Wheat Kings look to restart strong

The Brandon Wheat Kings return to action this weekend with a pair of games against the Moose Jaw Warriors, and if this season’s history has shown anything, they’re unlikely to be boring.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray knows it all too well.

“I think our series has been absolutely wild, with the exception of the 2-1 game,” Murray said. “The first four games, it was like 25-23 goals for and against. They’ve been really weird games, and both teams left the rink going ‘What just happened there?

“Last game was a little more normal, 2-1, but Moose Jaw is really coming along. They obviously had a transition year last year out of winning the league, but they’ve expedited their rebuild and they’re a good team. They give teams fits, and much like us, they have a lot of depth and different lines that can hurt you night in and night out.

“Losing (Lynden) Lakovic is a blow to them but you can see other guys stepped up as well.”

The Western Hockey League teams play tonight at Moose Jaw’s Temple Gardens Centre at 6 p.m., and at Brandon’s Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Sunday at 4 p.m.

The last time the teams met for a home-and-home series, the Wheat Kings (19-12-1-0) scored 11 goals and didn’t earn a point as they fell 6-4 and 9-7 to the Warriors (13-15-3-1) on the opening weekend of the season.

Since then, the Wheat Kings have three wins against them, 8-4 at home on Oct. 26, 6-4 in Moose Jaw on Nov. 18 and 2-1 in Brandon on Dec. 6.

The last game featured Chase Wutzke in the Moose Jaw net after he was acquired from the Red Deer Rebels, and the four-year veteran was terrific, stopping 41 shots.

“Wutzke is a premier goalie in the league,” Murray said. “He gives them confidence and a chance to win night in and night out.”

The last of their eight games in the season series in Moose Jaw on Feb. 10.

Wheat Kings second-year forward Brady Turko of McCreary, an Anaheim Ducks prospect who has 10 goals and seven assists in 30 games this season, said there aren’t many secrets between the teams anymore.

“They’re a team that is going to come out hard and work hard,” Turko said. “I think they’re missing a couple of players with Lakovic being out for the rest of the year, which isn’t great for them but they have a lot of guys who can play. We have to be ready for that.”

Brandon is 15–10–2-1 since 1996 in its first game after the break, but have some traumatic recent memories.

To paraphrase a colourful Second World War expression, the Wheat Kings dropped a turd in the punch bowl in an ugly, ugly 7-3 home loss to the Regina Pats on Dec. 27, 2024. It was their only regulation defeat to Regina last season as they went 6-1-1-0 against the Pats.

“We may have to lay off the turkey a little bit this year,” Turko said with a chuckle. “Just having a good couple of skates before our game is going to be crucial for us.”

The players returned to Brandon on Boxing Day and practised last night at 7 p.m. Murray isn’t worried they overindulged during the break, which began after their 3-2 overtime victory against the host Calgary Hitmen on Dec. 19.

“They’re all pretty disciplined nowadays,” Murray said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of them got on the ice or got a sweat doing stuff in the gym. Hopefully they get a chance to put their feet up a little bit and recharge their batteries but I think the kids these days take care of themselves pretty well.”

They certainly have lots of hockey ahead of them. The Wheat Kings will play their final 36 games between tonight and March 21, a span of 84 days, to finish up the 68-game season.

That includes their annual trip west, which this season includes a stop to meet the Lethbridge Hurricanes en route to six games in the U.S. Division. The seven games take place between Jan. 21 and 31

“We have a lot of division games coming up before we head out on our U.S. trip, so it’s important for us to be ready to play coming out of the Christmas break. That U.S. trip is a tough one, so we have to get as many points as we can.”

Turko said his club learned from its early struggles, and will be eager to keep the momentum going that saw them post an 8-1-0-0 record so far in December. “I don’t think anybody expected us to have that start but it happened and we persevered through it,” Turko said. “Our last half of the first half was exceptional. I think we showed everybody how good we can be.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com