. “It’s something we’ve harped on and is part of being a pro, being ready to come out of the gates ready to go. We’re catching them near the end of the trip and playing the night before, so we have to be ready to go and create that mojo, and pick up where we left off in the game against Swift Current.”

Kamloops (4-4-0-0) plays its fifth game in seven days as it makes trip through the East Division. The Blazers finish up against the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday.

So far on the trip, Kamloops has lost 5-2 to the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday and 3-0 to the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday and edged the Regina Pats 4-3 on Monday. Last night the Broncos were in action against the Moose Jaw Warriors in a game that ended after deadline.

“We need to take advantage of that,” rookie forward Chase Surkan said. “We’ve started on the wrong end of every single game we’ve played. A good start is going to be huge for us.”

Brandon has been outscored 14-5 in the first period so far. They’re up 13-10 in the second period and trail 14-8 in the third period, although five of their goals were in the last three games.

“I think it’s huge,” Jaxon Jacobson said. “A lot of the games we’ve lost this year have been a result of a slow start. I think our second halves have been good enough to win us games but our starts need to be better.”

They’ll need to work out their issues soon, and a big one is in their own end. Only two teams have allowed more goals than Brandon, and they’ve both played more.

As it stands, the Wheat Kings are giving up an unsustainable average of 5.57 goals per game.

While Brandon surrendered 39.4 shots per game in its first five contests, it has given up a total of 38 in its last two games. Of course, shots on goal doesn’t measure the quality of chances allowed, and the Wheat Kings have been giving up some very good looks to their opponents.

“We have a lot to clean up but I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Jacobson said. “The results are kind of showing we’re moving in the right direction. We’ve had very few shots in the past couple of games compared to before. If we keep going, the bounces will go our way.”

Brandon (1-5-1-0) is already 11 points behind the logjam at the top of the Eastern Conference involving the Medicine Hat Tigers, Edmonton Oil Kings and Saskatoon Blades, and sits tied for last in the league with Regina.

The Wheat Kings face an unfamiliar opponent that has some real firepower tonight as they try to get back on their feet.

Blazers forward JP Hurlbert of Allen, Texas was leading the league with 20 points in nine games going into Wednesday’s game.

“Their top end is really good,” Murray said. “They can score a lot of goals. They have Hurlbert, who is leading the league in scoring so we’re going to have to pay attention to those guys. At the same time, it’s going to be a 20-man team and we have to be ready to go, regardless of who we’re up against.

“At this stage of the season, it’s more about us than our opponents.”

In the Internet era since the 1996-97 season, Brandon had 15 regulation wins, two overtime victories and a tie with Kamloops. The Blazers have 11 regulation wins and one each in overtime and a shootout.

U17 CHALLENGE

At least there was some good news on Wednesday for a Wheat Kings club desperate for anything positive.

Surkan, a 16-year-old forward from Regina who is leading the team with six goals, was one of 19 WHL players who will represent Canada at the 2025 U17 World Challenge from Nov. 2 to 8 in Truro, N.S.

“Any time you get to represent your country for anything is obviously a huge honour,” Surkan said. “I just can’t wait for that but we’ll take it day by day and focus on right now.”

Hockey Canada will send two teams to the event, Canada White and Canada Red, with Surkan suiting up for the latter.

Sweden, Finland, Czechia and the United States are also involved.

“It’s huge,” Murray said. “It’s certainly well deserved. I know he had a real good camp in the summer with Hockey Canada and then hasn’t skipped a beat starting in the pre-season and right into the regular season. I’m not surprised at all and it’s a great accomplishment for him to represent our country.”

No Manitobans were picked for the team, while 16 of the 23 WHL clubs are represented.

Jacobson knows what to expect, after he and defenceman Gio Pantelas represented the Wheat Kings at the U17 event a year ago. Jacobson earned a silver medal with Red after Pantelas and White beat them 3-1 in the final.

“It’s an awesome experience,” Jacobson said. “I had a lot of fun. You get to meet a lot of new people and get to play in a really high competitive environment and get to play with some great players. It’s always fun to go to those things.”

Surkan was Brandon’s first overall pick in 2024. They took him 14th overall after he had 135 points in 27 games — 73 goals and 62 assists — in his final U15 season. Last year, as a U18 rookie, he had 73 points in 41 games and won the Telus Cup with the Regina Pat Canadians.

In the pre-season with Brandon, he had eight points in four games, and he has nine points in seven games in the regular season so far.

“You don’t think you’re going to do that well but I think I’ve been playing pretty good,” Surkan said. “I hope to keep that up and for the team to get some more wins.”

The only person he trails in team scoring is Jacobson, who had 44 points in 51 games last year, the best point total for a 16-year-old Wheat King since Nolan Patrick’s 56 points in 2014-15.

“He’s doing better than I was doing,” Jacobson said of Surkan with a chuckle. “He’s doing great and I think he’ll keep it up. He’s played great with everyone he played with as the lines have been switching up.”

The puck drops at Assiniboine Credit Union Place this evening at 7 o’clock.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com