Wheaties, Hitmen jockey for playoffs spots

The stakes are high tonight as the Brandon Wheat Kings host the Calgary Hitmen in Western Hockey League action tonight at Assiniboine Credit Union Place.

Since the Prince Albert Raiders (79 points), Medicine Hat Tigers (74 points), and Edmonton Oil Kings (71 points) have run away and hid at the top of the Eastern Conference playoff fight, Calgary (27-13-6-1, 61 points), Brandon (28-20-1-0, 57 points), and the Saskatoon Blades (25-21-3-1, 54 points) are in a three-way dogfight to determine who finishes fourth, fifth, and sixth.

Whoever grabs the fourth spot will play host to whichever team finishes fifth, which means tonight’s game could be a playoff preview.

Overage forward Nick Johnson of Calgary is well aware of the game’s importance for his team, which last skated on Saturday in a West Coast trip-ending 4-0 loss to the Spokane Chiefs.

“One, it’s really big, especially to get back in the win column after Spokane,” Johnson said. “Two, it’s a playoff game. They’re a hot team right now and they work really hard and play with pace. We just have to come out and play our game and play fast and get a win.”

In the third tier of teams in the conference, the Moose Jaw Warriors (44 points), Red Deer Rebels (40 points), and Regina Pats (38 points) are battling for the seventh and eighth spots.

The fourth tier includes the Lethbridge Hurricanes (31 points) and Swift Current Broncos (27 points), both of which would essentially need a six-week miracle to be in a playoff spot when the season ends on March 22.

But the Wheat Kings and Hitmen are certainly in the middle of the hunt. Calgary holds a four-point edge right now with two games in hand on Brandon and three on Saskatoon.

“All the teams right now are pretty close together, so you don’t know who you’re going to match up against,” Johnson said. “If we went to playoffs right now, this would be the first-round team. It’s going to be nice to get a feel for the matchup we might have in the post-season.

“You don’t want to get pushed around in the games in the regular season because it can translate to playoffs as well.”

Brandon has met Calgary twice this season, losing 3-1 at home on Nov. 2, and winning 3-2 in overtime in Calgary on Dec. 19.

“Calgary is a good team,” Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said. “They play with a lot of pace and intensity and structure, so we’re going to have to be at our best. When they came in here last time, I thought they really outskated us. It’s our first game back off the trip, and they’re in a three in four too, so both teams have to be ready to come out and play.

“It’s a pretty big game in the standings.”

The teams meet once more this season, on March 11 in Calgary.

The Wheat Kings haven’t played at home since a 6-1 victory over the Victoria Royals on Jan. 16. With a stop in Lethbridge en route to their biennial visit to the U.S. Division, they went 4-3-0-0, returning to Brandon on Sunday evening.

“Those trips are so hard,” Johnson said. “You’re busing from place to place, you’re getting into hotels at 2 a.m., and then you have to play the next day. I was pretty proud of all of our guys through the entire trip. We all buckled down and went over .500, and that’s positive.”

Brandon is continuing to battle a spate of injuries. On the back end, Dylan Ronald is out week to week after getting hurt during the trip, joining Merrek Arpin, who has been out all season. Up front, Easton Odut, Carter Klippenstein and Chase Surkan remain out long-term.

That leaves the Wheat Kings with two healthy goalies, six defencemen and 11 forwards.

They actually called up 16-year-olds Carson Ralph and Ethan Young, plus 15-year-old Levi Ellingsen, so they could dress 18 skaters when they were out west.

“Overall it was a success,” Murray said of the trip, which included seven games in 11 days. “Any time you can finish over .500, it’s a real hectic 11 days and a lot of hockey.

“It seems like you’re checking into hotels and playing and checking out, and it’s on to the next city. We practised one time during the whole trip, so credit to the kids, we were shorthanded, and our young guys came in as affiliated and played well and gave us some important minutes.

“Being over .500 is a positive. That last game stings a little bit for me. We had that 5-2 record staring us down, and we couldn’t pull off a win in Spokane.”

After taking Monday off, they practised Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and host Calgary tonight and then visit Prince Albert on Saturday and Moose Jaw next Tuesday.

The six-foot-two, 207-pound Johnson, who is counting down the final weeks of his major junior career, is eager to get one last regular season victory at home over the Hitmen.

“We need to get back to playing good in our own barn and establish it as a hard barn to play in,” Johnson said.

ICINGS: The WHL announced the leadership groups for the upcoming WHL Prospects Game that will be played on Feb. 18 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.

Team West will be captained by Prince George Cougars defenceman Carson Carels of Cypress River, with alternate captains JP Hurlbert (Kamloops Blazers), Ryan Lin (Vancouver Giants), and Jakub Vanecek (Tri-City Americans).

Team East will be captained by Prince Albert Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph, with alternate captains Ben MacBeath (Calgary Hitmen) and twins Liam and Markus Ruck (Medicine Hat Tigers).

Red Deer Rebels head coach Marc Habscheid of Swift Current, Sask., became the sixth coach in WHL history to win 600 games when the Rebels beat Prince George 3-2 on Tuesday … Prince Albert became the first team in the WHL to clinch a playoff berth when they earned a point in an overtime loss to Calgary on Wednesday. Everett has more points in the Western Conference but is still eight points from clinching.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com